We have much more animal essence than we imagine.
In our every movement, every deed sits an animal -
whether we like it or not.
For everything we do is done through reflexes.
We even think in reflexes.
Because thought - in the brain - is a series of electrical impulses.
And this is the reflex mechanism.
Therefore, in order to understand yourself,
you must first know the animal that is in you .
— What is fear?
What is horror?
- H what is anger, joy, euphoria?
All these are manifestations of the animal essence in man. For they are generated by the reflex activity of our body: emots and there are manifestations of only and only reflex activity. And in essence, they reflect the degree of satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) of reflexes.
Everything is very simple and logical.
Everything - absolutely everything - that we do, any act of our life activity, is carried out through reflexes. This was perfectly proved by the "father" of the physiology of higher nervous activity - I.P. Pavlov - back at the beginning of the last century. There is no other mechanism for the interaction of our body with the surrounding reality.
- If the reflex is not satisfied (the execution of the reflex did not lead to the elimination of the cause of the reflex), then the person experiences negative emotions: irritation, anger, fear, grief, etc.
- If the execution of the reflex ended successfully, then the person experiences positive emotions: satisfaction, joy, euphoria ...
The article is written in a language understandable for those who are not familiar with the physiology of higher nervous activity of a person. Pundits can get acquainted in more detail with the scientific justifications for some of the author's provisions in the book "Physiological Foundations of Psychology".
Let's imagine a hypothetical situation:
Some person needs to get from point A to point B. The path between points A and B runs along a mountain path. The travel time is 2 hours. Our traveler is young, strong, healthy. He walked along this path many times, he knows all its features very well. So he does not see any danger in this journey. Except for one fact: after 3 hours, an avalanche should descend from the top of the mountain, which will cover the path. But our traveler knows that he will cover the whole journey in two hours - as he always did, and he sets off.
Antagonism.
There is a threat to life here, in the form of an avalanche that will kill a person if it covers him on the path. He has a chance to die, but these chances are illusory. This threat is easily overcome: it is enough for a traveler to follow the path before an avalanche covers it. Since our traveler always made this journey in 2 hours, he will easily get away from this danger.
The presence of a constant, albeit weak, but still a threat to life, will cause the formation of a persistent focus of excitation in the brain. This focus of excitation will not disappear until the human senses report: "That's it, the dangerous section has been passed, the threat to life has been eliminated." Here there is a state of dissatisfaction of the reflex arc: until the sense organs continuously report the existence of a threat to life, and the execution of reflexes (in this case, movement reflexes) has not eliminated this threat.
This threat to life, where the chances of dying are very illusory, qualifies as easily overcome danger b, how mild degree dissatisfaction of the reflex arc.
Since the danger is illusory and far away, the signal radiated by the center of displeasure ( nerve center in the brain that radiates excitatory processes ) will be a weak signal. Its action lowers the excitability thresholds of reflex arcs of motor reflexes and nerve centers of the sense organs. Since the signal is weak, the decrease in the threshold of excitability will be insignificant. This state, on the scale of emotions is characterized as ANTAGONISM.
An easily overcome danger always means the presence in the central nervous system of ready-made reflex arcs that will eliminate this danger. The signal excites, first of all, these arcs. The reflex is fulfilled, and in the centers of displeasure and pleasure ( nerve center in the brain that radiates inhibition processes ) receive feedback signals about the performance of these reflex arcs. Since the execution of these reflexes (a sufficiently high walking speed, which allows you to pass the dangerous area in time) leads to a slow, but nevertheless, elimination of danger, the excitation does not spread further through the central nervous system, remaining within the listed reflex arcs.
Our traveler will be in a state of antagonism, this easily overcome danger will slightly disturb him, but no more. The traveler will move along the path with a firm step, confidently, at an accelerated pace. He will try not to think about the danger, but his thoughts will constantly return to it. All his actions will be concentrated and purposeful to fulfill the goal: to have time to go along the path before an avalanche covers it.
Anger.
Now imagine that our traveler suddenly had a problem: he stumbled and twisted his leg. It hurts to step on his foot, the speed of his progress has fallen sharply. The threat of death has increased, but the situation is far from hopeless: this man, even with a sore leg, will have time to walk along the path before the avalanche comes down.
The chances of dying under an avalanche have increased, but still, they are less than the chances of surviving. But in order to survive, he will now have to make much more effort and endure pain. The situation, thus, from an easily overcome danger, turned into insurmountable danger .
The state of our traveler on the tone scale is now defined as ANGER. In fact, this person will become very angry: at the stone on which he stumbled, at the foot that now causes so much trouble, at the path that stretches endlessly, at the relatives because of whom he set off, at himself, that he ventured on this journey, in the sun, which is so hot, in the bird that sings carelessly, in the avalanche - be it wrong! In general, he will be terribly angry at everything in the world.
What happens in the central nervous system of a person who finds himself in such a situation?
In the central nervous system of our traveler, as we know, there is already a persistent focus of weak excitation, aimed at eliminating the threat to life. In view of the easy surmountability of danger, this focus of excitation was limited: excitation covered the motor nerve centers of the skeletal muscles and the nerve centers of the sense organs. The reflexes of the instinct of self-preservation were fulfilled, the person confidently overcame the existing threat to his life.
But now the central nervous system receives information reporting a new obstacle that has arisen, which sharply increases the threat to life. This information is about the twisted leg. Information about the weak dissatisfaction of the reflex arcs of the instinct of self-preservation, which enters the center of displeasure, is replaced by information about the increased degree of dissatisfaction of the instinct: the sore leg sharply slowed down the speed of movement, which significantly increases the chances of dying under an avalanche.
This information leads to an increase in the excitatory signal coming from the center of displeasure. Which leads to a further decrease in the thresholds of excitability of the reflex arcs of the motor centers and nerve centers of the sensory organs. The power of excitement is growing. Now many impulses in reflex arcs, formerly of subthreshold strength, automatically acquire the threshold strength for these reflex arcs. Result: these reflexes begin to work, which leads to a sharp increase in motor activity. This should increase the speed of movement and, accordingly, increase the chances of salvation. A decrease in the excitability thresholds of the sense organs leads to the effect of irradiation of excitation through the central nervous system: now all signals coming from the outside have become stronger for the sense organs, which means the excitation of many reflex arcs for which these incoming signals were previously subthreshold strength.
The irradiation of excitation in the central nervous system is not a chaotic and disorderly process. First of all, the reflex arcs associated with the reflexes of the instinct of self-preservation, which contribute to the elimination of the threat to life, are excited. This contributes to a significant increase in the performance of reflexes. Despite a serious injury, our traveler, although more slowly, but also confidently, will move forward, moving away from danger, patiently enduring pain.
However, such irradiation also has a “side effect”: the instinct of self-preservation, in addition to the motor reflexes involved in the case under consideration, includes a large number of other reflexes associated with the reflexes of the instinct of self-preservation. As a result of strong irradiation of excitation, all these reflexes will be excited to one degree or another. As a result, we get that in addition to strengthening the main reflexes that eliminate danger, a whole “bouquet” of other reflexes of the self-preservation instinct is triggered, or is in readiness to trigger. A person, in addition to actions to fulfill his main goal, will sometimes perform unnecessary, superfluous actions in this situation, spray his attention on secondary facts. All this happens when a person is in a tone of anger.
Fear
- Body thinking is reflex thinking. This is the thinking of the somatic mind, which, as we understand, is able to think only by reflexes. Emotions, like reflexes, are the product of many millions of years of evolution of life on Earth. From this it is clear that the thinking of the body - reflex thinking - is always 100% consistent with the state of a person on the scale of emotions.
- Thinking of the spirit, soul - conceptual thinking. On the contrary, the thinking of the spirit is completely independent of the thinking of the body. A person usually feels the thinking of the spirit as intuition, the subconscious. The independence of conceptual thinking from reflex thinking also means its independence from emotional tone. No matter how euphoric, or vice versa - in apathy - a person is, this will in no way affect his conceptual thinking.
