Chapter 2

Chapter 2

DISCUSSION

What is fear and what are the benefits people can get from it?

    I.        Definition of Fear

         

Dictionary definition, the researcher use Merriam Webster dictionary to give a definition of fear. According to the dictionary, Fear is an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger and accompanied by increased autonomic activity. It is an uneasy state of mind usually over the possibility of an anticipated misfortune or trouble. The emotion experienced in the presence or threat of danger. An unpleasant emotion caused by being aware of danger and feeling of being afraid (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fear).

Fear is one of the basic emotions and is linked heavily to the amygdala neurons. In fear, one may go through various emotional stages. A good example of this is the cornered rat, which will try to run away until it is finally cornered by its predator, at which point it will become belligerent and fight back until it either escapes or is captured. The same goes with most animals

According to Michael McGlasson in his article entitled” The Psychology of Fear”, Fear can be defined as “an intense emotional state caused by specific external stimuli and associated with avoidance, self-defense and escape” and together with joy and anger, it is one of the primary human emotions. As opposed to anxiety, fear generally refers to feelings created by tangible, realistic dangers which arise out of proportion to the actual threat or danger involved, meaning that fear is quite often unfounded with no basis in reality (http://constructinghorror.com/index.php?id=61).

Fear is without question the most important of all the emotions. Fear can be triggered by thousands of different stimuli. It means that every time we do something we counter fear. It is an emotion that all people face within their lives. Fear can be experienced on many different levels. From the heart-racing moment of suspense when watching a horror movie- to the breath stealing moment of surprise when something startles people. Even the bravest people in history have had moments of being frightened.

The researcher read an article entitled “Do You Love or Do You Fear” by Luminita Saviuc. According to this article, Fear and love are the emotion that human are capable of.  All the others are just sub-categorical emotions. For example, on love's side there is joy, peacefulness, happiness, forgiveness, and a host of others. On the other hand, fear reflects: hate, depression, guilt, inadequacy, discontentment, prejudice, anger, attack, and so on. People thinks that fear is about a sense that we are lack control or we have lost or will lose control and It creates boundaries and impedes all connection (http://www.purposefairy.com/1303/do-you-love-or-do-you-fear/).

Fear is an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. Fear causes anticipation in one’s mind and an awareness of danger. It is the most general term and implies anxiety and loss of courage. Fear is a natural emotion but having knowledge about ones surroundings can give enough courage to face those fears with some confidence. And that little bit of confidence is what one needs to safely overcome the challenge.

          The researcher read an article entitled “Mastering Fear” written by Rabbi Noah Weinberg. According to this article, Fear is something we've all experienced and most of us would label as a negative or uncomfortable emotion. It is like any other emotion—there are both positive and negative aspects. Negative fear is debilitating. Positive fear is exhilarating. With fear, you are out of the dream world and 100 percent into reality. It means negative fear make (someone) weak while positive fear make (someone) feel very happy (http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/mastering-fear/ ).

         Fear is something that people can (and SHOULD) learn to transform into love. Every single time, Love is real. Choosing a loving thought or action will bring people toward peace and happiness. Love is where people want to mother from and where they true and best selves lie. It is when they feel connected to their hearts, not their egos. When they "love that fear", are basically telling their egos to (lovingly) step aside so that our hearts can guide us. When people transform fear into love they can get many positive effects   

A study entitled “When feeling bad is expected to be good: Emotion regulation and outcome expectancies in social conflicts” by Tamir M, Ford BQ. A study has shown that we as humans regulate our emotions using an instrumental approach in order to benefit us. The most common unpleasant emotions to be used are fear and anger. These emotions typically cause the body to release adrenaline causing a ‘rush’ – just think of ‘adrenaline junkies’ who thrive off bigger and bigger highs. So in this case, fear is considered positive, it is considered pushing the mind and body to its outer limits for the ‘thrill’. In some psychotherapy approaches, fear is considered an emotion that aims to be ‘conquered’. This is typically seen in behavioral therapy using systematic desensitization to overcome phobias. This may not seem positive but surely after patients have overcome their fear, there is a feeling of accomplishment and a renewed strength (Tamir, 2012).

People should acknowledge the fear they are experiencing. Allow that it is a positive thing within them that warns them of some impending danger or harm. And then, analyze it to see if it is real or imagined, justified or not. When they recognize it's positive intent, it is no longer something to immobilize them, but quite the reverse, they can jump into action to remedy 'why' they are fearful.

