I think most everyone would agree that these are fear-filled times. It is hard to avoid the news, and every day seems to bring more frightening reports.
I thought exploring the subject of fear might be helpful for all of us. Information can be a powerful tool to aid us in exploring the subject of fear, giving us a way to both reduce our fears and to manage those fears.
Let’s begin by defining fear. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, fear is “an unpleasant emotion or thought that you have when you are frightened or worried by something dangerous, painful, or bad that is happening or might happen.” Fear is a normal and healthy reaction to danger. As Gavin de Becker says in his book, The Gift of Fear, “Anxiety, the feeling from which worry stems is always caused by uncertainty.” He also states that “nature’s greatest accomplishment, the human brain, is never more efficient or invested than when its host is at risk.” He notes that, “Real fear is a signal intended to be very brief, a mere servant of intuition. But though few would argue that extended, unanswered fear is destructive, millions choose to stay there. They may have forgotten or never learned that fear is not an emotion like sadness or happiness, either of which might last a long time. It is not a state, like anxiety. True fear is a survival signal that sounds only in the presence of danger, yet unwarranted fear has assumed power over us that it holds over no other creature on earth.”
When children are overwhelmed by fear, are continually traumatized by chronic forms of abuse or neglect, or are “marinated in fear” as Bruce Perry wrote in The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, they are much less able to move from fear or an extreme state of terror to less aroused brain states.
According to Louis Cozolino in his book The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy: Healing the Social Brain, “Learning anything positive, including love, requires freedom from fear. … If we learn not to fear in early relationships, we will enter subsequent relationships assuming that others are trustworthy, caring, and dependable. … The most important aspect of early attachment relationships is the establishment of a sense of safety. In the same way, establishing and maintaining trust is the first and most important order of business in a therapeutic or teacher–student relationship. Anxiety and fear are endogenous signals to help us stay clear of danger. The problem is that the amygdala [the part of the brain that stores memories] has a great memory, loves to generalize, and is always adding to the ‘things to avoid’ list.” This means that some of us are preprogrammed to be fearful and have a fear brain state that is easily triggered.
The person who has experienced acute, chronic or complex trauma is at greater risk for post-traumatic stress and/or PTSD, and for having stronger and more intense reactions whenever perceiving danger and the resulting experience of fear. As Cozolino points out, “The classic ‘response’ to the threatening cues involves activation of the autonomic nervous system. Originally described by Cannon this ‘fight or flight’ reaction involves the physiological manifestations of alarm, arousal and the emotion of anxiety (e.g., profuse sweating, tachycardia, rapid respiration). These physical symptoms are manifestations of activation of the autonomic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary axis…again, an adaptive response to the impending threat.” When it comes to PTSD, Cozolino states, “The physiological hyper-reactivity of post-traumatic stress disorder is a cue-evoked ‘state’ memory. The brain has taken a pattern of neuronal activation previously associated with fear and now, will ‘act’ in response to this false signal. The ‘recall’ of traumatic state memories underlies many of the abnormally persistent characteristics of the once-adaptive response to threat (see Perry). This persistence of the ‘fear’ state and the ability of now non-threatening cues to become paired to a full-blown threat response is related to the remarkable capacity of the human brain to make associations.”
So what can we do? Cozolino explains the neurobiology of changing the automatic fear response can happen through processes of extinction, and includes exposure, relaxation training, and response prevention.
Ultimately in these fear-filled times, we want to find ways to control our fear, manage it, and reassure ourselves and those in our lives that there are many reasons to know we are safe and will survive the current crisis. As a country, we have survived a civil war, two world wars and other national crises. We are a creative people, resilient and highly capable. As individuals and collectively, we can manage fears and override them with our abilities to process, find our confidence and connect with others who can be supportive.
Invitation for Reflection
- To what degree are you experiencing fear as so many things are happening in our country and in other countries.
- What specifically do you fear?
- What information in this blog was helpful to you? How can you apply it in your life?
- How can you use the information to help the children and other people in your life?
Diane Wagenhals
Director Emeritus, Lakeside Global Institute