- Mind thinking is abstract thinking. It is formed by the joint activity of the somatic mind (brain) and the soul of a person, is carried out in the mind and is a process of conscious operation by a person with “pictures” - those sensations that give us the senses. “Conscious” operation is when the human soul controls the processes of reflex thinking (or: conceptual thinking controls the processes of reflex thinking)
- Mind thinking is verbal thinking. Also product joint activities the soul of a person and his somatic mind and is a process of conscious manipulation by a person with sign symbols of phenomena - words.
If reflex thinking and emotional tones perfectly correspond to each other, and conceptual thinking absolutely “doesn’t give a damn” what emotional tone a person is in, then abstract and verbal thinking fell between a “hammer and a hard place” - between thinking of the body and thinking of the spirit.
Mind is to blame for this, as always, as an area of joint activity of two most perfect phenomena - the soul of a person and his somatic mind. Alas, their perfection does not give rise to the same perfection in their joint activity. Each of them exists according to its own laws, different from the laws of the existence of a partner. This, first of all, concerns the goals of their existence and activity - they are too different from each other.
The purpose of the somatic mind: to ensure the survival of the bioorganism in the conditions environment. That is: to ensure its safety and protect it from all sorts of troubles.
Purpose of the soul: gathering information. At the same time, both survival information for a person and non-survival information are equally important to her. Moreover, at certain stages of a person's life, his soul deliberately "substitutes" his body, putting it in obviously non-survival conditions.
Such a difference in goals gives rise to the imperfection of a person, distortions in the activity of his mind. And this is especially evident in the impact of a person's emotional tone on his abstract and verbal thinking. You can even derive the law of emotional adequacy.
The law of emotional adequacy
LAW OF EMOTIONAL ADEQUACY: the degree of adequacy of a person’s speech and abstract thinking to the information that he operates on depends on his state on the scale of emotions at a given moment in time: the more his state deviates, on the scale of emotions, from the tones of boredom, satisfaction and confidence, the more his verbal and abstract thinking is inadequate.
The mechanism here is simple. The state of human boredom corresponds to the optimal background balance of the processes of inhibition and excitation in the human central nervous system. At this moment, a person adequately evaluates all incoming information. There is no threat to survival, everything nerve impulses follow the beaten paths: neural pathways corresponding reflex arcs are not distorted or deflected. All incoming information fully satisfies the somatic mind.
But everything changes with the change of emotions (emotional tone). A change in the emotional tone means a corresponding disturbance in the background balance of inhibition and excitation. There is a decrease or increase in the thresholds of excitability of reflex arcs, inhibition or excitation of additional reflexes. The corresponding nerve centers of information are excited or inhibited. All this happens through the neurohumoral regulation of nervous processes. Reflex thinking and here is fully consistent with the emotional tone.
But the soul doesn't care about emotions. It is physically impossible for some concepts to be strengthened or others to be inhibited. She "doesn't give a damn" how much adrenaline was released into the blood from the information that entered the central nervous system. In response to incoming information, the human soul continues to give adequate answers. In the CNS, sensory nerve centers are excited, corresponding to the concepts of responses.
But this is where the somatic mind comes into play. Which, in turn, "doesn't give a damn" about the interests of "outsiders": who and what nerve centers are trying to excite in his patrimony. It extinguishes or enhances the excitation of these NCs only depending on which reflex arcs, which reflexes they enter. At the same time, completely ignoring the conceptual thought that they carry. The somatic mind distorts this conceptual thought.
Result: a person becomes incapable of adequate abstract and verbal thinking when emotions deviate from the tones of slight antagonism, boredom, satisfaction - a normal degree of confidence.
For example, a person who is in a state of horror is offered to perform mathematical calculations of an average level of complexity. In a state of horror, as we discussed above, excitation in the central nervous system reaches its highest value: the maximum number of reflex arcs is excited. At the same time, many arcs contradict each other, in the central nervous system there is complete chaos and the strongest enterbulation. Under such conditions, even a mathematical genius would not be able to perform such calculations.
A striking example of the manifestation of the law of emotional adequacy is “Stockholm Syndrome” (see the article “Stockholm Syndrome”)
Why is it in the tones of light antagonism, boredom, satisfaction and a normal degree of confidence, and not only in the tone of boredom - the ideal background balance of the processes of inhibition and excitation - that a person retains the ability for adequate abstract and verbal thinking. The answer is extremely simple: natural selection.
The tone of boredom is the zero point at which a person is able to adequately assess the situation. But he lacks incentives to take further action. And this does not correspond to the purpose of collecting information. Therefore, a person, as a binary being, simply benefits from a slight degree of non-survivability (sometimes even an insurmountable danger) - as an incentive to take action to master the surrounding reality. Accordingly: the response reaction in response to overcoming easily overcome and difficult to overcome danger is also survival: the tone of satisfaction and confidence.
By and large, everything depends on the soul of a person: on its goals at this stage of development. There are also extreme manifestations, when the soul is much closer (depending on the required degree of non-survivability of information) to the tone of anger, fear ... Accordingly, here we see an adventurer, a person who hates boredom, loves danger, loves adrenaline in the blood, without hesitation rushes into various risky ventures .
We recognize the binary nature of the human essence: a person is a combination of two principles: the soul and the body - the spiritual essence and the biological basis. Against this background, a person's emotionality is an important indicator of the balance of these two principles. If a person is easily influenced by emotions, that is: if his behavior strongly depends on the degree of satisfaction - dissatisfaction of his reflex arcs, then this means the predominance of a biological basis in him. The spiritual component in it is still quite weak.
Vice versa. If a person is little influenced by emotions, then this means less dependence on the degree of satisfaction of his reflex arcs and a greater role of spirituality in himself.
From birth to death, a person periodically experiences a feeling of fear. Someone is subject to it to a greater extent, someone to a lesser extent, but there are no people on Earth who would not be afraid of anything at all. Sometimes it is quite understandable and natural, and in some cases its nature is unknown. What are the causes of fear and how to get rid of it?
What is fear?
Fear is a negative state of the human psyche, provoked by a real or imaginary threat. Everyone has experienced this feeling many times in their lives in different situations. Even the most courageous and courageous person can be afraid of something deep down.
In psychology, fear is attributed to the basic emotional processes inherent in a person from birth. He mobilizes protective systems organism, prepares it to fight the threat or to flee.
Fear is a kind of signaling of danger, which contributes to the realization. Under the influence, it can perform such actions that it is not capable of in its normal state. For example, run at great speed, jump over high obstacles, show amazing quick wits and resourcefulness.
The nature of human fear
Fear was born along with humanity itself. Its roots go back to the distant past, when its main function was to preserve the life of our ancestors. Fear is inherent in man by nature in order to quickly and accurately recognize danger.
It was common for ancient people to be afraid of everything unknown and incomprehensible. They were horrified by any unfamiliar sounds, natural elements, previously unseen animals. With the development of science, man gained knowledge about many phenomena that he used to be afraid of.
Today, fear no longer carries the function of the struggle for survival. The exception is those cases when a person finds himself in emergency, extreme situations. However, in modern world all sorts of social phobias have replaced the fear of real danger. This is due to the fact that at the moment it is very important for people to be recognized by society, to inspire respect for their person.
Is fear a feeling or an emotion?
Psychology interprets fear as a human emotion that has a bright negative connotation. At the same time, some sources consider this concept as a human condition. So what is fear? Is it a feeling or an emotion?
The word "fear" people in ordinary life used to call both a feeling and an emotion. In fact, there is no clear boundary between these concepts. On the one hand, fear is more related to emotions, since it is most often of a short-term nature and is designed to activate the protective functions of the human body. And on the other?
If it doesn't stop long time, transforms, periodically repeats, takes on new forms, then we can say that fear is a feeling. In this case, it no longer serves to save, but, on the contrary, has a destructive effect on the body. The feeling of fear is not an instant reaction to some irritant, but a product of human consciousness.