According to Faith Gallup, fear in itself is not bad. It is by God’s design that we have an autonomic nervous system, for survival. When there is some life threatening situation, like an oncoming train, our body reacts instantly. A surge of adrenaline pumps through our body, allowing us to “fight or flight.” We have instant energy (and usually without thinking) to stay and fight the train, or run away. When we decide to run, and we are safely out of harm’s way, we are supposed to calm down, and return to normal state, without the level of adrenaline previously required.

Fear has two messages: Fight or flight. Some typically react to fear actively (fight), while others react passively (flight). Fight when someone is ready to face the situation or agree to fight with that. Flight, when someone runs or get scared without facing the problem.

According to Christine Louise Hohlbaum, Fear is not always a bad thing. It can sometimes move us to greatness. Fear is a tricky human emotion. It can paralyze you. It can keep you from your dreams. It can keep you small. It can also keep you safe. Fear can be your friend in just the right doses, but too much of it can kill you. Love your fear. That's all it needs. It only grows when people let it consume them and that usually happens when they forget how helpful their fear is trying to be. It really wants their best, however irrational it sometimes is. Fear can be a very good thing indeed (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-slow/201307/the-benefits-fear).

         

The researcher read an article entitled “Motivated by Fear: Exploring How Negative Feedback Influences Performance”. According to this article, Fear can interfere with, compete with and overtake any ongoing activity, it can be the strongest motivational state known. It will lead to the greatest persistence in behavior with only occasional re-occurrences for maintenance of a given behavior. Fear works as a motivator for individuals with obsessive passion. People who are afraid of living in poverty may be motivated to pursue any career option in order to avoid financial destitution. In a similar way, individuals who are afraid that they may develop specific health-related problems may work tirelessly to maintain optimal physical condition. Fear often has been linked to motivation, both positively and negatively (http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/fear-failure-motivation-performance-0829121).

 

          Fear is good because it means you’re thinking of, moving towards, and considering something unconventional… So in that sense, fear is the first step in the journey you’re about to embark on. It’s an inbuilt threat alert system which helps us filter the bad and dangerous situations and happenings. Fear is there to alert people and at time to protect them from an imminent danger. Fear increases and enhances their sensory awareness of the environment, so that they can be prepared to protect their selves from anything potentially threatening or harmful.

According to Scott, Fear can be a powerful ally, instead of just an obstacle to overcome. It has the power to focus you on what’s important, prepare for upcoming challenges and be cautious in unknown situations. Fear can be helpful if: you fear the right things, you understand the fear, you control the fear and you use the fear. Fears can be good and it can be harmful. It depends on how you use them (http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2010/10/14/fear-is-good/).

Fear is a strong motivator. It motivates people to do their best and alerts them to threats but if fear controls people and makes them to avoid every situation that they can't enjoy life will be labeled as a negative fear. It can help us if we use it constructively. When we feel fear, it is our body responding to conscious or unconscious signals that something is 'off' or 'wrong' in a situation. The blood rushes out of the stomach, creating that "butterfly" sensation (the body has decided that digestion is NOT a priority at this moment). The body releases adrenaline and the heart starts pounding faster trying to get oxygen out to the limbs. All of this is an "emergency gear" the body can slip into in an emergency. People are often able to perform feats in this physical state that they would not be capable of under regular/normal circumstances.

Personally, the researcher looks upon fear as a positive emotion. Researcher knows that uncontrolled this emotion can breed many negative results but when controlled it can lead to good results.

  II.        Benefits of Fear

     A. Fear alerts peoples to threats.

Fear can be a really useful gut-response that helps peoples to anticipate and to respond more quickly to a genuine threat. If something is unfamiliar, it might be dangerous, so, whenever they’re in unfamiliar territory, fear crops up and alerts them to pay attention. And of course, from a survival point of view, that’s really useful.

     B. Fear motivates people.

Fear drives peoples to find new resources and options within their selves, and without. Take the fear of rejection, or the fear of loss for example. In those instances fear will often push people to do whatever it’s necessary to overcome those experiences by tapping into resources you didn’t know were there. Fear compels people to make that extra effort to succeed in their endeavors’ and achieve what they desire.

