The Physiological Effects of Fear

Fear is a common human emotion, but the way some people react is different than others. Although, it is harder on some humans unlike other people. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,” Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.” I think that means that fear harms more people than anything else does in the whole world. Also that people can scare themselves way easier than normal and it’s not healthy.

Everybody has a different perspective on fear and everybody is affected differently. The Mental Health Foundation stated that, “Fear can last for a short time and then pass but it can also last much longer and stay with us. In some cases it can take over our lives, affecting appetite, sleep, and concentration for long periods of time. Fear stops us from travelling, going to work or school, or even leaving the house.” This quote shows that fear does not affect people as much as it does to others. Although, fear can affect people for a long time which can cause them to stay isolated from others. There are many types of fears and some examples of fears include: the fear of the number 13, the fear of spiders, the fear of heights, and many others. There are hundreds of fears and many people have these fears and everybody is affected differently.

Fear is one of the most crucial factors in decision-making as Fear is the main reason on why and how people make decisions in life. It controls the emotions how people everyone lives their lives. Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that something or someone is dangerous, and likely to cause pain or be a threat. Whether they admit it or not, everyone is afraid of something. When people are faced with fear, their reaction is either fight or flight. This comes back to instincts and how if someone perceives an event as harmful, then they will either try and flee to avoid it, or they will try and attack the harmful threat.

Fear is a powerful human emotion. It can make you do things you wouldn’t normally do, like risk taking and bad choices. Fear can spike your adrenaline. For example if someone was to lift a car off a run over child, that would be caused by adrenaline, which is caused by fear. According to several studies done by physicians

Fear is a chemical chain reaction in the brain. It is in the part of the brain that allows us to communicate and to speak with other people ("Layton, Julia"). The idea is an autonomic response in the brain with many parts of the brain involved. Fear starts with a scary stimulus and ends with a fight or flight response telling the human to fight back or run away. It starts with two processes the quick and messy way, and the clear and slow way ("Layton, Julia"). The quick way is when you are panicking and out of breath and the clear way takes a while and is when you calm down and realize it was nothing. Both of the processes happen simultaneously ("Layton, Julia"). The brain uses your blood stream and nervous system to create fear. When your muscles tighten and your heart races, you are probably in a state of fear. Without fear you would walk into traffic or pick up poisonous snakes. Fear saves our lives ("Layton,

Fear is just an Illusion; One that most innocent people can not control. Fear comes to a person when the person does not know what to do and is in an helpless position or in other words insecure. Unfortunately according to many sources a lot of human fear is based on social anxieties and threats. When someone puts one in a situation the person receiving the situation can not control it triggers hyperactivity in the amygdala which causes them to think irrationally. Without knowing what to do these innocent souls end up making the wrong decision and possibly ruin their lives.

The fight-or-flight response is a very important reaction of the human body. It can help us decide whether a situation is suitable to fight back or flee for safety. In many ways the fight-or-flight response can be useful in a stressful setting that would be difficult to decide for ourselves. Think of it as a bodyguard, it protects you when your body is faced with a risky situation. Likewise, it can tell your brain if a setting is too dangerous to fight in and would be better to just run. The fight-or-flight response is a real thing and not an excuse to act cowardly in dangerous situations. Studies have proven extensive research done by Walter Cannon on the autonomic nervous system and noticeable side effects such as: the chills, increased

Fear influences human behavior and the way people react to situations. When fear is perceived, the body starts to sweat, and a “fight or flight” reaction occurs. The body temperature is lowered down. The heart starts to pound and the body releases the hormone epinephrine into the bloodstream when it perceives a threat. This in turn increases the heart rate so that it moves blood into other parts of the body that may need it to act in the face of fear. Another side effect is shortness of breath, when nerves around the ribcage and torso are

Fear is something that large amounts of people have encountered at least once at some point in their lives. It has been said to have caused a variety of outcomes, many of them being largely negative. Therefore, it is a common human response to react to fear by counteracting it with positivity and/or success. The idea people have of what fear is depends on the person. In the article “How Fear Works”, for example, fear is defined as a “chain reaction in the brain that starts with a stressful stimulus and ends with the release of chemicals” (Layton 1). The website “Psychology Today” defines fear another way, calling it “a vital response to physical and emotional danger” ("Fear Paranoia”). There are several other definitions people have on the

protect a person, urging them to participate in a fight or to flee for their life. Throughout life,

The Involvement of Fear Fear can be described and characterized as being one of the most distressing and expressive emotions in the body. Not only does it assist in the formation of facial expressions as it utilizes our many facial muscles, but it also seems to trigger an intense physiological alteration to our body conditions as well. Whether you are from a Westernized culture or from a rare untouched civilization, the knowledge and interpretation of fear remains the same (Ekman & Friesen, 1971). It is an emotion that every mammal elicits and expresses at some point in their lives in response to an undesired stimulus. My experience with fear undeniably originates from various life events.

The fight or flight response is a complex response that affects a great deal of the body. Initially, a signal travels to the brain, to which the amygdala responds. The amygdala sends a nerve impulse to the hypothalamus, which sends a chemical signal to the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland then releases a hormone that travels to the adrenal gland, along with the nerve impulse from the hypothalamus. Within the adrenal gland, the impulse initiates the release of epinephrine and adrenaline, which affect various cell types. Inside the adrenal gland, the adrenal cells are affected by the presence of the hormone and activate the G protein complex. This complex stimulates adenylate cyclase, which converts ATP into cAMP. cAMP activates the protein Kinase A, or PKA, which releases catalytic subunits. These subunits travel to the mitochondrial membrane and activate the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein. This protein mediates importing cholesterol into the mitochondria, which uses enzymes to convert the cholesterol into 17-OH-pregnenolone. The pregnenolone is then released to the endoplasmic reticulum,

Fear is a feeling induced by experience, perceived danger, or watching a frightening traumatic accident. The fear responses arise from the perception of danger and ultimately a change in behaviour, such as fleeing, or hiding or from perceived traumatic events. Every person has fears and different fears may be different adaptations that have been useful in our evolutionary past. I have fears too, and sometime, I feel embarrassed to intersperse my fear with others.

Thereby it is not completely clear, what the causes for phobia are. Phobia is often caused by something scary that happened earlier in somebody’s life, but not every one develop phobias after special experiences. An explanation for this could be that for some people certain parts of the brain and specific neural pathways are associated with phobias. It is

According to my dictionary, Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. When the word "fear" comes to my mind, I think of an emotion that's caused by a bad situation. There are many things in this world that put fear in me. My greatest fears are computer viruses, thugs, sick people, and clowns. Each of these fears make me very scared and give me goosebumps.