Types of fear
There are many different classifications of fear. It all depends on what caused this oppressive feeling. So, allocate real, existential and social fears. Let's briefly dwell on each of them.
Real or biological fear is a fear associated with an immediate threat to human life or health. In this situation, something represents a potential danger to the individual. For example, a huge dog trying to attack a person, or natural disasters such as tsunamis or earthquakes.
Existential fear is an unreasonable fear of something that does not pose a real danger to a person. Such fears lurk in the depths of the subconscious of people and cannot be fully explained. This group includes death, aging, confined space.
Social fears are a relatively new group of human phobias that did not exist before. They cannot cause real harm, but carry only a symbolic threat. This includes fear of superiors, responsibility, public speaking, failure, blows to self-esteem. Fears of this type are the most common in the modern world, cause psychological discomfort to a person and lead to a lot of problems.
and their reasons
The fears of children most often have no real basis, they are far-fetched and exaggerated. The imagination of babies is so rich that even simple thing may seem sinister to them. For example, the shadow of a toy may seem like a scary monster to a child.
In addition, children do not have enough information about our world, which can also give rise to some kind of fear. It is good if a child shares his fears with adults, asks for help and protection. Parents should try to explain to the baby the nature of the phenomena that frighten him, to calm and give rise to a sense of security in the baby.
But in some cases, children's fears are caused by real events that made a huge impression on them. This can happen if, for example, a passer-by was hit by a car in front of a child, or a dog bit him. Such phobias can stay with a person for life, although they will weaken over time.
Fear of death
Some people practically do not think about the fact that they will not live forever, while for others, the fear of dying becomes a real phobia. Fear of death is one of the most powerful emotions, it is basic for a person. It is quite logical to be afraid to die, because everyone fears for their life, seeks to preserve and extend it.
There are many reasons to fear death. This is the frightening uncertainty of what will happen after, and the inability to imagine one's non-existence, and the fear of pain and suffering before leaving for another world.
People who previously did not think about death, getting into situations that really threaten their lives, begin to experience real fear. This can happen, for example, if a person was almost hit by a car, or a plane miraculously avoided a crash. At such moments, everyone begins to appreciate their life and think about the fact that we are all not eternal.
Fear of failure in love
Many people, at least once disappointed in a partner, are afraid to build new relationships. For them, love is the fear that negative emotions and suffering will be repeated again. Now it is difficult for them to believe a person, open their heart to him and begin to trust.
The fear of new failures in love makes them closed to communication and new acquaintances. Very often, it takes many years to overcome this feeling, and some never cope with their phobia throughout their lives.
In such situations, it is important to understand that there are very few people in the world who have never experienced a love failure. Having made a mistake once, you should not consider all men or all women the same. It is important to believe that you will definitely be able to find a person who will make you happy and help you forget previous troubles.
How to get rid of fears?
Fear is an emotion that overcomes every person from time to time. People are afraid of absolutely different things, so there can be no single recipe for getting rid of our phobias.
First, you should try to understand what exactly caused your fear. Sometimes it is very difficult to do this, since the fear of certain things is hidden deep in our subconscious. Having found out the source of your phobia, you need to think about whether your fear is really a life in a constant nightmare and experiences, or, in principle, it does not cause you any particular inconvenience. As a rule, fear as a short-term emotion does not require much struggle, but if it begins to develop into a phobia, then you need to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Next, you need to understand yourself, analyze at what moments you start to be afraid the most. Try to keep it to a minimum stressful situations in which you feel discomfort, anxiety and fear.
In the fight against your phobias, you need to learn to switch your attention to something positive and kind as soon as you feel that fear has begun to creep up on you. If you yourself can not cope with the problem, do not hesitate to seek help from specialists.
Fear is a strong negative emotion that arises as a result of an imaginary or real danger and poses a threat to life for the individual. In psychology, fear is understood as the internal state of a person, which is caused by an alleged or real disaster.
Psychologists attribute fear to emotional processes. K. Izard defined this state as basic emotions related to innate, which have genetic, physiological components. Fear mobilizes the individual's body to avoid behavior. A person's negative emotion signals a state of danger, which directly depends on numerous external and internal, acquired or congenital causes.
Psychology of fear
Two are responsible for the development of this feeling. neural pathways that must be running at the same time. The first responsible for the main emotions, reacts quickly and is accompanied by a significant number of errors. The second reacts much more slowly, but more accurately. The first path helps us quickly respond to signs of danger, but often works as a false alarm. The second way makes it possible to more thoroughly assess the situation and therefore respond more accurately to the danger.
In the case of a feeling of fear in a person who is initiated by the first way, there is a blockage by the functioning of the second way, evaluating some signs of danger as unreal. When a phobia occurs, the second path begins to function inadequately, which provokes the development of a feeling of fear for stimuli that are dangerous.
Reasons for fear
In everyday life, as well as in emergency situations, a person is faced with a strong emotion - fear. Negative emotion in a person is a long-term or short-term emotional process that develops due to an imaginary or real danger. Often this condition is marked by unpleasant sensations, at the same time being a signal for protection, since the main goal facing a person is to save his life.
But it should be borne in mind that the response to fear is the unconscious or thoughtless actions of a person, which are caused by panic attacks with the manifestation of severe anxiety. Depending on the situation, the flow of the emotion of fear in all people varies significantly in strength, as well as in the impact on behavior. A timely clarification of the cause will significantly speed up getting rid of negative emotions.
The causes of fear are both hidden and obvious. Often the person does not remember the obvious reasons. Under the hidden understand the fears coming from childhood, for example, enhanced parental care, temptations, a consequence of psychological trauma; fears caused by moral conflict or an unresolved problem.
There are cognitively constructed reasons: feelings of rejection, loneliness, threats to self-esteem, depression, feelings of inadequacy, feelings of imminent failure.
Consequences of negative emotion in a person: strong nervous tension, emotional states of uncertainty, the search for protection, prompting the individual to flee, to rescue. There are basic functions of people's fear, as well as the accompanying emotional states: protective, signaling, adaptive, search.
Fear can manifest itself in the form of a depressed or agitated emotional state. Panic fear (horror) is often marked by a depressed state. Synonyms for the term "fear" or similar in state are the terms "anxiety", "panic", "fright", "phobias".
If a person has a short-term and at the same time strong fear caused by a sudden stimulus, then he will be attributed to fright, and long-term and not clearly expressed - to anxiety.
Conditions such as phobias can lead to frequent as well as strong experiences of negative emotion by an individual. A phobia is understood as an irrational, obsessive fear associated with a certain situation or object, when a person cannot cope with it on his own.
Signs of fear
Some features of the expression of negative emotions are manifested in physiological changes: increased sweating, heart palpitations, diarrhea, dilation and constriction of the pupils, urinary incontinence, shifting eyes. These signs appear when life is threatened or in front of a characteristic biological fear.
Signs of fear are forced silence, passivity, refusal to act, avoidance of communication, insecure behavior, the occurrence of a speech defect (stuttering) and bad habits(looking around, stooping, biting nails, fiddling with objects in the hands); the individual strives for solitude and isolation, which contributes to the development of depression, melancholy, and in some cases provokes. People who are afraid complain about the obsession of the idea, which ultimately prevents them from living a full life. Obsession with fear interferes with initiative and forces inaction. At the same time, deceptive visions and mirages accompany a person; he is afraid, trying to hide or run away.
Feelings that arise with a strong negative emotion: the earth leaves from under the feet, adequacy and control over the situation are lost, internal numbness and numbness (stupor) occurs. A person becomes fussy and hyperactive, he always needs to run somewhere, because it is unbearable to be alone with the object or problem of fear. A person is clamped and dependent, stuffed with complexes of insecurity. Depending on the type of nervous system, the individual defends himself and goes on the offensive, showing aggression. In fact, this acts as a mask for experiences, addictions and anxieties.
Fears manifest themselves in different ways, but they have common features: anxiety, anxiety, nightmares, irritability, suspicion, suspiciousness, passivity, tearfulness.