           C. Fear lets peoples know what’s important to them.

Think about it: when something isn’t important to people, they probably don’t care what happens with it, and they won’t feel fear then. It’s the stuff that’s closest to their hearts that peoples really care about, that they feel the most fear about – because it matters to them how things work out. With so many choices available to them these days, alot of creative people find it difficult to figure out what’s really important to them and decide what they want in life. A really counter-intuitive, but easy way to figure whether something is genuinely important to you is to notice how much fear you have about it. The more important it is to you, the bigger your fear will probably be.

D. Fear builds confidence.

When people do something that scares them, they become stronger. And self-confidence is the result of having successfully survived a risk. Doing something risky, something that scares people, will make a person stronger and help peoples grow in confidence. Each step outside their comfort zone and into fear builds that muscle. As that muscle gets stronger and stronger so does their spirit.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

A.  Background of the Study

           

Of all the four letter words there are, people despise none more than the word fear. That single word has been the root cause of more failed people than any other word. Perhaps the thing people fear most is failure, because it leads to poverty, which is their real fear. Fear is apparently a universal emotion; all persons, consciously or unconsciously, have fear in some sort.

Fear is without doubt one of the most common moods and emotions human experience.  It is by blind habit considered one of the “bad” emotions.  Fear lives in the neighborhood of anxiety and worry and keeps company with anger, greed, and jealousy.  It is rare to find anyone who embraces fear or sees it as a valuable emotion. 

http://www.newfieldnetwork.com/New2/News/1011/Art/

According to Michael J. Formica, “Fear is manifested as our everyday anxieties where we find ourselves living in the regret of the past, or grasping at the future. Fear is more of an illusion than a reality, the probability of gaining control over it or other debilitating emotion is very high”.  Fear is like any other emotion, there are both positive and negative aspects. Negative fear is debilitating. Positive fear is exhilarating.

Fear is an unpleasant feeling of perceived risk or danger, whether it be real or imagined. Fear also can be described as a feeling of extreme dislike towards certain conditions, objects or situations such as: fear of darkness, fear of ghosts, etc. Fear may underlie some phenomena of behavior modification, although these phenomena can be explained without adducing fear as a factor in them. Furthermore, application of aversive stimuli is also often ineffective introducing change in the behavior intended to be changed. Humans can become very intimidated by fear; causing them to go along with one's wishes without caring about their own input. They can also become equally violent, and can even become deadly; it can cause an instinctive reaction to rising adrenaline levels rather than a consciously thought-out decision.

( http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/f/fear.htm )

According to Saberi Roy, A psychology of fear would distinguish fear as an emotion and fear as a feeling, fear as conscious and fear as unconscious as well as fear with bodily reactions and fear without bodily reactions and fear in anxiety and fear in phobias. It would be important to understand why fear occurs and what are the bodily reactions when fear is a strong conscious emotion and how this differs from fear as a feeling which may not have bodily reactions and could be conscious but would more likely would be unconscious.

(http://www.futurehealth.org/articles/The-Psychology-of-Fear-by-Saberi-Roy-100903-820.html )

Fear is an internal condition that is caused by a real or perceived threat of disaster. From the point of view of psychology, fear is negatively colored emotional process. In the Theory of Differential Emotions by K. Izard, fear is attributed to the basic emotion that implies fear to be an innate emotional process with genetically predetermined physiological component, strictly defined facial expression and specific subjective experience. The causes of fear can be real or imaginary danger. Fear mobilizes the body for the implementation of avoiding behaviors.

( http://usefulresearchpapers.com/research-paper-on-fear/ )

According to Ross L. Talbott, fear can be positive and a negative emotion. Fear is an interesting attribute that we share with much of creation. In positive way fear is survival mechanism and motivates people to do their best. On the other hand, fear can also be a negative emotion, which destroy our future by controlling peoples. Fear in areas of life can paralyze people into inaction.

Even if there were a lot of studies done but only few of them can explain well that fear can be a positive emotion that s why researcher chooses this topic to clarify the misconception of the people that fear is not a negative emotion but also a positive emotion and tell them more about fear. Fear is a very serious emotion. It can be helpful, for assisting people in surviving, or be used to drive someone mad. It has a lot of benefits to the people who always countered fear.

Instead of dealing with the types of fear, this research paper focuses to enhance the understanding of the readers about fear and what are the benefits people can get from it.

B.   Statement of the Problem

     

       This study aims to answer this Question:

         

       1. What is fear and what are the benefits people can get from it?

C.   Significance of the Study

College and High school students. This research paper would be able to help students in choosing their liked and dreamed courses and in their daily basis decision making. Students will not get scare of doing or making a risky and hard decision in their life. Students will learn to face the fear and to overcome it. In addition, Students will learn how to overcome the fear and make it as a best friend, preparing you for progress.

