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Learning Fear

Because there is such a wide range of fears, psychologists note that we can learn to fear almost anything.

Conditioned Fear

Observational Learning

Behavioral Psychology, a major branch of the study of observable behavior, has been a part of the research of fear since John B. Watson's Little Albert Experiment in the 1920s. The study used classical conditioning to create a fear of a white rat. Not only was the experiment successful in creating the fear, but Little Albert also learned to generalize the fear to include other white, furry objects.

Fear can be learned by experiencing or watching a frightening traumatic accident. For example, if a child falls into a well and struggles to get out, he or she may develop a fear of wells, heights (acrophobia), enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), or water (aquaphobia). it was proposed that a person learns to fear regardless of whether they themselves have experienced trauma, or if they have observed the fear in others.

Phobias

The Biology of Fear

Melina Cienski

Evolutionary/Cultural

Social phobias affect people of all ages, though they usually begin in adolescence. Nearly 40% of them begin before the age of 10, while 95% start before the age of 20.

Fear is affected by cultural and historical context. In the early 20th century, many Americans feared polio, a disease that left many immobilized for the rest of one's life. There are consistent cross-cultural differences in how people respond to fear and how likely people are to show the facial expression of fear and other emotions.

From an evolutionary perspective, different fears may be different adaptations that have been useful in our ancestor's past. Some fears, such as fear of heights, may be common to all mammals. Others, such as fear of mice and insects, may be unique to humans and developed during the time periods when mice and insects become important carriers of infectious diseases and harmful for crops and stored foods.

The Amygdala is the center of the biological components of fear due to its control of heart rate, persperation, stress hormones, and attention. The Amygdala also has strong connections to the prefrontal cortex, hypothalmus, the sensory cortex, the hippocampus, and the brainstem. An emotional response is made once the sympathetic nervous system has been reached; which controls the flight, fight, freeze, fright, and faint response

A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation the affected person will go to great lengths to avoid, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed.

Fight or Flight

Researchers have pinpointed the gene that influences the amygdala's reaction to fearfful experiences.

Also known as the acute stress response, FoF refers to a physiological response to the presence of something that is terrifying (mentally or physically). The reaction is triggered by the release of hormones that prepare your body to either stay and deal with a threat or to run away to safety.

Somniphobia- fear of falling asleep

Triskaidekaphobia- fear of the number 13

Xanthophobia – fear of the colour yellow

Athazagoraphobia- Fear of being forgotton or ignored or forgetting.

Ephebiphobia- Fear of teenagers.

Philophobia- Fear of falling in love or being in love.

The FoF response was first described in the 1920s by American physiologist Walter Cannon. He realized that a chain of rapidly occurring reactions inside the body helped to mobilize the body's resources.

In response to acute stress, the body's sympathetic nervous system is activated due to the sudden release of hormones. The sympathetic nervous systems stimulates the adrenal glands triggering the release of catecholamines, which include adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Humans and animals both share these species-specific defense reactions, such as the flight, fight, which also include pseudo-aggression, fake or intimidating aggression, freeze response to threats, which is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has been successful in helping overcome fear. Confrontation, safetly, can suppress the fear-triggering memory or stimulus; known as ‘exposure therapy’, which can help cure up to 90% of people, with specific phobias.

How Fear Can Affect the Body

Living under constant threat weakens our immune system and can cause cardiovascular damage, gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome, and decreased fertility.

Fear can impair formation of long-term memories and cause damage to certain parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus. This can make it even more difficult to regulate fear and can leave a person anxious most of the time. To someone in chronic fear, the world looks scary and their memories confirm that.

TED Talk

Karen Thompson Walker: What Fear Can Teach Us

Moreover, 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. All of these effects can leave us unable to act appropriately.

Other consequences of long-term fear include fatigue, clinical depression, and accelerated ageing.

What is fear

Fear is a response to a physical or emotional danger. All animals experience fear in situations with which they are not familiar. The intensity of fear is based on experience and genetic factors. The immediate response of fear is to protect and defend oneself.

fear vs anxiety

One thing to remember is that while the fight-or-flight response happens automatically, that does not mean that it is always accurate. Sometimes we respond in this way even when there is no real threat. Phobias are good examples of how the fight-or-flight response might be triggered in the face of a perceived threat. A person who is terrified of heights might begin to experience the acute stress response when he has to go the top floor of a skyscraper to attend a meeting. His body might go on high alert as his heart beat and respiration rate increase. When this response becomes severe, it may even lead to a panic attack.

Many fears and phobias are of threatening (or embarassing) situations. Fears are consided the general emotion of the situation whereas anxiety is the constant (and sometimes obsessive) attention to potential threats is to be chronically apprehensive. This sense of anxiety is not uncommon; the most recognized are social anxieties like the dread public speaking, or testing anxiety.

How Fear Can Effect the Mind

Once the fear pathways are ramped up, the brain short-circuits more rational processing paths and reacts immediately to signals from the amygdala. When in this overactive state, the brain perceives events as negative and remembers them that way.

Work Cited

It also stores all the details surrounding the danger—the sights, sounds, and other contextual details of the event, which can become stimuli themselves and trigger fear. They may bring back the memory of the fearful event, or they may cause us to feel afraid without consciously knowing why. Because these cues were associated with previous danger, the brain may see them as a predictor of threat. This often happens with post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD).

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-dance-connection/200910/fear-vs-anxiety

https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/fear

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/201601/the-fascinating-dynamics-dread

https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201011/stealth-super-powers

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982212014352

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainsnacks/201203/the-only-5-fears-we-all-share

https://www.psychology.com/resources/phobias.php

The Psychology of Fear

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