Fear- How Does It Rule the World?
- P
- Jul 26
- 5 min read
Fear is one of the wildest emotions for humans to have held onto through evolutions. All animals- since ever- sense fear, whether they are ultimately peaceful and adorable, they all can still sense when there's a little evil among them. Their initial reactions are also what we like to call, fear. It is a basic emotion that makes us feel safe, to protect us. In simple terms, fear is how we react when we are scared. Shocker, however, fear is a much deeper emotion than people care to admit. Fear has been used really since the dawn of time as a manipulation tactic, as an activator to our “fight or flight” responses, a motivator, and a life saver. Unfortunately, I think fear has always ruled the world and is a terrible double-edged sword. That fear is insidious in nature, and here is why.
Fear can come in the form of a million different things, and for every person individually fear means something completely different. This can manifest itself as phobias for some, for others it means nothing. Take spiders for example, some people have them as pets, when I learned that I just about lost my mind. I suppose that's my point; I think they are revolting, and I would say I have a phobia of them too. Fear can also manifest itself as anxiety, and even worse, overthinking. Ruminating on what could all go wrong if you went to the mall or making yourself believe someone you love is hurt. Buttt, don't forget that anxiety and overthinking could be a symptom of past fearful experiences, or remembering stories you hear from people you love or strangers. Unfortunately, fear can also come about as a learned behavior in childhood. Traumatic memories like fear are more likely to be remembered than others. So, if a child sees their parent scared shitless about something, it's more than likely they will feel the exact same, subconsciously or not.
That was my first question, “What is fear?”, but how does it impact us? Psychologically, fear can cast a long spell of a shadow of harm that persists long after a threat has subsided. Fear can have an intense impact on our minds, our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in the way we show up in the world. It can fundamentally alter the reality we live in; it is an emotion the universe responds to with karma. It can form patterns in behaviors we use in the workplace, in relationships, friendships, even just with strangers (aka stage fright). Chronic fear has a lasting impact and is honestly a little terrifying. It can be hard to find a little sunshine if you're terrified of everything or always are on the edge. Now that I think about it, all the research I could do could not justify how much evidence my own mother is as how chronic fear can make you horrifying to be around. Fear can turn your brain into mush that's on 3 tabs of acid. However, there are people in this world who really don't care about the fear, everyone feels it, and if someone tells you they've never felt fear they are lying. Truly, I envy the people who don't give a damn about it.
The emotion runs deep, but not just from the neck up, we feel fear physically too. Our minds and bodies are interconnected after all. The stress response system we feel in our bodies are primal as well. The hands sweating, having a hard time breathing, shaking, going completely still, screaming, crying, and that hard drop you feel in your stomach when your adrenaline is about to explode. Thats fear, the root of all those things is fear. Now think about having chronic fear, now we add in our immune systems going insane. Another surprise, fear can suppress your immune system, which is why if you're extra stressed you break out in acne, or hives for some, why you catch colds easier. It's like an untiable military knot. Our bodies are so busy dealing with perceived threats that it doesn't have the resources to fight off the real ones. Around, and around, and around you go. Oh, your sleep too. Insomnia and other sleeping disorders are ranked high in people who are chronically stressed. Sleep can be heavily disrupted and can screw up your circadian rhythm, which is a time to get fixed.
All of that combined, now imagine other humans using it as a tactic towards you. Being used for a psychological strategy to invoke all the feeling and reactions I've stated above. They tap into our primal instincts, exploiting our deepest fears and regrets and worries. It's a practice as old as time, because apparently everyone learned how to be cynical from the moment the universe was created. However, this tactic has since evolved over time, becoming more precise, sophisticated and, insidious. The earth itself has had an entirely long history of this in small cases but since humans were a thing our history is even worse. Politicians, actors, journalists, religious leaders, advertising, fear is everywhere. It's a terrible ugly sort of glitter if you will. Now that humans have modernized more and more, we are being bombarded constantly with fears from all directions. Fear has become normalized, so much so that feeling it daily in times now, is just a part of life. Our government currently is a huge example of how they've used fear to tear our country into shreds. Think more about wars too, the entire concept of war is fear. Fear that we hope to instill in the enemies' side to win. You cannot have war without fear. Theorists have studied this, forensic psychology and psychology in general relies on it, criminals need it. Sorry to be scary, but its utter truth, but there's also a way to harness this and turn fear into drive.
Question the information you receive more thoroughly. Get every detail to support claims of your fear, to help you consider other perspectives. If you want to take fear by the balls, you have to be a detective of sorts. Instead of solving a real crime you're solving the question “Should I actually be afraid?” Practice ultimate discernment, feed your mind to gain more emotional intelligence, research these tactics to learn how to spot them. Take a walk, or literally just start running as fast as you can, it doesn't matter keep your mind as level as you can. Start to use fear as a motivator, use it in healthy doses to make positive changes in your life (like taking risks). Once you continue to build that, you'll gain something new: resilience. Cultivating a sense of confidence in your ability to handle challenges, stressful situations, and not letting fear dictate your decisions and how you choose to shape your reality. It's like building an immunity to fear itself. Theres no way in the world we can avoid this type of emotion, it's literally in our nature. Even then, you might still feel it, it won't control you. Awareness is half the battle. Taking fear by the balls, is the other.
We have now learned fear is impossible to avoid. But on the other hand, we have learned exactly how to reign it in for good. Now it's your choice or I guess just me: you either rise above with the fear, or drown in it. Drowning is a top fear way of dying for me, so I think I'll learn how to swim.
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