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How does fear affect your body?

Fear is a basic emotion that can be real or imagined. You see danger, pain or harm coming your way. 

The instinctive feeling of fear, one of the seven instinctive emotions, has been hard wired into your brain as an evolutionary survival mechanism. Think what would happen if you were face to face with a wild beast, what it would take for your body to deal with the danger. Sometimes the danger may not be as obvious as a wild beast or may simply be a perception of fear in your mind, but the physical reactions in your body are the same. 

Fear instantly activates the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ instinct in your body. Stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol are released, your heart beats faster, your breathing gets quicker, your muscles tense, you feel sick, your vision is more focused, all physiological factors preparing your body for an energy surge to either fight, freeze or run.

Your body reacts instantaneously and once the threat is over, the ‘fight or flight’ system shuts down and you go back to having control of your actions. Problems in your body start happening when the threat does not seem to go away, you are under a continued state of fear or anxiety and ‘the fight or flight’ physical system is not shut down. Fear physically affects your body in many ways: 

The intensity of your body reaction to fear is individual

Fear for some can incite a ‘pleasurable’ emotional experience whereas for others the same experience can be verging on the terrifying and extremely unpleasant. Many entertainment industries have evolved to cater to individual taste in the ‘pleasurable fear experience’  such as horror films, adventure parks, rollercoasters. Whether the experience is physical or mental through media, there are always physical body reactions. Again, the physical reactions can vary with the individual. Some have more muscle tension, some feel sicker or others feel the change in heart rate more acutely. Fear manifests itself in four behaviours: 

  • Fight: facing any perceived threat aggressively.
  • Flight: running away from the danger.
  • Freeze: unable to move or act against a threat.
  • Please: immediately acting to try to please to avoid any conflict.

 

Fear is healthy until it becomes a phobia 

Fear has evolved to keep you safe. When faced with a car threatening to run you over, instinctive body and mind reactions are a healthy way to get you to move out of the way. Once the threat is gone, your body returns to a calmer functioning state. Whether the threat is physical or mental, the body reactions are the same. When the threat remains in your mind, for example after a real traumatic experience to your body or mind, and becomes overwhelming, it becomes a phobia. Phobias are seen as an exaggerated or unrealistic sense of danger about a situation or an object and can affect your quality of life. 

Instinctive fear activates the release of ‘stress’ hormones in your body

Like most of your instinctive emotions, the fear reaction starts in the amygdala part of your brain. The autonomic nervous system is stimulated following signals from the amygdala to the hypothalamus, and the adrenal glands release adrenaline and cortisol into the bloodstream. These hormones prepare your body for the ‘fight or flight’ reactions.

Fear causes your heart to beat faster and blood vessels to dilate

As part of the process of preparing your body for a fear reaction, the hormones cause your heart to beat faster and your blood vessels dilate in order to get oxygen as quickly as possible to your muscles, which will be used in running or fighting. 

Your breathing intensifies with fear 

Your breathing quickens and becomes shallower as your lungs take on as much oxygen as quickly as possible. 

You feel sick with fear

You may have ‘butterflies’ in your stomach or feel sick. Blood is diverted away from your stomach to your muscles and the digestion system is stopped. Sometimes, the stomach actually ejects the contents and you throw up, making your body lighter for action. 

Your vision and hearing focus in fear

Your pupils dilate allowing more light to improve your eyesight and you might notice ‘tunnel vision’ as your body prepares to focus on the object or situation causing your fear. Similarly, your hearing becomes sharper. 

Fear causes your skin to become pale 

Blood vessels in your skin contract, diverting the blood and oxygen to your muscles and as a result, your skin becomes pale. 

Fear causes your muscles to tense 

In preparation to ‘fight or flight’, your muscles become tense. If no action is taken, sometimes your muscles shake, hence the expression ‘shaking with fear’. 

Fear can cause your body to freeze

Your body can be paralyzed with fear causing it to freeze, unable to act. Despite the lack of action, your body is still in a heightened state of fear with tense muscles, shallow breathing and frozen thoughts. Consciously or subconsciously, you may feel powerless to act against the object or situation of fear. 

Instinctive emotions are like the weather, beyond your conscious control. For a balanced life, the first step is to understand human instinctive emotions, how they work and practical steps to take in order to avoid situations that are destructive to emotional wellbeing. Not every instinctive emotion that is acted on has positive consequences. Sometimes, it may be best to take shelter from the storm, for example, if you in a situation of heightened fear without a clear threat to life , it may be best to take time out to allow your body to return to a regular state.

Fear is a basic emotion that can be real or imagined. We see danger, pain or harm coming our way. 

The instinctive feeling of fear, one of the seven instinctive emotions, has been hard wired into your brain as an evolutionary survival mechanism. Think what would happen if you were face to face with a wild beast, what it would take for your body to deal with the danger.

For more information about Fear you might be interested in these other articles:

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How does fear affect your mind?

How does fear affect your soul?

What hormones are connected to fear?