For people who are always fear to do new things. This study will helps people who are afraid to go out of their Comfort Zone and people who are scare to present their views or ideas about the certain topic. Peoples who are stop pursing their dreams because of the fear of failure. In this paper, these people will learn to control and to face their fear and lastly, these people will learn to turn it into a positive feeling.

Readers. The information presented in this paper may contribute to one's own knowledge about fears and can be an additional tool to all the readings that the readers may have done so far. This study will make the readers to be aware of the benefits that a person can get by fear. Through this research, they will be able to understand how the fear can help ones to live a better life.

Future Researcher. This study will adequately help future researchers to make similar studies; since, there are still lots of concerns regarding the fear that are not discuss in this research paper due to the time constraint. This study can encourage future researchers to further study about this subject matter. This research paper can also be utilized as a source of valuable data and information that is also based on other researches and studies. Future researchers will benefit from this study, and it will provide them the facts needed to compare their study during their respective time and usability.

D.   Scope and Delimitation

This study focuses in the fear and what are the benefits that people can get from it.  Fear is said a powerful and primitive human emotion. It alerts us to the presence of danger and was critical in keeping our ancestors alive; but in these times, it is said to be a negative emotion which break or worse ones future. This study will discuss about why fear is identified as bad and the benefit that ones can get by fear and lastly how to overcome fear or turn it into a positive emotion.

Due to time constraints, this study will no longer discuss the types of fear. Moreover the researcher believes that fear have been identified by people as a negative feeling. Therefore, this study would most relevant to the continuing trend. Researcher think origin of fear lies in the unknown. Be it the darkness, ghosts, weather calamities or whatever is unknown to the man is feared the most.

E.   Materials and Methods

The research design used in this study is the clarify misconception in mhich the researcher will explain and elaborate the misconception of the people about fear. Information relevant to the study was gathered from various reference materials such as books, electronic articles, and journal articles. The data collected were used to answer the aforementioned question aimed by this research paper. 

F.   Definition of Terms

Anxiety.  A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.

Aversive stimulus. Any negative stimulus to which an organism will learn to make a response that avoids it.   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=aversive%20stimulus

Comfort Zone.  A  place or situation in which you feel safe or comfortable, especially when you choose to stay in this situation, instead of trying to work harder or achieve more.     

                                                          

Constraints. A limitation or restriction.

Debilitating things. Things that can stop you from reaching a goal.

Exhilarating.  Making one feel very happy, animated, or elated; thrilling. Causing strong feelings of excitement and happiness.

Illusion.  An instance of a wrong or misinterpreted perception of a sensory experience. In other words, something that looks or seems different from what it is: something that is false or not real but that seems to be true or real. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illusion).

Misconception. A view or opinion that is incorrect because based on faulty thinking or understanding.

Phenomenon. An occurrence, circumstance, or fact that is perceptible by the senses.

Blogpost 8: Our Greatest Fear

             While I was thinking about my next topic, the question in my mind came that what is people greatest fear? Then I decided to search about it and make it as my blog. By the way, I am taking a public speaking now and it is one of my fear. When I speech, my body starts shaking and heart beats get faster. In this blog you will know greatest fear of people. Guess it if you can! Don’t cheat! Death, Failure, Rejection or Heights that what you are thinking of but they are not the greatest fear. Just give up and read this blog to find the answer. 

                                           

 I read an article entitled “OurGreatest fear: Public Speaking” written by Laura West. According to this article, three out of every four individuals suffer from speech anxiety. Some people think the greatest fear is fear of death, but the number one fear is anxiety to speaking in public. Three out of every four individuals suffer from speech anxiety. Up to 5 percent of the world population, hundreds of millions aged between 18 and 54, experience this kind of social phobia in any given year. Women and men are equally affected.  She said our fear of speaking in front of others comes from our elementary days at school when we were called upon to recite or read in front of the class.

          Fear of public speaking or Glossophobia is a common phobia. It can range from slight nervousness to paralyzing fear and panic. Many people with a fear of public speaking avoid public speaking situations altogether, or they suffer through them with shaking hands and a quavering voice, just like me. But with preparation and persistence, we can overcome our fear. People fear public speaking more than anything else. Anxiety over a simple presentation can be debilitating. Moreover, sufferers are typically embarrassed and reluctant to admit they have a problem. They hide a deep concern about the phobia's effect on their careers in an industry that values presentation skills so highly.