Types of fears
Yu.V. Shcherbatykh singled out the following classification of fears. The professor divided all fears into three groups: social, biological, existential.
He attributed to the biological group those that are directly related to the threat to human life, the social group is responsible for fears and fears in social status, the scientist associated the existential group of fears with the essence of man, which is noted in all people.
All social fears are caused by situations that can undermine social status, lower self-esteem. These include fear of public speaking, responsibility, social contacts.
Existential fears are associated with the intellect of the individual and are caused (by reflections on issues that affect the problems of life, as well as death and the very existence of a person). For example, it is a fear of time, death, and also the meaninglessness of human existence, etc.
Following this principle: the fear of fire is attributed to the biological category, the fear of the stage - to the social, and the fear of death - to the existential.
In addition, there are also intermediate forms of fear that stand on the verge of two groups. These include the fear of disease. On the one hand, the disease brings suffering, pain, damage (a biological factor), and on the other hand, a social factor (separation from society and the team, switching off from usual activities, lower incomes, poverty, dismissal from work). Therefore, this state is referred to the border of biological and social group, fear when swimming in a pond on the border of the biological and existential, fear of losing loved ones on the border of the biological and existential groups. It should be noted that in each phobia all three components are noted, but one is dominant.
It is normal for an individual to be afraid of dangerous animals, certain situations, and natural phenomena. The fears of people that appear about this are of a reflex or genetic nature. In the first case, the danger is based on negative experience, in the second it is recorded at the genetic level. Both cases control the mind and logic. Presumably, these reactions have lost their useful meaning and therefore interfere with a person to live a full and happy life quite strongly. For example, it makes sense to be careful about snakes, but it is foolish to be afraid of small spiders; one may reasonably be afraid of lightning, but not of thunder, which is incapable of causing harm. With such phobias and inconveniences, people should rebuild their reflexes.
The fears of people that arise in situations dangerous to health, as well as life, have a protective function, and this is useful. And people's fears of medical manipulations can be harmful to health, as they will interfere with the timely diagnosis of the disease and start treatment.
The fears of people are diverse, as are the fields of activity. The phobia is based on the instinct of self-preservation and acts as a defensive reaction to danger. Fear can manifest itself in various forms. If the negative emotion is not pronounced, then it is experienced as a blurred, vague feeling - anxiety. A stronger fear is noted in negative feelings: horror, panic.
State of fear
Negative emotion is a normal response of an individual to the vicissitudes of life. With an implicitly expressed form, this state acts as an adaptive reaction. For example, an applicant cannot successfully pass an exam without experiencing excitement and any anxiety. But in extreme terms, the state of fear deprives the individual of the ability to fight, giving a feeling of horror and panic. Excessive excitement and anxiety do not allow the applicant to concentrate during the exam, he may lose his voice. Researchers often note a state of anxiety and fear in patients during an extreme situation.
The state of fear is helped to remove sedatives and benzodiazepines for a short time. Negative emotion includes a state of irritability, horror, immersion in certain thoughts, and is also marked by a change in physiological parameters: the appearance of shortness of breath, excessive sweating, insomnia, chills. These manifestations intensify over time and this complicates the patient's usual life. Often this condition turns into a chronic one and manifests itself in the absence of an external specific reason.
Feeling of fear
It would be more accurate to speak the emotion of fear, but there is no clear boundary between these two concepts. Often, when there is a short-term effect, they talk about emotion, and when there is a long-term effect, they mean a feeling of fear. This is what distinguishes the two concepts. And in colloquial speech Fear is both a feeling and an emotion. In people, fear manifests itself in different ways: for someone it fetters, limits, and for someone, on the contrary, it activates activity.
The feeling of fear is individual and reflects all genetic characteristics, as well as the characteristics of upbringing and culture, temperament, accentuation, and neuroticism of each individual.
There are both external and internal manifestations of fear. Under external they understand how an individual looks, and as internal they refer to the physiological processes occurring in the body. Because of all these processes, fear is referred to as a negative emotion, which negatively affects the entire body, increasing the pulse and heartbeat, respectively increasing the pressure, and sometimes vice versa, increasing sweating, changing the composition of the blood (releasing the hormone adrenaline).
The essence of fear lies in the fact that the individual, being afraid, tries to avoid situations that provoke negative emotion. Strong fear, being a toxic emotion, provokes the development of various diseases.
Fear is observed in all individuals. Neurotic fear is noted in every third inhabitant of the Earth, however, if it reaches strength, then it turns into horror and this takes the individual out of control of consciousness, and as a result, numbness, panic, defensiveness, flight. Therefore, the emotion of fear is justified and serves for the survival of the individual, but it can also take pathological forms who will need the intervention of doctors. Each fear performs a specific function and arises for a reason.
Fear of heights protects against falling from a mountain or a balcony, fear of getting burned makes you not come close to the fire, and, therefore, protects you from injury. The fear of public speaking makes you prepare more carefully for speeches, take courses in rhetoric, which should help in career growth. It is natural that the individual tries to overcome personal fears. In the event that the source of danger is indefinite or unconscious, then the state that arises in this case is called anxiety.
panic fear
This condition never arises without reason. For its development, a number of factors and conditions are necessary: anxiety, and anxiety, stress, schizophrenia, hypochondria,.
The suppressed human psyche quickly reacts to any irritants and therefore restless thoughts can undermine the person's capacity. Anxiety and related conditions gradually turn into neurosis, and neurosis, in turn, provokes the emergence of panic fear.
This condition cannot be foreseen, since it can occur at any time: at work, on the street, in transport, in a store. A panic state is a protective reaction of the body to a perceived threat or an imaginary one. Panic causeless fear is characterized by the manifestation of such symptoms: suffocation, dizziness, palpitations, trembling, stupor, chaos of thoughts. Individual cases marked by chills or vomiting. Such states last from an hour to two for one or two times a week. The stronger the mental disorder, the longer and more often.
Often, this condition can occur against the background of overwork, exhaustion of the body in emotionally unstable people. In most cases, women fall under this category, as emotional, vulnerable, reacting sharply to stress. However, men also experience panicky unreasonable fear, but they try not to admit it to others.
Panic fear does not disappear on its own, and panic attacks will haunt patients. Treatment is carried out strictly under the supervision of psychiatrists, and the removal of symptoms with alcohol only aggravates the situation, and panic fear will appear not only after stress, but also when nothing threatens.
fear of pain
Since it is common for a person to periodically be afraid of something, this is a normal reaction of our body, which reflects the fulfillment protective functions. Fear of pain is one of the most common experiences of this kind. Having previously experienced pain, the individual on an emotional level tries to avoid the repetition of this sensation, and fear acts as a protective mechanism that prevents dangerous situations.
Fear of pain is not only useful, but also harmful. A person, not understanding how to get rid of this condition, tries not to visit the dentist for a long time or avoids an important operation, as well as the examination method. In this case, fear has a destructive function and this should be fought. Confusion before effectively getting rid of the fear of pain only exacerbates the situation and encourages the formation of a panic reaction.
Modern medicine currently has various methods of pain relief, so the fear of pain is predominantly only psychological in nature. This negative emotion is rarely formed from previous experiences. Most likely, the fear of pain from injuries, burns, frostbite in humans is strong, and this is a protective function.
Treatment of fears
Before starting therapy, it is necessary to diagnose within the framework of what mental disorder fears appear. Phobias are found in hypochondria, depression, in the structure of neurotic disorders, panic attacks, panic disorder.
The feeling of fear occupies a significant place in the clinical picture of somatic diseases (hypertension, bronchial asthma, and others). Fear can also act as a normal reaction of the individual to the situation in which he finds himself. Therefore, the correct diagnosis is responsible for the tactics of treatment. The development of the disease, from the point of view of pathogenesis, should be treated in the aggregate of symptoms, and not its individual manifestations.
Fear of pain can be effectively treated by psychotherapeutic methods and is eliminated by therapy, which has an individual character. Many people who do not have special knowledge to get rid of the fear of pain mistakenly think that this is an inevitable feeling and therefore live with it for many years. In addition to psychotherapeutic methods of treating this phobia, homeopathic treatment is used.
