Imaginary Dangers, Inexhaustible Sources Of Fear
It may be that the problem lies not in the real danger that lies before us. We ourselves may generate more fear than the one created by the situation. Our mind may sometimes be our worst enemy, generating, like a real image, those imaginary dangers from which we have all suffered at least once.
When the feeling of fear invades us, our body activates a whole circuit in order to protect us and prepare us for flight. For example, the body pumps more in case it is necessary to run, the sweat increases, breathing quickens, the digestive and immune systems stop spending energy in case it is necessary to struggle or to flee and a large amount of blood collects in our feet to facilitate a possible escape.
All of these reactions occur thanks to our survival instinct, a system prepared to respond quickly to danger. It is thanks to him that fear puts us on alert and keeps us active.
The problem with fear in today’s society is that many of the confrontational responses we should give to neutralize the perceived threat are not physical responses. No lions are chasing us. On the contrary, the most adaptive responses are often intellectual and do not require any physical expenditure. In contrast, our bodies have continued to react in the same way for centuries.
In fact, if there is one type of danger in the face of which the expenditure of energy is useless, it is in the face of imaginary dangers. What will happen if a plane crashes? Will I lose my a at the end of the year? Is anyone going to chase me down this street? Can my children go home on their own? Will my other half abandon me? All of this triggers the circuit shown above and puts the body on high alert, causing spikes in blood pressure that make no sense since we are not going to run.
Useless erosion in the face of imaginary dangers
As the scientist Robert Sapolsky explained, imaginary dangers generate physiological and psychic erosion due to the unconscious associations that we reinforce by making them frequently. It is strange to think that in animals, the mechanisms of fear activate only when a real danger exists. All of these circuits begin to function only when their life is in danger.
In the same way the imagination can activate these circuits, so we must use the same imagination to know how to slow them down. If we are able to imagine all the negative that could be happening, we can also activate the will to calm our body by imagining the opposite, that is, the positive that could also be happening.
We have the power, in the face of control of our thoughts, to hold the incessant beating of our heart, the trembling of our muscles or the sweat of our hands. All these manifestations are unpleasant and do not really help when we have to face an intellectual problem.
Fear can be a very high bar
The feeling of fear protects us, but it also prevents us from leaving our comfort zone behind. Supported by the survival instinct, the brain activates the fear circuit whenever it faces a potentially dangerous situation, to prevent us from suffering from the pain it anticipates.
On the other hand, knowing our fears will allow us to have them in mind by never giving the last word to what we do. It is about listening to the emotion and not giving it importance by closing your eyes. We value the dangers we may face by stepping into an unfamiliar area we have no control over, but we also weigh what we can gain from it. In many cases, the risk is well worth it.
We cannot give up once the fear circuit is activated. We acquire the tools that allow us to manage the situations in which fear is present, so that the result ends up being better.
Fear is an emotion that we should not and can in no way remove from our emotional palette, but the fact of identifying when it signals a real danger or when the stimulus that produces it is only a threat from our imagination is between our minds. hands. Fear protects us but sometimes putting it aside and giving the opportunity to risk showing itself allows us to keep moving forward.
Our thoughts Indeed, fear leaves us paralyzed and pensive in the face of all the possible reasons why this idea would make no sense and do not derail …
