Tips For Overcoming Fear, Doubt and Anxiety

Fear is a feeling induced by perceived danger or threat, which causes a change in metabolic and organ functions and ultimately a change in behavior, such as fleeing, hiding, or freezing from perceived traumatic events.

Fear may occur in response to a certain stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat perceived as a risk to oneself. The fear response arises from the perception of danger leading to confrontation with or escape from/avoiding the threat (also known as the fight-or-flight response), which in extreme cases of fear (horror and terror) can be a freeze response or paralysis.

Fear is an instinct triggered by chemicals in the Reptilian part of the brain. It’s not an emotion. Fear is a useful natural mechanism to help you escape danger, avoid danger or to warn you against danger. This is known as ‘the flight mode’.

There are three parts of the brain:

The Reptilian brain – Survival, Instinct, Fear,

The Limbic System – Emotion, Pleasure, avoidance of Pain

Neocortex– Logical, Rational or the Thinking brain

The Reptilian brain (R-Complex) is the oldest part of the brain followed by the Limbic system and the Neocortex. The Reptilian brain controls the other two brains.

You can read more about by Googling something like “Triune Brain Theory”.

Fear is a psychological issue and there’s nothing wrong with it. The problem occurs when fear gets you into ‘flight mode’ (i.e. flight in the wrong direction or fleeing from the right thing or something that would benefit you).

This is something you must train your brain to do. Training the brain helps the Reptilian brain to dismiss fear when it is no longer necessary, and transfer control to the Neocortex for further evaluation and analysis. The Neocortex is able to convince the Reptilian brain that the danger is no longer present.

There is no known medicine for fear, but there are programs that can help you to overcome it.

That being said, there are many types of fears (also known as ‘Phobias’).

Here are examples of common types of phobias:

Acrophobia, fear of heights

Aerophobia, fear of flying

Arachnophobia, fear of spiders

Astraphobia, fear of thunder and lightning

Autophobia, fear of being alone

Claustrophobia, fear of confined or crowded spaces

Hemophobia, fear of blood

Hydrophobia, fear of water

Ophidiophobia, fear of snakes