People's fears are very difficult to correct. IN modern society Don't talk about your fears. People publicly discuss diseases, attitudes towards work, but as soon as they talk about fears, a vacuum immediately appears. People are ashamed of their phobias. This attitude to fears has been instilled since childhood.
Correction of fears: take a sheet of white paper and write down all your fears. Place the most significant and disturbing phobia in the center of the sheet. And be sure to understand the causes of this condition.
How to get rid of fear
Each person is able to learn to overcome his fears, otherwise it will be difficult for him to reach his goals, fulfill his dreams, achieve success and be realized in all areas of life. There are various techniques for getting rid of phobias. It is important to develop the habit of actively acting, and not paying attention to the fears that arise along the way. In this case, negative emotion is a simple reaction that occurs in response to any effort to create something new.
Fear can come from trying to do something against your beliefs. Understand that each person develops a personal worldview over a certain period of time, and when you try to change it, you need to step over fear.
Fear can be strong or weak depending on the power of persuasion. Man is not born successful. We are often not brought up to be successful people. It is very important to act in spite of personal fear. Say to yourself: "Yes, I'm scared, but I'll do it." As long as you procrastinate, your phobia grows, exulting, becoming a powerful weapon against you. The longer you delay, the more you grow it in your mind. But as soon as you begin to act, the fear will immediately disappear. It turns out that fear is an illusion that does not exist.
The cure for fear is to accept your phobia and, resigned, walk towards it. You shouldn't fight it. Admit to yourself: "Yes, I'm scared." There is nothing wrong with that, you have the right to be afraid. The moment you recognize it, it exults and then weakens. And you start taking action.
How to get rid of fear? Evaluate the worst case scenario of the expected development of events by connecting the logic. When fear appears, think about the worst-case scenario if suddenly, no matter what, you decide to act. Even the worst case scenario is not as scary as the unknown.
What causes fear? The most powerful weapon of fear is the unknown. It seems terrible, cumbersome and impossible to overcome. If your assessment is really real and the terrible state does not go away, then you should think about whether in this case the phobia acts as a natural defensive reaction. Maybe you really need to give up further action, because your negative emotion saves you from trouble. If the fear is not justified and the worst case scenario is not so terrible, then go ahead and act. Remember that fear lives where there is doubt, uncertainty and indecision.
The cure for fear is to remove doubt and there will be no room for fear. This state has such power because it causes negative pictures in the mind of what we do not need and the person feels discomfort. When a person decides to do something, then doubts evaporate instantly, because the decision has been made and there is no going back.
What causes fear? As soon as fear arises in a person, then a scenario of failures, as well as failures, begins to scroll in the mind. These thoughts negatively affect emotions, and they control life. The lack of positive emotions greatly influences the occurrence of indecision in actions, and the time of inaction perpetuates in the individual his own insignificance. A lot depends on decisiveness: get rid of fear or not.
Fear keeps the attention of the human mind on the negative development of the event, and the decision concentrates on the positive outcome. When we make a decision, we focus on how wonderful it will be when we overcome fear and eventually get a good result. This allows you to positively tune in, and most importantly, fill your mind with pleasant scenarios, where there will be no room for doubts and fears. However, remember that if at least one negative thought associated with a negative emotion arises in your head, then multiple similar thoughts will immediately arise.
How to get rid of fear? Act in spite of fear. You know what you're afraid of, and that's a big plus. Analyze your fear and answer yourself the questions: “What exactly am I afraid of?”, “Is it really worth it to be afraid?”, “Why am I afraid?”, “Does my fear have a reason?”, “What is more important for me: to make an effort over yourself or never achieve what you want? Ask yourself more questions. Analyze your phobias, because the analysis takes place at a logical level, and fears are emotions that are stronger than logic and therefore always win. After analyzing and realizing, a person independently comes to the conclusion that fear has absolutely no meaning. It only worsens life, making it anxious, nervous and dissatisfied with its results. Are you still afraid?
How to get rid of fear? You can fight against fear with feelings (emotions). To do this, sitting comfortably in a chair, scroll through the scenarios in your head of what you are afraid of and how you do what you are afraid of. The mind is incapable of distinguishing imaginary events from real ones. After overcoming the imaginary fear in your head, it will be much easier for you to cope with the task in reality, since the model of events has already strengthened at the subconscious level.
In the fight against fears, the method of self-hypnosis, namely the visualization of success, will be effective and powerful. After ten minutes of visualization, well-being improves and it is easier to overcome fear. Remember that you are not alone in your phobias. All people are afraid of something. This is fine. Your task is to learn to act in the presence of fear, and not pay attention to it, being distracted by other thoughts. Fighting fear, a person weakens energetically, because negative emotion sucks out all energy. A person destroys fear when he completely ignores it and is distracted by other events.
How to get rid of fear? Train and develop courage. When you are afraid of rejection, there is no point in fighting it by trying to minimize the number of rejections. People who are unable to cope with fear reduce such situations to nothing and, in general, do almost nothing that makes them unhappy in life.
Imagine that training for courage is akin to pumping up muscles in the gym. First, we train with a light weight that can be lifted, and then we gradually switch to a heavier weight and try to lift it already. A similar situation exists with fears. Initially, we train with a slight fear, and then switch to a stronger one. For example, the fear of public speaking in front of a large audience is eliminated by training in front of a small number of people, gradually increasing the audience several times over.
How to overcome fear?
Practice normal communication: in line, on the street, in transport. Use neutral themes for this. The point is to overcome small fears first, and then move on to more significant ones. Practice constantly.
How to overcome fear in other ways? Boost your self-esteem. There is some pattern: the better you think of yourself, the less phobias you have. Personal self-esteem protects against fears and its objectivity does not matter at all. Therefore, people with high self-esteem are able to do more than people with objective self-esteem. Being in love, people overcome a very strong fear in the name of their desires. Any positive emotion helps in overcoming fears, and all negative ones only hinder.
How to overcome fear?
There is a wonderful statement that the brave is not the one who is not afraid, but the one who acts regardless of his feelings. Proceed in stages, taking minimal steps. If you are afraid of heights, gradually increase the height.
Do not attach great importance to some moments of your life. The lighter and more insignificant the attitude to life moments, the less anxiety. Give preference to spontaneity in business, as careful preparation and scrolling in your head provokes the development of excitement and anxiety. Of course, you need to plan things, but you should not get hung up on this. If you decide to act, then act, and do not pay attention to the trembling of the mind.
How to overcome fear? Understanding the specific situation can help with this. A person is afraid when he does not understand what exactly he needs and what he personally wants. The more we fear, the more clumsily we act. In this case, spontaneity will help, and do not be afraid of failures, negative results. In any case, you did it, showed courage and this is your small achievement. Be friendly, a good mood helps in the fight against fears.
Self-knowledge helps in overcoming fears. It happens that a person himself does not know his capabilities and is not confident in his abilities, due to the lack of support from others. With harsh criticism, the confidence of many people drops sharply. This happens because a person does not know himself and receives information about himself from other people. It is important to know that understanding other people is a subjective concept. Many people often cannot understand themselves, let alone give a real assessment to others.
Knowing yourself means accepting who you are and being yourself. It is human nature to act without fear when one is not ashamed to be oneself. By acting decisively, you express yourself. Overcoming your fears means learning, developing, becoming wiser, stronger.
In psychology and psychiatry, the feeling of fear is usually attributed to the sphere of emotions. Fear is a pronounced negative emotional process that develops in the event of a real or imaginary threat that poses a danger to the life of the subject.
It is believed that fear is a natural innate complex of mental and physiological processes that mobilizes the human body for further behavior avoiding danger.
Why Fear Occurs
Every person faces fear in their life, whether emergency or everyday life. This negative emotion is a complex psychological process. Arising as a reaction to an imaginary or real danger to life and health.
This state is accompanied by extremely unpleasant sensations, however, it is a protective reaction, as it encourages the subject to the main goal - to save his own life.
