The Anatomy of Fear

What is Fear?
Fear is only a feeling, but certainly one of the most powerful feelings that a human being can encounter. It’s an unpleasant feeling of real or imagined danger. Serious fear grows out of the discernment of some formidable impending danger. Personal fear varies extremely in degree from mild caution to extreme phobia and paranoia. Take this poor boy for instance:

He’s no doubt in fear for his life.

What Does Fear Look Like?
The body freezes up in an instant which allows your brain enough time to process the situation and decide if another reaction is more appropriate. Facial expressions of a person is in fear are unmistakable. Here are some characteristics of a fearful facial expression:

• The eyes widen (anticipating what will happen next)
• The pupils dilate (take in more light)
• The upper lip rises
• The eyebrows come together
• The lips stretch horizontally

Who?
Plain and simple. Anyone. Men and women. The Young and Old. If you’re breathing you’re susceptible to fear.

Where?
As this weather man found out fear can strike anywhere. Unfortunately for him it was in front of thousands of people.

When?
When is probably the biggest factor to fear. Most times fear is invoked because of a sudden disturbance in your current surroundings. Check out this poor kid who only wants to be like Britney Spears.

However, sometimes you’re totally expecting to be able to handle the situation. Such as this kid who found out the amusement park ride was more than he could handle.

And then there is the totally unexpected. When you’re sleeping. You’re lying there in a totally relaxed state when your world is turned upside down. You wake up in a flash knowing that your time has come. You can’t think. You can’t move. You just sit there totally terrified.

My personal favorite is this next clip where a young kid is totally immersed in figuring out how to complete a maze game. There is nothing worse that being totally entranced in a thought to be rudely brought back to reality by a prankster. Especially when that prankster is your father.

All of these are examples of perceived fear. Not a single person was in any considerable danger. Yet the body takes over and causes people to lose complete control of their body and mind. Muscles contracting, uncontrollable screaming, crying, jumping, and running are all physiological reactions to fear. Sweating is another common effect of fear since the body knows it needs to start cooling itself for retreat to safety. I guess in all these cases FDR said it best: “The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself”.