 I think public speaking is scary because you're out there to the world exposed and in the spotlight. It's far more attention than most people want, especially those  who are self-conscious. Becoming comfortable with public speaking aligns with becoming comfortable with oneself. Now this fear is much more understandable to me. This must be one of most people's deepest fears - even those who are expert public speakers like US President Barack Obama, He get nervous beforehand, I'm sure. This fear is all about everybody taking notice of you, and listening to what YOU have to say. And... this is all about something that many people fear because they just don't do it often enough. So even though this fear is common - perhaps our greatest fear? 

         The absolutely worst thing you can do is ignore your fear and shy away from speaking publicly. Reducing your fear and anxiety is all about reducing your isolation and boosting your confidence. The only way to do that is to understand it, work at it, and get out there and speak.

Blogpost 7: Face Fear and Move Forward

Our fears are debilitating things that rob us of our energy, our dreams and our opportunity for redemption. They are very much like rubber bands flinging us back and forth into our comfort zones the moment we try and expand the possibilities. Our fears are indeed horrible figments of our imaginations, much like dreams seemingly real, yet completely fictional occurrences taking shape within the recesses of our minds.

           I noticed a long time ago that fear often comes packaged with enthrallment. We don't look away from accidents or guns; we give them our rapt attention. This tendency has obvious evolutionary advantages it's safer to keep deadly objects front-of-mind than to ignore them and as a result, our brains seem to be hardwired so that scary experiences contain hidden fascination, and fascinating experiences are often scary.

 I read an article entitled “Overcoming Fear in 8 Steps” by Dr. Carmen Harra.  I learned that  role of fear is to keep us safe, we do ourselves no favor by living in fear. To awaken our potential and draw in bigger possibilities, we must eradicate fear from our lives through daily efforts which promote our strength and self-security. After all, we all possess the inherent trait of everlasting courage which can guide us through most thing. Fear exists in our minds and manifests through our actions. Conquering our fears begins with the acknowledgment that oftentimes fear is a decision, not an inherent trait or needed component of life.

She included the eight steps to fearlessness into our everyday life and feel our fears melt away which are:

F -- Face the truth: Face the truth of your fears. Face what scares you head-on, and challenge your trepidation. 

E -- Erase negative imprints: Many times, your fears stem from your own negative experiences or from witnessing the hardships of those around you. It must be dealt with and its mental imprints removed permanently.

A -- Allow change:  Allow necessary changes to come your way, even if they may seem frightening at first. Every instance of change serves a purpose towards your highest good, and you will learn this in time.

R -- Relax:  It's essential that you take time out for yourself to relax and meditate and alleviate your anxieties. So calm down, take a breather and remind yourself that you will be shown how to resolve all things.

L -- Listen to your intuition: If you learn how to follow it, your intuition can banish your fears. This is because your intuition is like a mental GPS into the future, so that you can sense what's to come, where you need to go and ease your apprehensions of what tomorrow might hold.

E -- End feuds:  In order to nurture fearlessness, you must make peace with those around you and understand that their intentions are not to cause you harm.

S -- Selectivity:. You have to pursue things which don't inspire fear in you and make you feel completely comfortable. Select a vision for your future and stick to that mental projection until you've brought it fully to life.

S - Secure in yourself: In order to shun fear forever, you have to work on your self-esteem.  When you constantly live in the mindset of "I can't do it" or, "I'm not good enough," you narrow your window of success to a very slim opening and inadvertently put yourself down.

 I believe that  fears you don’t face become your limits. And the doubts you don’t deal with become your walls. Fear is the enemy of success. Large rewards only result from taking comparably large risks. If you're ruled by fear, you'll never take enough risks and never achieve success you deserve. Fear keeps us in the background. It convinces us we can never accomplish our dreams, tells us to keep quiet, and separates us from the ones we love. Fear has an unparalleled ability to freeze us in our tracks, and limit what we are willing to try. Fear makes us lead a smaller life.  Now, I'm actually really excited whenever I discover something that I'm afraid to do, because I know that something wonderful is going to happen--provided I summon the courage to take action.

