Why fear is good

Most people are familiar with the fight-or flight response. When our lives are threatened, physiology kicks in to protect us. We are hardwired for self-preservation. Unfortunately, we may also feel a similar response to unfamiliar albeit non-threatening situations. Things that feel uncomfortable to us also put us on alert. For some, the response is just as intense whereas others experience an attenuated version.

We often get our signals crossed and respond to change with the same fervor as something that has the power to destroy us.

Adrenaline doesn't always mean resist or run When we've established that life indeed is not in danger, fear becomes useful in a very different way.

We often become accustomed to our way of being- even if it's an existence that is less than the one we desire. We restrict ourselves for a variety of reasons, real or imagined. Close examination of many of those reasons has fear at the foundation. Personal growth requires expansion and that can be terrifying. Whether you aim to be more vulnerable, more loving, or more financially stable, it will require a shifting of your mindset and breaking of previously established barriers. In these scenarios, fear often points us to areas we need to investigate more closely.

Though our instinct may be to flee, this type of fear is much-needed guidance. Our body also increases the flow of hormones to an area of the brain known as the amygdala to help us focus on the presenting danger and store it in our memory. When in this overactive state--sometimes called "the amygdala hyjack"--the brain perceives events as negative and remembers them that way.

The brain stores all the details surrounding the danger—the sights, sounds, odors, time of day, weather, and so forth. The sights, sounds, and other contextual details of a fearful event may bring back the memory, or they may cause us to feel afraid without consciously knowing why.

Because these cues were associated with previous danger, the brain may see them as a predictor of threat. Reacting to cues were associated with previous danger as a predictor of threat, often happens with post-traumatic stress disorder PSTD. For example, a soldier who experienced a bombing on a foggy day might find himself panicking when the weather turns foggy—without knowing why.

So whether threats to our security are real or perceived, they impact our mental and physical wellbeing. The term Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD was coined in the s, in response to the high number of Vietnam veterans suffering from a collection of psychological symptoms after returning from war. But accounts of PTSD have been noted in various forms throughout history, and the disorder is not limited to veterans of war.

PTSD generally appears after an individual has suffered a traumatic or painful event, such as a car accident, kidnapping, natural disaster, abuse, seeing a friend or family member suffer a trauma, or death of a loved one.

Symptoms include prolonged states of anxiety racing heart, sweating , flashbacks of the event, depression, avoidance of any activities that might trigger memories of the event, and difficulty sleeping.

Like most health conditions, PTSD is not a one-size-fits-all disorder. The severity of the symptoms, as well as how long they last, vary from person to person. The most important thing someone who may be suffering from PTSD can do is to get professional help. New research indicates that you may be able to bolster yourself against PTSD by practicing resilency-enhancing strategies.

The National Institute of Mental Health recommends the following to reduce your risk of experiencing the disorder:. In addition, spirituality can sometimes help you find meaning in difficult circumstances. Many researchers have observed post-traumatic growth, a period during which a person becomes stronger and more peaceful as a result of having survived a traumatic experience.

A Gallup poll of 31 countries found that less than half of adults surveyed reported feeling safe walking alone at night. There is serious global impact to this statistic—when people feel less comfortable venturing out in the evening to work or buy goods, the economy suffers. When groups of people in our communities fear for their safety on a daily basis because of the color of their skin or their gender expression or other perceived identity, this injustice and resulting trauma impacts us all.

We cannot have a safe community until all members of the community are safe. Is it possible to experience fear and anxiety because of trauma that didn't even happen to you?

Some researchers say yes. The research in this area is still evolving, but there is some evidence that it is possible to inherit the impact of trauma from our ancestors. Create goals that will set you up for success and keep you in a trajectory where you can run consistently and have confidence to jump over obstacles on your path including fear. Fear keeps you alert, it keeps you surviving and progressing, it is a thermometer that lets you know you are moving into a hot area and doing something beyond the normal.

Preparation includes feeding yourself with positive encouragement, inspiration, reading about others who have accomplished their goals and letting their stories be a source of motivation, imagining yourself as having achieved the goal and letting this mental imagery spur you onward.

Planning includes documenting your starting point, seeing the big picture, breaking it down into smaller tasks, taking action and tracking your progress as you reach each small milestone. A dose of perseverance helps one to stay in the game when you feel down, fearful and feel like giving up.

It helps one to hang in there, to live to fight another day. Fear prompts one to identify choices and options, analyze them and evaluate your best course of action. Watch out for paralysis of analysis or over analysis which is one part of the problem, the second part of the problem is taking the wrong action. Evaluate advantages and disadvantages of solutions, anticipate problems, be cautiously bold, if needed seek external perspectives and fresh points of view and ultimately trust your gut, take aim, take action and proceed with baby steps.

Start, strive and aim high…never give up. Your best is yet to come! Is it worth it? How much do I desire the outcome? This is a key question to ask when you have a dream and fear is holding you back. What do you have to do to achieve your goal? What is the worst that can happen? What are the major benefits of proceeding? Will you regret your decision later in life? Will you be ok with not taking action?

At the heart of fear of failure, fear of change, fear of the unknown etc. Facing fears and building the fear muscle requires an appetite for risk taking.

Fear provides an opportunity to dissect the most extreme, worst case, risky and dangerous outcomes and identify a course of action that is most palatable under the current circumstances.

Overcoming fear is not a one off event instead it is a step by step process where as you unlock one small fear gate, you gain confidence to unlock another gate and another one. Thereby increasing confidence and moving away from your comfort zone towards higher possibilities. Fear forces you to examine the real or imagined barriers that are holding you back from achieving your goals. Other barriers include wanting all the facts upfront, loss aversion, distrust, suspicion, exhaustion, paralysis, instant gratification, lack of confidence, impatience, need for safety and security.

Removal of the barriers is not a one-off process rather it involves identifying the major barriers holding you back and taking small steps and action on a regular basis towards defeating the barrier. Presence of fear when undertaking a big goal tells you are stretching yourself and getting out of your comfort zone. The main worry would be can I do this?

The fear can stem from not being sure about how to do things? You wonder if your preferred mode of operation would work. Should you do things the same way? Is there a better way to do it? What made you successful in the past may not necessarily make you successful in the future.

Breaking routine involves re-imagining things and processes, identifying new patterns and possibilities to aspire for, taking risks, exploring and being adventurous. If you accept that challenges may occur, life will be easier. Fear tells you that something could be missing. Get outside yourself and view yourself like an outsider — how would you advice yourself?

How would you improve yourself? As a consultant to yourself, what suggestions and recommendations would you make to yourself? In the process of mitigating fear, one can also discover unexpected opportunities, solutions and breakthroughs that they had not previously thought of or considered. We often think we should make important decisions using just our own internal resources.

What are the pros and cons? What does my gut tell me? How far did you go the last time when you faced fear and proceeded anyway? How much further can you go this time? Turn your fears into a personal competition where you set a target for yourself and seek to break your own records over and over again. Compete with yourself. Assess what goals and targets you have set for yourself in the past, take stock of what you have achieved and areas where you have fallen short.