What is FEAR in psychology?

We have all felt the paralyzing sensation that fear produces, as it is a normal and natural emotion in many animals, including humans. But sometimes it can become a hindrance. In this Psychology-Online article, what is fear in psychology, we talked about it. You will be able to better understand what fear is and how it works, what it is for and how to differentiate "good" fear from "bad" fear. You will also be able to discover the main psychological techniques to overcome fear.

Index

1. What is fear? Definition
2. Types of fear in psychology
3. Overcoming fear: psychological techniques

Fear is one of basic emotions and also considered an emotion primary and universal. Fear is an emotion that generates great consequences on the organism and that has been found in people of all the cultures that have been studied. Fear is born in our brain, which originates the alarm reaction of the organism. The main brain structure responsible for the fear response is the amygdala.

Sometimes being afraid is unpleasant, which is why it has been labeled a negative emotion. Nothing could be further from reality, because feeling emotions is always positive, whatever it may be. All emotions, well regulated and managed, are good for us. All emotions have their why and exercise their function. So, you ask yourself:

What is fear for?

As we said, if fear is present in all human beings, it is for something! Fear is a mechanism to adapt to the environment and its dangers. Its function is to protect us against risky situations. Fear is activated when it detects a threat, causing us to withdraw from this situation. This threat can be to our physical integrity or our life, as well as to our reputation, our self-esteem, self-concept or our security, depending on the idea and beliefs that we have when respect. So fear is an emotion that reacts depending on our mental filters. Ultimately, fear helps us get away from an event that we are not prepared to face.

What if fear did not exist? As we have seen, fear has a fundamental function: ensure our survival. If we weren't afraid, we would die. Without fear, we would act recklessly and endanger our lives, so we would probably die.

For all these reasons, fear is of great importance. It acts as a regulator of our behavior, warning us of dangers. As a prudent mother would do: fear takes care of us.

Fear itself is positive and essential, but sometimes it is a problem. When is fear a problem? When the fear we feel is dysfunctional, that is, when the situation that generates fear is not a danger real, when the consequence of feeling that fear is even worse for us than what would happen if we did not feel afraid. Therefore, we can differentiate two types of fear:

• Functional fear, which is activated in the face of real danger and helps us survive. Functional fear is adaptive because it allows us to adapt our behavior to situations, to our benefit. This fear is useful because it makes us alert to a situation that carries some risk and to act for our benefit in dangerous circumstances. For example, the one that makes us not walk in the middle of the highway or along the edge of an abyss, or the one that makes us go to the doctor.
• Dysfunctional fear It is the one that hinders our life and our normal performance. It is not adaptive nor useful to us. For example, when there is a strong fear of airplanes and that transport is not used, with the consequence of doubling the travel time, in addition to reducing comfort. This fear is not only due to a real danger, but to the set of experiences and beliefs that form the cognitive filter of a person, through which reality is observed and interpreted.

How can we overcome fear? It is important to know that fear does not disappear, as it is a necessary emotion that goes with us, but we can learn to use it to our advantage. The cognitive behavioral therapy techniques They are effective in learning to regulate and adaptively manage emotions, including fear. The important points to overcome fear are:

Cognitive restructuring to overcome fear

In the first place, we can influence these irrational beliefs so that the cognitive filter allows a more adaptive interpretation of reality. This is accomplished by detecting automatic thoughts and irrational beliefs, questioning them, and replacing them with more adaptive thoughts.

Coping

On the other hand, we must stop avoiding situations so as not to reinforce, perpetuate and aggravate fear. Faced with a dysfunctional fear, the situation triggers a feeling of intense and annoying fear. When we avoid such a situation, the discomfort automatically lessens. This feeling of relaxation and less discomfort serves to reinforce the avoidance behavior. This is the way in which fear is reinforced, maintained, and even worsens and becomes generalized over time. For this reason, it is important to correctly manage dysfunctional fear as soon as possible, so that don't become a phobia. There are different psychological techniques to face fear, the most used are:

• Exposure techniques. They consist of being exposed in a controlled and prolonged way to the stimulus that activates the fear until the activation decreases. The exhibition can be in imagination, live or through virtual reality technological devices. Not only will we have to expose ourselves to the stimuli, but also to the symptoms that the activation produces. psychophysiological (increased heart and respiratory rate, sweating, trembling, etc.) so as not to develop fear of own fear.
• Systematic desensitization. It consists of exposing oneself to anxiety stimuli gradually and progressively, according to a previously established hierarchical list, with the aim of reducing psychophysiological activation.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is fear in psychology, we recommend that you enter our category of Emotions.

• André, C. (2006). Psicologia Del Miedo / The Psychology of the Fear: Temores, Angustias Y Fobias / Fright, Anguish and Phobias. Editorial Kairós.
• Capafons, J. I. (2001). Effective psychological treatments for specific phobiass. Psicothema, 13 (3).
• Fernández-Abascal, E. G., Rodríguez, B. G., Sánchez, M. P. J., Díaz, M. D. M., & Sánchez, F. J. D. (2010). Emotion psychology. Ramón Areces University Publishing House.