I read another article which is “Facing Fear and Finding Freedom” by Joyce Meyer. According to this article, Fear is not from God but from Satan. Every time we feel fear in our life, it's a manifestation of the kingdom of darkness. Fear is the "master spirit." It's the spirit Satan uses to try to rule God's people and keep them from coming under the leadership of the true Master, Jesus Christ. Satan uses fear to keep people from enjoying life. Fear brings torment, and you surely can't enjoy life and be tormented at the same time.

         I believe that when we have already predicted the outcome for our self, we have already paralyzed our self from taking action.  It then becomes even harder to carry out whatever it is, we need to do as our subconscious mind has already told our conscious self what the outcome is, we then find our self-more stressed than before!  What we need to do is, replace these negative thoughts and worries with positive thoughts, and we do this by recalculating these risks from a positive side.  Once we have done this and analyzed our predictions and how we had come to them, then we can start the rehabilitation process of ridding our fears and keeping a positive attitude.

Blogpost 6: Consequences of Fear

          There are many things that we can be scared of or that bring about fear in us all in some way. What most people overlook however is that all fear actually comes from the same place, and is for the same functional reason. There are positive and negative consequences of fear, however fear is still a useful evolutionary tool in human survival. Fear is something we've all experienced and most of us would label as a negative or uncomfortable emotion Just a few days ago, when I was reciting my speech front of the audience my body was shaking, and my heart was beating so fast because of this, I’m doing awkward movement like holding an object.

         I read an article entitled “The Consequences of Fear” by Psychic Phillip. According to this article Fear causes people to stay in toxic relationships. Fear causes people to resist change. Fear causes people to repeat patterns in their lives that never worked for them and never will. Fear is about survival. Even when the threat is long past, the ego remembers and still reacts and controls. The cost to us is happiness and growth. Over time, we get further and further from our heart and our deepest longing. For many, pain defines their lives. Change can be a fearful worry to be avoided, even when necessary.

            For my own opinion, Fear effects are a form of crowd control that makes a victim to run in random directions, unable to perform most actions for a period of time. Feared creatures have a chance to break Fear when damaged. Any Fear, no matter the duration listed, will last a maximum of 8 seconds. The fact that we still have fears today and that they are still useful is testament to their being a good and not bad thing to have. There are a lot of seemingly irrational fears around today, but these likely are associated with something that was or is still dangerous, and so even these are a good thing.


             I read an article entitled “Side Effectsof Fear” by Charles Stanley.  According to this article Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. Fear hinders us from becoming the people God wants us to be. When we are dominated by negative emotions, we cannot achieve the goals He has in mind for us. A lack of self-confidence stymies our belief in what the Lord can do with our lives.  Fear can drive people to destructive habits.  Fear steals peace and contentment. 

          As I know, Fear effects have a damage limit, which appears to be based on level. Once the target takes a certain amount of damage, the fear effect will be broken, regardless of any remaining duration. This can allow you to deal a fair amount of damage to the target before it does so. Melee targets will also have to run back to the caster in order to resume attacking them, allowing ranged classes more time to deal damage. Ranged types may therefore wish to decide how far to allow melee targets to run before attacking, ideally leaving them with a long run back.

Blogpost 5: How Fear Works?

           It's dark out, and you're home alone. The house is quiet other than the sound of the show you're watching on TV. You see it and hear it at the same time: The front door is suddenly thrown against the door frame. Your breathing speeds up. Your heart races. Your muscles tighten. A split second later, you know it's the wind. No one is trying to get into your home.
     
         For a split second, you were so afraid that you reacted as if your life were in danger, your body initiating the fight-or-flight response that is critical to any animal's survival. But really, there was no danger at all.

I read an article entitled “How Fear Works” written by Faith Gallup.  According to this article, Fear in itself is not bad. It is by God’s design that we have an autonomic nervous system, for survival. When there is some life threatening situation, like an oncoming train, our body reacts instantly. A surge of adrenaline pumps through our body, allowing us to “fight or flight.” We have instant energy (and usually without thinking) to stay and fight the train, or run away. When we decide to run, and we are safely out of harm’s way, we are supposed to calm down, and return to normal state, without the level of adrenaline previously required. Our brain should do this, but sometimes it doesn’t always work that well. Sometimes, if we have had some trauma or very difficult things happened in our lives, the brain stays in fear mode. The activated state maintains the fear because the emotional memory has not been worked through. Even though the environment or dangerous situation is in the past, we carry the feeling of “…something’s wrong…” and physiologically we are still on hyper-arousal. So the brain says, “There must be some danger,” and creates thoughts and belief systems to support and explain where the danger is coming from.