However, it is worthwhile to understand that along with fear, a whole series of unconscious impulses and actions, development or.
Features of the manifestation of fear and behavioral changes in each person are unique, while they directly depend on the situation that caused them. If you understand in a timely manner why fear arises, then this will give some ground for confidence to a person, and will help to weaken negative emotional experiences.
The reasons for fear can be obvious or hidden. Obvious ones are not so common and, moreover, may not be remembered. More hidden reasons are remembered that lead to imaginary fear.
Such reasons may include various mental traumas, memories from the past, phobias, previous emotional conflicts. There are also purely socially constructed causes of fear: a feeling of loneliness, a feeling of failure or defeat, a constant threat to self-esteem.
The consequences of experienced strong emotions can vary. As a rule, this is a strong tension and uncertainty, an impulse to try to find protection, to run, to hide. At the same time, fear itself can manifest itself both in the form of excitement and in the form of a state of depression.
It is also necessary to distinguish between the concepts of fright, which is more short-lived and is a reaction to a sudden, sharp irritation.
Signs of fear
In most cases, there are external signs manifestations of fear, which excessive sweating, rapid pulse, dilated or constricted pupils, diarrhea or urinary incontinence.
A sign of fear can also be restrained silence, avoidance of any active actions, a tendency to passivity and self-doubt. It is also possible to develop stuttering, stooping, a tendency to nervous and senseless actions.
As a rule, a person obsessed with fear strives for isolation, which provokes the occurrence of depressive disorders, melancholy, and suicidal tendencies. At the time of the emergence of fear, the behavior of the individual depends on the characteristics of his mental structure. He may feel a sudden weakness, lose consciousness, or, conversely, feel a sudden surge of activity, a need to act.
panic fear
This complex condition always arises only under the condition of the presence of a number of additional factors, for example, the development of other mental disorders: obsessive-compulsive disorder, apathy, anhedonia or schizophrenia.
The previously disturbed psyche of the patient overreacts to sudden irritating factors. Which cause such negative emotions as fear. A constant feeling of anxiety exacerbates already developing neuroses, which over time provoke the emergence of such a disorder as panic fear.
A specific feature is that the beginning is impossible to predict and avoid. It can occur during working hours, on the street during a walk, or even in the house. The condition manifests itself in a more severe form: there is a noticeable suffocation, lack of air, dizziness, affective stupor.
In some cases, severe chills and vomiting are also noted. This kind of fear can last for one to two hours as a result of a reaction to a real or, more often, an imaginary threat. Panic attacks may recur about one to two times a week.
fear of pain
One of the most common irritants that cause fear is pain. Pain of any nature, being previously experienced, is a powerful enough stimulus for the emergence of this protective reaction. The subject, based on the transferred experience, strives by all means to avoid repetition discomfort, which are preserved in his memory and provoke the emergence of a feeling of fear.
Despite the fact that fear is a defense mechanism that warns against possible dangerous situations, it can also be harmful. This is a fairly common occurrence in medical practice, when a person suffering from a pronounced fear of pain avoids the necessary surgical or dental interventions.
At the same time, fear can cause even a simple diagnostic procedure. Insofar as modern medicine has enough a wide range possibilities of pain relief, the fear of pain in this practice is purely psychological nature. It is necessary to fight with it, since a person’s misunderstanding of his own feelings and their causes only exacerbates this depressed state.
How to overcome fear
There are many ways to overcome fear. Most of them are based on self-discipline and maintaining a sense of self-confidence, courage. Given the fact that fear is more often subject to insecure people, it is necessary to start with increasing self-esteem.
This helps the ability to communicate with people, not be afraid to be open and make contact. The higher your self-confidence, the lower the risk of experiencing panic attacks and fear. The point is that fear has no clear boundaries, it is a fairly generalized feeling that can spread to all areas of life. Therefore, it is necessary to begin the fight against it by overcoming small domestic and social fears.
Also more important is the ability to analyze information and assess the situation that is happening to you. This will help not to get confused, since it is precisely the misunderstanding of what is happening and confusion that are frequent factors of fear.
If you suffer from fear, then you need to understand yourself first. Self-analysis should not consist in criticizing one's actions and one's "I" as a whole, since this will only aggravate the situation, but should be aimed at accepting oneself along with all the "mistakes". If you are experiencing difficulties with self-discipline, self-esteem, and your social skills, you can always seek professional help.
Experience fear
People are afraid of causing any harm. Harm can be physical, moral, or both. Physical harm can range from something as minor as the pain of being stabbed with a syringe during vaccination to severe injuries, life threatening person. Moral harm can also vary widely, from minor grievances and disappointments to serious mental trauma caused by threats to well-being, rejected love, or insults to human dignity. Moral harm can involve damage (to self-respect, self-confidence, one's own safety) or loss of love, friendship, faith, etc. In general, harm can mean both physical pain and mental suffering: for example, a teenager who was beaten by a rival on eyes of his girlfriend, both physical and moral damage will be inflicted.A person's survival depends on the ability to avoid situations in which he can be hurt and physically harmed. You learn to anticipate danger from an early age. You evaluate what is happening and warn yourself of the possibility of harm to you. Very often, even before harm is done, you experience a sense of fear. You fear both real and imagined threats. You are afraid of events, people, animals, objects or ideas that seem dangerous to you. If you are told that you are going to have some very painful rabies injections next week, you will probably feel fear long before the first injection. If you see that your boss is not in a good mood and is capable of exploding over any little thing, then you begin to fear his wrath even before he turns his attention to you. The fear of danger, the expectation of physical pain, can often be even more difficult to bear than the pain itself. Of course, sometimes the fear of danger mobilizes efforts to help avoid the expected harm, or at least minimize it.
Fear is so often felt before real harm (you successfully recognize danger before you experience pain) that sometimes you completely forget about the possibility of being caught off guard. Thinking, planning, evaluating and foresight do not always protect or even warn you. From time to time you receive painful blows without warning and, when this happens, you experience fear with little or no prior thought about what is happening to you. Fear can be felt almost simultaneously with the suffering inflicted. sudden sharp pain causes fear. You do not give yourself time to think about whether you are really harmed and what is the source of it. You are in pain and you are afraid. If the pain continues and you have time to evaluate what is happening, you may be even more scared: “What if I have a heart attack?” If you burn your hand on the stove, you experience pain and fear (and possibly frustration as well). As soon as you pull your hand away without giving yourself time to think about why the stove was on when you thought it was off, you will feel fear without pausing to think about how badly you've burned yourself. The fear experienced at the same time as the harm caused to you can also arise in the case of mental suffering. If the boss walks up to an office worker snoozing at his desk and yells, "You're fired, you lazy bum!" - then the employee experiences fear (and possibly shows a fear reaction). This person doesn't need time to think about what's going on, although such thinking can increase the fear even more: "God, I can't pay my mortgage!" Or he may have another emotion instead of fear or in combination with it: "He has no right to talk to me like that - after all, I worked late yesterday to meet the new deadlines that he set."
Fear differs from surprise in three important ways. Fear is a terrible feeling, but surprise is not. Surprise is not necessarily pleasant or unpleasant, but even moderate fear is unpleasant. Intense fear, i.e. horror, is perhaps the most traumatic and harmful of all emotions. It causes many changes in our body. The skin of a terrified person may turn pale. He may break out in a cold sweat. His breathing quickens, his heart beats in his chest like a heavy hammer, his pulse rate increases sharply, and pain and other unpleasant processes may begin in the stomach. His bladder or the intestines may begin to empty involuntarily, and the hands may tremble. He may find it difficult to leave the place where this terrible event is unfolding, and although his posture indicates a readiness to flee, he himself freezes in immobility. You cannot experience very strong fear for a long time, as the state of horror exhausts and devastates you.
