Our daily lives are filled with emotions. One of these emotions is fear, which comes naturally to us. When you get into a situation where you sense danger, your preprogrammed response is fear—flight or fight.

Although fear is more than just a surface-level emotion, it is part of your biological makeup. Your brain controls your response to fear—the amygdala and the hypothalamus both activate as soon as you sense danger.

Anytime you are afraid, your body releases chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol (the stress hormone). The release of such chemicals causes these physical reactions:

• A sudden increase in your heart rate
• Your blood pressure goes up
• Your muscles tighten
• Your senses sharpen or redirect
• Your pupils dilate
• You begin to sweat

Most people have very vivid memories of the moment disaster struck their lives. When you experience fear, it may seem as though time slows down and your body responds in a way that is like no other. Some people recall having superhuman strength or not even feeling pain. These are called protective mechanisms and they help increase your chance of survival in bad situations.

When it comes to identifying the causes of fear, some are more well known than others—arachnophobia (fear of spiders), testophobia (fear of taking tests), and acrophobia (fear of heights)—while others are not so well known—chaetophobia (fear of hair), ergophobia (fear of work), and pteronophobia (fear of being tickled by feathers). There are many phobias of which could be the cause of your fear, and new cases are still being diagnosed every day.

Fear diagnosis  

Fear is not always a bad thing and can be useful to you in some situations. For instance, being afraid to speak in front of others can motivate you to stay focused on your task and so you don’t embarrass yourself. This kind of fear can help to keep your mind sharp. However, there are some fears that are irrational and can actually interfere with your ability to function. These fears make you want to escape, even though you are not in any real danger. When you fear something that is not dangerous to you, it can become crippling.

If you find that you are afraid of things before they even happen, it is no longer adaptive. This type of fear is called anxiety. Anxiety happens when you are apprehensive about something that hasn’t happened and you feel as though you don’t have control over it while fear is something that happens in response to an immediate danger—a real danger.

Panic is what happens when your body sends an alarm response when there is really nothing to be afraid of. This type of fear is familiar to most people and often goes along with phobias, but not always. Your body has an immediate physical response when you panic, typically to irrational or unrealistic fears. As long as you suffer from this type of fear, you will find it difficult to reach your fullest potential and your health—physical and emotional—will be affected.

The causes of fear

You should always be aware of things that could be a real threat to you. It is also important, however, to react appropriately to fear. When most people realize there is no real danger or threat, they typically calm their startle response rather quickly. But there are some people who are unable to calm themselves. For those who struggle with anxiety and panic attacks, their fear is maladaptive.

Because children are unable to rationalize their fears, they are also at risk of anxiety and panic attacks.  Fear for children is very genuine, as they see their fears as real threats. It is also difficult for parents to console children and help them understand there is nothing to be afraid of. Children who suffer from anxiety risk negatively affecting their development, which could cause problems for them as they get older.

What causes fear in children?

Until the age of two, children really don’t have fears, but they do begin having fears at this age. Children learn what it is like to get hurt, be reprimanded, and/or get lost from their parents. Being lost is one of the biggest fears in children. Because children are left at daycare centers, school, or with a babysitter, they often suffer from separation anxiety. For some, the fear has to do with who they are left with or where they are left, while others worry about the idea of being dropped off and picked up. However, children often adjust to their caretakers and the fear subsides over time.

Children also often have a fear of the dark, which is one of the most difficult fears to overcome. This fear often lasts much longer than other fears. It looks different depending on the age of the child; for instance, a young child worries about things like monsters while an older child worries about intruders. One way to help deal with this fear is to leave a light on for the child, gradually dimming the light more and more over time.

Some tips on dealing with fear

• After you have experienced the physical reaction to fear, drink a glass of something sweet. When your body reacts to fear, it uses a lot of glucose in your blood. Drinking something sweet will help you refuel your blood sugar levels.
• When you think you are becoming overwhelmed by fear, relax—close your eyes and breathe deeply—focusing on your breathing will help calm you.
• Try to think positively. If you allow yourself to focus on the negative, you will get hung up in the “what-ifs” of a situation. Live in the moment, so that you are more prepared to deal with the anything that arises.
• Think logically about the situation. Don’t allow your mind to wander. Make sure that you are not allowing yourself to be afraid of irrational things. Tell yourself to determine whether the threat is a real one or not.
• Do not allow your feelings of fear to linger. Let go of the negative feelings when the threat has passed. Many have the tendency to allow fears and negative things to hang around longer than necessary.
• Avoid the things that may cause you anxiety or panic attacks, if possible. If you must face a fear, do it a little bit at a time so that you can become more confident and less anxious about the fear.

Why Traditional Self-Therapy Techniques Don’t Work

There are many articles online that boast the best tips and tricks for managing fear, but they won’t be able to help you in every situation.

These traditional self-therapy techniques include getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, making sure you’re taking part in enough socialization, and exercising frequently.

While all of these techniques are great ways to improve your overall wellness, they do not get down to the root of the problem, which is what is actually causing your fear.

Other techniques such as meditation, chanting, or grounding are also not the right solution, as you cannot use them in situations of time or location constraints.

If you’re repeatedly dealing with the negative feeling of fear, it is very likely that there is a past event or experience that has conditioned your body and mind to react this way, and traditional self-therapy techniques are not enough to help you deal with this problem.

This leaves people trying to self heal, continuing to deal with the negative emotions, and feeling stuck about not knowing how to move forward.

So What Should You Do?

Explore what Well Managed Mind has to offer.

WMM has the techniques and abilities needed to help people dealing with chronic or recurring fear, as well as all other negative feelings.

Well Managed Mind techniques are able to trace back to the past experience or scenario, find what is causing the negative emotion, and allows you to learn quick fixes that will help you get back to your day feeling great.

Once you’ve learned your WMM techniques, and you become triggered or stressed, you have multiple quick fix tools at your disposal that are catered to you, allowing you to get past the negative emotion quickly, instead of spending large amounts of time using traditional general self-help techniques.

How To Make It Happen

WMM techniques minimize the frequency of negative emotions occurring, and they also arm you with your own way of overcoming them when they do happen.

Give yourself peace of mind by gaining these techniques, so that you know you can deal with any emotion that life throws at you. Click Here to explore Well Managed Mind’s solution to fear, and schedule a free consultation, and join our program today!