               I learned that fight or flight reaction that occurs in the presence of something that is terrifying, either mentally or physically or one of the ways we can react when under stress. Essentially, the response prepares the body to either fight or flee the threat. It is also important to note that the response can be triggered due to both real and imaginary threats. Understanding the purpose of the fight or flight response can lead to greater insights into our own behavior when we’re stressed out. Even though the fight or flight response is automatic, it isn't always accurate. In fact most of the time when the fight or flight response is triggered it is a false alarm - there is no threat to survival.

              I read an another article entitled “About Fear and Panic” written by Mary Brandl. In this article, the human "fight or flight" response is instinctive. It can help us if we use it constructively. When we feel fear, it is our body responding to conscious or unconscious signals that something is 'off' or 'wrong' in a situation. The blood rushes out of the stomach, creating that "butterfly" sensation (the body has decided that digestion is NOT a priority at this moment). The body releases adrenaline and the heart starts pounding faster trying to get oxygen out to the limbs. All of this is an "emergency gear" the body can slip into in an emergency. People are often able to perform feats in this physical state that they would not be capable of under regular/normal circumstances.

           I always have a question in mind that how our body parts act when we are afraid or scared? In this article I found an answer to my question that . When we sense danger, the brain reacts instantly, sending signals that activate the nervous system. This causes physical responses, such as a faster heartbeat, rapid breathing, and an increase in blood pressure. Blood pumps to muscle groups to prepare the body for physical action (such as running or fighting). Skin sweats to keep the body cool.The important thing to take away is that the fight or flight response is an automatic response.

Blogpost 4: Fear can be Good and Bad

What is fear's purpose? How do you handle it? For instance, fear is something we've all experienced and most of us would label as a negative or uncomfortable emotion. While I am studying in college, I meet students on an almost daily basis who are influenced by negative fear thoughts.

Thinking about why people do this, makes me wonder about the purpose of Fear emotions. I really started wondering as to how many people really do allow Fear, anxiety, worry, etc. to freeze them into inaction in everyday life. They achieve a very negative result, one which I have to think, is not what they really want.

          I read an article entitled “Mastering Fear” written by Rabbi Noah Weinberq. In this article it is said that fear is like any other emotion—there are both positive and negative aspects. Negative fear is debilitating. Positive fear is exhilarating. With fear, you are out of the dream world and 100 percent into reality. It means negative fear make (someone) weak while positive fear make (someone) feel very happy. Personally, I look upon fear as a positive emotion. I know that uncontrolled this emotion can breed many negative results. But when controlled, this emotion can spur you into action like no other I know of. And I think that this is truly the reason for fear. Think of it as your best friend, preparing you for progress. Make friends with the unknown.         
       
             As I know that good side of fear is it alerts us to threats. Sometimes our fear can be a really useful gut-response that helps us anticipate and respond more quickly to a genuine threat. If something is unfamiliar, it might be dangerous, so, whenever we’re in unfamiliar territory, fear crops up and alerts us to pay attention. And of course, from a survival point of view, that’s really useful. Whereas,  Bad side of fear it takes away our creativity, imagination, freedom and peace. Fear stops us from pursuing our dreams. Fear destroys relationships and can make us physically ill. These four letters, FEAR, represent the most powerful negative emotion that exists.

         I read an article entitled “Fear-Good or Bad? Eliminate?” by Kevin Hogan. According to this article Fear evolved early in animal-kind and human-kind to keep us alive and to survive. Fear is a feeling, often intense and can cause you to feel anywhere from avoidant, to nervous, to panic, to phobic, to terror. It has two messages: Fight or Run. Fear is without question the most important of all the emotions. Fear can be triggered by thousands of different stimuli. It means that every time we do something we counter fear.

For me, Fear is positive when it motivates you to get out of a bad situation such as an animal chasing you or getting out of a burning car. Negative if it controls you and makes you avoid every situation so that you can't enjoy life. We should acknowledge the fear we are experiencing. Allow that it is a positive thing within us that warns us of some impending danger or harm. And then, analyze it to see if it is real or imagined, justified or not. When we recognize it's positive intent, it is no longer something to immobilize us, but quite the reverse, we can jump into action to remedy 'why' we are fearful.

This is only one person's opinion, but I feel it is better to believe in something beneficial that I can take control of, rather than be at it's mercy!.