What are we afraid of?

"Courage is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear."

- Mark Twain

Darkness was my greatest enemy as a child, and for a long time, I felt safer when I fell asleep near a light source. There is nothing strange about this; it is a natural phenomenon. It is not exclusive to my childhood. Even babies can be afraid of the dark. This fear is one of the basic, primal traits that stems from our survival instinct. Fear is caused by the body's ability to remember and associate situations that have ended badly in the past, as well as by people's capacity for abstract thinking, which enables us to imagine the negative consequences of our decisions. So, how do we cope with fear?

The body responds to fear by tensing all its muscles, preparing for fight or flight. Adrenaline is released into the bloodstream, accelerating heart rate and breathing, and altering blood circulation. At its peak, the body is primed to perform actions that are usually beyond our everyday capabilities, such as lifting a heavy object to save someone.

Today, however, in conflict situations, the fight-or-flight response can be detrimental to us. Adrenaline and other substances released in such situations linger in the body for an extended period, increasing our nervousness and aggression even in situations that do not warrant such a reaction. To counter these negative effects, it's a good idea to expend energy as we would in a fight-or-flight situation.

As Tal Ben-Shahar, a positive psychology specialist, said: "We can't control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to it." That's why it's essential to learn positive ways to cope with anxiety and stressful situations, such as engaging in regular exercise, practicing relaxation techniques, or meditating.

Anxiety is an internal process that differs from fear because it is not associated with immediate threat or pain. "Interactions with the environment create certain functional structures that, despite their great diversity and variability, are stable", allowing us to anticipate and prepare for what might happen in the future. When something unexpected occurs, we feel anxious. "The more unusual the situation, the greater the anxiety". Anxiety can focus our attention on things we fear, even if they are actually harmless, creating a false image of the world. Anxiety takes many forms, including fear of failure, embarrassment, ridicule, shame, guilt, rejection, addiction, and even intimacy.

The word phobia comes from the Greek word phobos, which means fear, and "indicates a fear caused by specific situations or external objects that are not objectively dangerous." One method of treating phobias is to ask the patient to visualize what they are afraid of. For example, a person with arachnophobia is asked to imagine a spider of a certain size. We then ask them to imagine the spider moving forward or backward. The simple act of imagining the movement of the feared object proves to be very effective in inhibiting the fear response, as the fear becomes immobilized in the mind. During such therapy, one can gradually move to observing an actual spider in a glass jar. Then the phobic person is asked to get as close to the container as possible – until they feel a panic attack. The distance will vary according to the patient's sense of safety, and over time, with freedom of choice, the patient will regain a sense of control. The phobic individual learns that they have more options than just panicked escape.

Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, ophidiophobia, the fear of snakes, or nyctophobia, the fear of darkness, may have evolutionary roots, as phobias of cars, electrical sockets, or cigarettes are less common, even though in the modern world these objects pose a greater danger than, say, spiders. It seems that phobias are most often related to threats that were real in prehistoric times, and a few thousand years is too short a time to change that (in the context of 200,000 years of the Homo sapiens species). However, considering current global events, xenophobia has emerged as a significant issue.

In Polish society, xenophobia appears to have polarized opinions. Many Poles remain opposed to Ukrainians simply because they come from a different country, immediately perceiving them as rivals. When it comes to Muslims, the religious aspect seems to play an even bigger role in shaping attitudes, while discrimination against black people is mostly driven by racial prejudice. This highlights the importance of addressing not only fears that stem from our evolutionary history, but also those that emerge from social and cultural contexts. Educating people on the importance of empathy, understanding, and inclusion can help to dismantle these prejudices and contribute to building more harmonious societies.

The impact of prejudice and discrimination can also be seen in the context of mental health. Nearly 95% of patients diagnosed with depression have at least one symptom of an anxiety disorder. In his monograph on depression, Antoni Kepinski wrote: "When sadness is deep, it is almost always accompanied by anxiety (...) Most often it is an indefinite anxiety. The patient himself does not know what he is afraid of, but he feels that something is threatening him, that something terrible is going to happen to him and his loved ones". The patient may feel a panicky fear of their own fate, illness, society, and it is not uncommon for such behavior to develop into obsessions, phobias, or neuroses. Anxiety and depression can destroy a person's existing social and professional life, so it sometimes happens that sufferers stop working, studying, or change their existing habits. The constantly worsening mood and the lack of understanding from loved ones lead to isolation and suicidal thoughts. In both cases, addressing the root causes of fear and anxiety is essential for fostering healthier, more inclusive societies.

In conclusion, both anxiety and various phobias have their origins in the evolution and survival of the human species. However, it is worth remembering that in today's world, some of these mechanisms can cause unnecessary suffering if not properly controlled. For example, if a person is afraid of falling asleep in the dark, a bedside lamp can first be turned on and then gradually moved away or reduced in intensity. In this way, the person learns to adapt to the dark and cope with the fear.

Undoubtedly, it is important that we learn to cope with fears, phobias, and anxiety using a variety of methods tailored to individual needs. Therapy, especially cognitive-behavioral therapy, can help a person identify and change negative thought patterns and reactions to fearful stimuli. Physical exercise helps relieve tension and stress, reducing anxiety symptoms by inducing feelings of relaxation and stimulating the release of endorphins.

Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, yoga, and meditation teach stress management skills, breathing control, and cognitive management of anxiety. Regular practice of these techniques can lead to lower anxiety levels and improved mental health. Above all, learning to effectively manage fears, phobias, and anxiety is critical to well-being and the ability to cope with the challenges of daily life.