The second aspect of the difference between fear and surprise is that you may be frightened by something familiar to you that you know is about to happen. You know that the dentist is going to invite you into his office - this is not surprising to you - but you may be afraid of this moment. While waiting to be invited to the pulpit for a lecture, or standing backstage waiting to be called on stage, you may feel fear, even if you are an experienced lecturer or actor. There are many such situations that make people feel fear for the second, tenth or twentieth time when they know that they have some kind of test to pass. When fear is experienced suddenly, when there is no expectation of danger, and fear occurs simultaneously with the harm caused, then such an experience can be supplemented by mild surprise. Thus, in many such instances of momentary fear, you will experience both fear and surprise, or fear and fright.
The third aspect of the difference between fear and surprise has to do with the duration of the experience of these emotions. Surprise is an extremely short-lived emotion, but fear, unfortunately, is not. The surprise doesn't last very long. Unforeseen fear or fear experienced at the same time as pain may be short-lived, but sometimes the fear may build up gradually. If you have to stay overnight in an old house alone, then even a slight creak can cause you slight anxiety. As you ponder the cause of this creaking and listen more closely for any unexpected sounds, your anxiety may slowly turn into fear or even horror. When you are surprised, you are only surprised for a very short time, until you appreciate the event that surprised you. Fear can last much longer; you can know perfectly well the nature of the event that caused your fear, and still remain frightened. For example, during the entire flight, you may tremble with fear, expecting a plane crash. However, a person has a limit of endurance, and fear will exhaust you physically if it is constantly felt in extreme acute form. Surprise tends to fade quickly once you evaluate the event, and reborn into some other emotion depending on how you feel about what surprised you. The feeling of fear can last for a long time. You may still feel fear even after the danger has passed. If the danger comes and goes very quickly, so that you don't realize what position you were in until you get out of it - as in the case of a possible car accident that you miraculously avoided - then you may experience fear only later.
Fear varies in intensity - from apprehension to horror. The intensity of the fear you feel depends on the event or how you evaluate the event. When fear occurs at the same time as harm is being done, the degree of fear will obviously reflect the degree of suffering you are experiencing. If the suffering continues, then the fear may become more intense if you expect the suffering to increase or become unbearable. When fear arises as a response to danger—to the threat of harm rather than to the harm itself—the intensity of the fear depends on your assessment of the extent of the future harm and your ability to cope with it, avoid it, mitigate it, or at least survive it. In threatening situations, you may simply feel frightened if you know that you can avoid the danger by fleeing or that your suffering will not be truly severe. But when escape is not possible and when the expected harm is significant, your fright can turn into horror - you will freeze and freeze in a pose that demonstrates your complete helplessness.
Fear can be replaced by other emotions or their complete absence. You may experience anger and lash out at the source of the danger, or you may experience anger or self-loathing for putting yourself at risk or showing fear. Fear can be replaced by despondency if you continue to suffer damage or if the negative consequences of danger manifest themselves in other forms for you. More complex sequences of emotions are also possible: for example, you can experience fear, then anger, then despondency, etc. Fear can also be experienced along with other emotions if the event causes two feelings at the same time. For example, if someone threatens you, then you may experience both fear of a possible attack and anger at the one who provokes you.
Fear can be replaced by joy. You can be glad that you managed to avoid danger, or, even if you had to experience suffering, be glad that it ended. Some people are able to enjoy the experience of fear. For them a threat possible harm is a challenge that excites the blood and sets a goal. Such people are called brave, courageous or fearless. They can be soldiers, climbers, roulette players, race car drivers, etc. But much more people enjoy the feeling of pseudo-fear experienced, for example, on some rides in amusement parks. There is a threat of harm, but everyone knows that it is not real. Of course, there are people who can hardly endure fear. They can't even bear the feeling of pseudo-fear. Fear overwhelms them so much that they plan their lives with the utmost care, trying to provide themselves with all kinds of protection or avoid anything that can scare them. Such people get little satisfaction from overcoming fear; their experience of fear is too painful for them. There are characteristic forms of reflection of fear on each of the three areas of the face: the eyebrows are raised and slightly drawn together; the eyes are open and the lower eyelids are tense; lips pulled back.
Brows
Picture 1
Eyebrows look raised and straightened. On fig. 1 shows frightened eyebrows (B) and surprised eyebrows (A). Note that the frightened eyebrows are raised (1) as are the surprised eyebrows, but they are also slightly drawn together so that the inner edges of the eyebrows (2) are closer together in the fearful person than in the surprised person. Above the frightened eyebrows, horizontal wrinkles usually appear, running across the forehead (3), but they usually do not cross the entire forehead, as they do in case of surprise (4).
Figure 2
While fearful eyebrows are usually complemented by frightened eyes and a frightened mouth, they sometimes appear on a neutral face as well. When this happens, the facial expression conveys a message associated with fear. On fig. 2B John's facial expression is formed with frightened eyebrows and completely neutral other elements of the face. Figure 2A shows John's completely neutral expression for comparison. When the eyebrows are held in a fearful position, as in fig. 2B, the face expresses anxiety, mild anxiety, or controlled fear. Figure 2 again demonstrates that a change in one part of the face changes the overall impression. There seems to be concern in John's eyes as well, and even a little in the curve of his mouth. But this is a composite photo in which frightened eyebrows have been transferred to the neutral face shown on the left. If you put your hand over the eyebrows and forehead in each of the photos, you will see that the eyes and mouth are exactly the same in them.
Eyes
Figure 3
The eyes of a fearful person are open and tense, upper eyelids raised, and the lower ones stretched. On fig. 3A shows frightened eyes (A), neutral eyes (B), and surprised eyes (C). Note that in frightened and surprised eyes, the upper eyelids are raised, this allows you to see the sclera (white) above the iris (1). In fear and surprise, the upper eyelids move in the same way, but the lower ones in different ways: they are tense and raised in case of fear (2) and relaxed in case of surprise. Tension and lifting of the lower eyelids in fear can cause these eyelids to cover part of the iris (3).
Frightened eyes can usually be seen on the face along with frightened eyebrows and a frightened mouth, but sometimes fear is only expressed through the eyes. In this case, it will be a very quick expression, in which the eyes will instantly take on a frightened look. If this happens, then usually such an expression of fear is genuine, although the fear itself is either weak or controlled.
Mouth
Figure 4
In a fearful person, the mouth is open, and the lips are tense and possibly pulled back a lot. On fig. 4 Patricia demonstrates two types of mouth expressions (A and B) and, for comparison, a surprised mouth (C) and a neutral mouth (D). Frightened mouth in fig. 4A is very similar to the surprised mouth (4C), but has one important difference: his lips are not relaxed, as in the case of surprise. upper lip tense, and the corners of the lips begin to pull back. At the frightened mouth in fig. 4B The lips are stretched and tense and the corners of the lips are pulled back.
Figure 5
Figure 6
Although a frightened mouth usually appears on the face along with frightened eyes and eyebrows, frightened eyebrows and eyes can appear on a neutral face, and their meaning in this case will be different. On fig. 5B Patricia has a more open frightened mouth, and in fig. 5A, for comparison, is a surprised mouth, while in both cases the rest of the elements of her face remain neutral. The face in Fig. 5B expresses concern or fear; it shows a momentary feeling at the initial moment of fear. On the contrary, the facial expression in Fig. 5A, discussed in the last chapter, expresses bewilderment and can occur when a person is really stunned by something or simply displays this form of his boundless surprise on his face. A more intense frightened mouth may also appear along with completely neutral other facial features, but usually such a mouth corresponds to a momentary expression in which the lips are first drawn back and then returned to their original position. On fig. 6 shows just such a tense frightened mouth on a neutral face and, for comparison, John's completely neutral face. If this facial expression comes and goes quickly, it could mean that John is really scared but is trying not to show it, that John is anticipating fear or pain, or that John is not feeling fear but is mentally addressing something frightening or painful. event. An illustration of the latter case of emblematic expression of fear is the person in the example of a failed car accident who momentarily stretches his mouth when he recalls the fear or pain experienced in that situation. Figure 7
Fear varies in intensity, from apprehension to horror, and the face reflects all these differences. The intensity of fear is reflected in the appearance of the eyes: as fear increases, the upper eyelids rise higher, and the tension of the lower eyelids increases. Even more obvious are the changes in the frightened mouth. On fig. 7 Patricia shows an increase in fear (starting in Fig. 7A and going clockwise) due to an increase in the tension of the mouth, which gradually opens wider and wider. Although the face in Fig. 7C may seem to express more fear than the face in fig. 7A, it should not be forgotten that these photographs are also composite, and the frightened eyes and forehead shown in them are exactly the same, and only the mouth provides the difference.
