Most of the physical symptoms we experience when it comes to fear come from the changes in our cardiovascular system. Heart rate increases, and blood vessels constrict. Your respiratory rate increases, and adrenaline picks up.
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.
Feeling nervous, restless, or tense. Having a sense of doom. Increased heart rate. Shortness of breath.
It is programmed into the nervous system and works like an instinct. From the time we're infants, we are equipped with the survival instincts necessary to respond with fear when we sense danger or feel unsafe. Fear helps protect us. It makes us alert to danger and prepares us to deal with it.
Fear is also partly imagined, and so it can arise in the absence of something scary. In fact, because our brains are so efficient, we begin to fear a range of stimuli that are not scary (conditioned fear) or not even present (anticipatory anxiety). We get scared because of what we imagine could happen.
Well, as it turns out, that in-all-likelihood-totally-made-up 90% number isn't so far off. On average, 91.39% of participants' worries did NOT come true (i.e. only 8.61% of their worries DID come true). And for 7 participants – or about one out of every four participants – NONE of their worries came true.
The average person reported three to four testable worries per day. The result? A whopping 91 percent of worries were false alarms. And of the remaining 9 percent of worries that did come true, the outcome was better than expected about a third of the time.
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.
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.
Anxiety can be so overwhelming to the brain it alters a person's sense of reality. People experience distorted reality in several ways. Distorted reality is most common during panic attacks, though may occur with other types of anxiety. It is also often referred to as “derealization.”
Fear can interrupt processes in our brains that allow us to regulate emotions, read non-verbal cues and other information presented to us, reflect before acting, and act ethically. This impacts our thinking and decision-making in negative ways, leaving us susceptible to intense emotions and impulsive reactions.
Fear is among the most powerful of all emotions. And since emotions are far more powerful than thoughts, fear can overcome even the strongest parts of our intelligence.
According to psychology research, fear is a primal emotion that involves a universal biochemical response and a high individual emotional response. Fear alerts us to the presence of danger or the threat of harm, whether that danger is physical or psychological.
Humans also fear death because they view death as an annihilation of their person, a radical personal transformation, a threat to the meaningfulness of life, and a threat to the completion of life projects.
Your amygdala, an area of your brain that helps you take in and respond to emotions, immediately presses the panic button. Because fear isn't just any emotion. It's a powerful, primitive one that your brain and body rely on to maintain your safety.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”
After practicing TRE® people often use the words 'grounded', 'relaxed' and 'calmer' to describe their feelings. After a period of several months people have reported relief from illnesses such as Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Eczema and IBS.
Intrusive memories
Recurrent, unwanted distressing memories of the traumatic event. Reliving the traumatic event as if it were happening again (flashbacks) Upsetting dreams or nightmares about the traumatic event. Severe emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of the traumatic event.
According to Forbes Magazine, the number one fear for the average person is that of public speaking. The second fear is death...
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.
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.