Humans are wired to experience certain levels of fear. If we didn’t have to endure some level of fear, there’s a likely chance our life expectancy would be much lower than it is. Without fear, common sense goes completely out the window and you’re more likely to engage in risker activities.
Humans are born with only two fears: the fear of falling, and the fear of loud noises. Everything else we fear, including things like spiders, snakes, and ghosts, are fears that we learn throughout our lives.
The more scared you are, the scarier things will appear to be. I know that sounds obvious, but what I mean is that if you are already in a state of fear, you are primed to be scared or startled at even the smallest of things. For example, if you are watching a YouTube video of a trap door spider catching its prey, chances are that you’ll find that little tickle on your neck a hell of a lot scarier than you would if you weren’t watching that video.
You don’t need to be in any danger to be scared. We have the ability to learn fears and overthink them, which often leaves us being scared because we think something could happen or imagine that something might be happening even when it isn’t. It is for this reason that neuroscientists believe that humans are among the most fearful creatures on the planet.
Anxiety is not the same thing as fear. Fear is an emotion that is triggered by the presence or idea of something we see as a threat. When we experience this emotion, our body releases adrenaline and cortisol. When the perceived threat is gone, our bodies calm down and return to their normal state. When the thing that scares us is gone, but our body still releases stress hormones, we are experiencing anxiety. We can suffer from anxiety when thinking of things such as getting an essay done on time, being insecure, so on and so forth.
Just as fear can be learned, it can also be unlearned. We aren’t born with the fear of spiders, but a lot of people learn to be incredibly scared of them- for good reason. However, someone who suffers from arachnophobia can unlearn their fear of spiders by facing their fear head-on. This is all because of how incredibly smart our brains are. We have the ability to learn and adapt to an amazing amount of things.
Fear and anxiety suppresses your immune system. When we experience these things, the hormone cortisol is released into our bodies and starts to shut down our immune systems ability. This is done because when you’re in the “fight or flight” mode, your body wants to have as much energy available as possible.
We have the ability to feel other peoples fear. Things that neuroscienists are calling “mirror neurons” allow us to feel what other people feel, in a sense. For example, if someone is in a terrible mood, it can rub off on you and put you in a bad mood as well. The same goes for fear. It’s how mass panic can occur. The same goes for being in a movie theater with a bunch of people while watching a scary movie. The simple fact that people around you are in a state of fear can have an impact of whether or not you are scared as well.