Expression of fear through two areas of the face
Fear can only appear in two areas of the face, while the third area can remain neutral. Each of these "two-regional" expressions of fear has its own meaning, somewhat different from the others. On fig. 8 shows two types of such expression of fear. On fig. 8A John's face expresses fear - as if he had just realized the approach of an event that would harm him. This expression has such a meaning because the lower part of the face remains neutral - fear is manifested only with the help of eyebrows and eyes. Compare John's facial expressions in Fig. 8A and fig. 2B. In both cases, John is apprehensive, but in fig. 8A, these concerns are stronger than in Fig. 2B, because on the last of them fear is expressed only with the help of eyebrows, and on the first - with the help of eyebrows and eyes. Figure 8
The facial expression of John in Fig. 8B shows more intense fear bordering on horror. Interestingly, the intensity of this expression of fear is not reduced by keeping the brows neutral. On the contrary, the neutral position of the eyebrows creates an expression of sudden numbness.
Patricia demonstrates these different types of fear expressions with a few subtle variations. On fig. 8C her face expresses apprehension, because fear is only expressed through the eyebrows and eyes, not the mouth. This is the same expression as the expression on John's face in the above pic. 8A. On fig. 8D Patricia's face expresses horror. This expression is similar to the expression on John's face in fig. 8B, because the fear here is also manifested only through the eyes and mouth. But her expression is different from John's, as her frightened mouth is less tense. Patricia looks more startled by what she sees than frightened, because her frightened mouth is in many ways similar to a mouth expressing surprise. Compare this facial expression of Patricia in fig. 8D with her facial expression in fig. 5b. On fig. 5B she looks only apprehensive, not startled by what she sees, because only her mouth expresses fear. The effect of the "shock" state, manifested in its expression in Fig. 8D is created by the appearance of frightened eyes. Fear may occur simultaneously with sadness, anger, or disgust, and mixed expressions of fear with one of these emotions may appear on the face. Fear can also be partially masked by a cheerful look, and this mixed expression will be shown in one of the photos. All mixed expressions of fear with sadness, anger, disgust, or joy will be presented in later chapters as each of these emotions is explained. The most typical is a mixture of fear and surprise, since the events that frighten us are often unexpected and, as a rule, we find ourselves simultaneously or almost simultaneously both frightened and surprised. In most of these mixed expressions, when one part of the face shows surprise and the other fear, the expression of fear is dominant.
On fig. Figure 9 shows two types of a mixture of fear and surprise, and for comparison, faces are shown on the left, in all three areas of which only fear is reflected. As you move your eyes from left to right, you can see an increase in surprise mixed with fear. In both John and Patricia, the differences between the leftmost and rightmost photographs are more noticeable than the differences between neighboring images. This is because neighboring photos differ only in one area of the face, while the extreme photos differ in two areas.
On fig. 9B, only the forehead and eyebrows give the element of surprise to the face, while the rest of the face expresses fear. The impression created is only slightly different from the impression from the leftmost photo. On fig. 9E again, only the eyebrows and forehead express surprise, while fear is expressed by the rest of the face, but the difference between this face and the one shown on the left, which expresses fear in all three areas, is much more obvious. This difference is more pronounced in Patricia than in John, perhaps because Patricia's mouth here looks more like the mouth of a surprised person.
In the rightmost photographs in Fig. 9 eyebrows express surprise - the forehead and eyes, and fear - only the mouth. While this is true for both Patricia and John, John's face (Fig. 9C) shows more fear than Patricia's (Fig. 9F). Again, this is due to the way Patricia and John's mouths express fear. Patricia's frightened mouth is very reminiscent of her surprised mouth. If you think that Patricia's face in fig. 9F expresses only surprise with no admixture of fear, then compare this photo with the photo in fig. 6).
and you will see the difference. Figure 10 shows two other types of mixed expressions - fear and surprise. In Patricia, only her mouth expresses surprise, while her eyes and eyebrows express fear. She looks frightened, but not as much as in the picture. 9D, where her face shows only fear. Figure 10
On fig. 10 Patricia's frightened face shows the stun more clearly - thanks to her surprised mouth. Compare Patricia's facial expressions in fig. 10 and fig. 8C.
Eyebrows and eyes look the same in both cases, but replacing the neutral mouth (Fig. 8C) with a surprised mouth (Fig. 10) adds an element of fear and changes the expression of apprehension (Fig. 8C) into a mixture of more strong fear and distrust.
The facial expression of John in Fig. 10 shows last possible variant combinations of fear and surprise. In this case, John's fear is expressed only in the eyes. Just by pulling up his lower eyelids, his expression of surprise is replaced by an expression of frightened surprise. Compare John's facial expressions in Fig. 10 and fig. 6 to see the difference between such a mixture of fear and surprise and an expression of pure surprise.
Summary
On fig. 11 shows two faces expressing fear in all three areas. Figure 11
- The eyebrows are raised and slightly drawn together.
- Wrinkles are observed only in the central part of the forehead, and not across its entire width.
- The upper eyelids are lifted, exposing the sclera, and the lower eyelids are tense and pulled up.
- The mouth is open and the lips are either slightly tense and pulled back or stretched and pulled back.
"Construction" of facial expressions
- Place parts C on the faces of fig. 11. What expression did you get? You have already seen this expression on John's face in fig. 2, and Patricia's expression will be the same, although a little more subtle. Worry, fear, controlled fear - this is the meaning of the possible messages transmitted.
- Place parts B on the faces of fig. 11. What will be the resulting expressions? Patricia's face expresses concern or fear (Figure 5B). John's facial expression can either have the same meaning, or it can express controlled fear or, if the expression comes and goes instantly, it can be an emblematic expression of fear.
- Put on fig. 11 parts A and D. In this face you see frightened eyes, which can be observed for a moment with well-controlled or very slight fear.
- Remove parts A. The expression will be the same as in the left photographs in fig. 8, - an expression of concern.
- Remove parts D and return parts A. This expression is shown in the right photos in fig. 8 - an expression of a stronger, chilling fear, close to horror. By alternately adding and removing parts A and D, you can best see how the facial expressions change.
Show photos
Another way to practice the material is to quickly look at a photograph of a face and determine what emotion it expresses. You can do this using the photos from the previous pages. The procedure itself turns out to be quite complicated, but most people find it useful for mastering the skill of recognizing facial expressions in real life.You will need:
- A partner who will select photos and show them to you.
- L-shaped cardboard mask; with it, your partner will hide other photos that are on the same page so that you can only see the face shown to you.
- List of persons who will be shown to you, indicating the order in which they are shown; the basic list is below, but your partner will have to change it so you don't know which photo will be shown next. And of course, it is important for you to know the display order so that you can check your answers later.
- An empty table with numbers from 1 to 22 in which you will write down your answers.
Exercise 1
Your partner must show you each photo for only one second. He should then quickly close it, find and mask the next one, to show it to you when you've finished writing your answer. Feel free to answer at random if you like, but be sure to look at all 22 photos before checking your answers.
If you cope with the task the first time, you have mastered the material well. You've become an expert at facial expressions of fear and surprise! If you have made several mistakes, read the places where it says about the corresponding photos. Then ask your partner to change the display order and try the task again.
If you don't get it right the first time, don't despair. Many susceptible people give absolutely correct answers only on the third or fourth attempt.
Below you will find similar exercises for recognizing other emotions. You will find it easier to master these exercises if you have a solid understanding of the FEAR and SURPRISE material before moving on.
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