SM has an unusual genetic disorder called Urbach-Wiethe diseaseUrbach–Wiethe disease is a very rare recessive genetic disorder, with approximately 400 reported cases since its discovery. It was first officially reported in 1929 by Erich Urbach and Camillo Wiethe, although cases may be recognized dating back as early as 1908.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki
True fearlessness actually does exist, however. It's an effect of an extremely rare disease called Urbach-Wiethe. Only about 400 people have ever been recorded with the condition. Symptoms include a hoarse voice and small bumps around the eyes, as well as calcium deposits in the brain.
If you have no fear, more terrible things will happen to you, but you don't personally experience them as terrible. If you have a lot of fear, fewer bad things are likely to happen, but it's very probable that your life is more painful to you.
Fear and anxiety are influenced by many genes; there is no such thing as a simple "fear" gene that is inherited from one generation to the next. The genes controlling neurotransmitters and their receptors are all present in several different forms in the general population.
Fear is defined as a fundamental emotion promptly arising in the context of threat and when danger is perceived. Fear can be innate or learned. Examples of innate fear include fears that are triggered by predators, pain, heights, rapidly approaching objects, and ancestral threats such as snakes and spiders.
We are born with only two innate fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud sounds. A 1960 study evaluated depth perception among 6- to14-month-old infants, as well as young animals.
Fear of the unknown is universal, but it seems to take form most commonly in three basic human fundamental fears: Fear of Death, Fear of Abandonment or Fear of Failure.
Other scholars suggest that our fear of death is what underpins the majority of human action – we are so anxious to face its inevitability that we fill our lives completely as a means to ignore or evade it. Death is one of the only things we know is for certain, and yet the uncertainty of it is what truly terrifies us.
Anxiety and verbal intelligence
In this study, 126 university students were asked to report feelings of worry or anxiousness about test taking and other school work. The study found that students who reported higher levels of anxiety were also the ones who scored higher on tests.
Fear is automatic, meaning you can't help feeling it. The degree to which people experience fear and find the power to overcome, of course, varies among people. But not feeling any fear at all is extremely rare and it goes without saying that it is unnatural.
S.M., also sometimes referred to as SM-046, is an American woman with a peculiar type of brain damage that prevents her from experiencing fear. First described by scientists in 1994, she has had exclusive and complete bilateral amygdala destruction since late childhood as a consequence of Urbach–Wiethe disease.
Physical fear is natural and essential to our survival, but it's important to remember that irrational fear is not. It is irrational to be afraid of what doesn't exist. In fact, it can cause actual harm. And yet we've learned to let irrational fear shape our reality.
Many of their studies begin with the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure that is considered the hub for fear processing in the brain.
Last, a meta-analysis was performed which conclusively showed that psychopathic individuals have trouble in the automatic detection and responsivity to threat but may in fact feel fear, providing direct empirical support for the claim that the conscious experience of fear may not be impaired in these individuals.
The top 10 fears found in the 2022 survey suggest that Americans' fears center on five main topics: corrupt government officials (number 1), harm to a loved one (numbers 2 & 4), war (numbers 3, 5, & 10), environmental concerns (numbers 6 & 9), and economic concerns numbers 7 & 8).
Thanatophobia is an extreme fear of death or the dying process. You might be scared of your own death or the death of a loved one. Psychotherapy can help most people overcome this disorder. Appointments 866.588.2264. Request an Appointment.
There are only five basic fears, out of which almost all of our other so-called fears are manufactured. These fears include extinction, mutilation, loss of autonomy, separation, and ego death.
Even so, our brains are hardwired for fear — it helps us identify and avoid threats to our safety. The key node in our fear wiring is the amygdala, a paired, almond-shaped structure deep within the brain involved in emotion and memory.
“Fear is a natural and biological condition that we all experience,” says Dr. Sikora. “It's important that we experience fear because it keeps us safe.” Fear is a complex human emotion that can be positive and healthy, but it can also have negative consequences.