Are you always waiting for disaster to strike or excessively worried about things such as health, money, family, work, or school? If so, you may have a type of anxiety disorder called generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). GAD can make daily life feel like a constant state of worry, fear, and dread.
Some Tips on How to Live without Fear
Just think about how you've gone through difficult things in the past and overcame them. Now, you're stronger than you were before. But if you think there's still more room for you to grow in this sense, give it a shot. Stop being afraid of failure.
The only way to deal with fear is to face it. Avoiding our fears only prevents us from moving forward—it makes us anxious. But be gentle with yourself and do only what feels safe to you! If you find yourself getting more panicky, take a break and find something pleasant or comforting to notice or do.
Fear starts in the part of the brain called the amygdala. According to Smithsonian Magazine, “A threat stimulus, such as the sight of a predator, triggers a fear response in the amygdala, which activates areas involved in preparation for motor functions involved in fight or flight.
What makes us fearful. The universal trigger for fear is the threat of harm, real or imagined. This threat can be for our physical, emotional or psychological well-being. While there are certain things that trigger fear in most of us, we can learn to become afraid of nearly anything.
Our stomachs and intestines store our feelings of fear. The adage, 'I am sick to my stomach' justifies this. Fear is another negative emotion that has far-reaching repercussions on our health. It can cause digestion problems, pain in the gut, bloating, constipation and even Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Catastrophizing is a tendency to assume the worst will happen when imagining a future situation—even if you have evidence that this is not the most likely outcome. People who like to feel in control (and are therefore intolerant of uncertainty) are more likely to catastrophize.
Isaiah 41:8-10
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” The Good News: God will give you strength when you are afraid.
Fear Is Physical
Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released. Your blood pressure and heart rate increase. You start breathing faster. Even your blood flow changes — blood actually flows away from your heart and into your limbs, making it easier for you to start throwing punches, or run for your life.
An anxiety disorder is a type of mental health condition. If you have an anxiety disorder, you may respond to certain things and situations with fear and dread. You may also experience physical signs of anxiety, such as a pounding heart and sweating.
The potential effects of chronic fear on physical health include headaches turning into migraines, muscle aches turning into fibromyalgia, body aches turning into chronic pain, and difficulty breathing turning into asthma, said Moller.
As we age, we produce much less adrenaline, which can cause racing hearts and dizziness. This means the intense fears we may have experienced in youth no longer trouble us as much. However, older people often experience a greater sense of vulnerability, so things like heights or big crowds become more of an issue.
You've probably heard that public speaking is feared more than death itself. It sounds crazy, but that's what people say. Is there any truth to this? Certainly the vast majority of people rank fear of public speaking as number one – 75% according to the National Institutes of Mental Health.
We all have been there. Overthinking is caused due to various reasons like fear, intolerance to uncertainty, trauma, or perfectionism. Overthinking can also be a symptom of already existing mental health conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, or depression.
Fight, flight, freeze, flop, friend
But the other three common reactions to fear and danger - freeze, flop and friend - are just as instinctive as fight or flight, and we don't get to choose which ones we experience in the moment.
Feeling afraid all the time is a common consequence of frequent stress responses. Anxiety also activates the stress response. Many overly anxious people have a heightened sense of being afraid all the time due to the combination of anxious behavior and the stress it creates.
Although the focus of the responses are different in fear vs anxiety, fear and anxiety are interrelated. When faced with fear, most people will experience the physical reactions that are described under anxiety. Fear can cause anxiety, and anxiety can cause fear.
Additionally, mental health conditions are linked to specific physical ailments of key organs. According to traditional Chinese medicine, emotions are narrowed down to five basic feelings that are each associated with a corresponding element and organ in the body: Anger with the liver. Fear with the kidney.
The amygdala is the part of your brain that receives information from many parts of the brain and interprets this information to generate the emotion of fear. When the amygdala generates a fear emotion, it sends impulses to another part of the brain, the hypothalamus.