Love and fear from
a psychological perspective
new theory about love and fear..
It can differentiate between the healthy and the one who had bad
experiences about their past life experiences.
1 Fear and love are the
two most powerful motivators of human behavior. Fear is a negative
reinforcement while love is a positive reinforcement. In other words, when
we're afraid we actively try to avoid or eradicate the source of our fear in
order to diminsh our painful, unwanted thoughts and feelings.
What is the relationship between love and fear
psychology?
Love
typically embodies feelings of connection, safety, and warmth, while fear is
associated with anxiety, threat, and separation. This dichotomy suggests that
love can serve as a protective force against fear. Fear of Vulnerability: In
the context of love, fear can arise from vulnerability.
The
emotional relationship between love and fear is complex and multifaceted, often
characterized by a dynamic interplay. Here are several key aspects of this
relationship:
Opposing
Forces: Love and fear are often viewed as opposites. Love typically embodies
feelings of connection, safety, and warmth, while fear is associated with
anxiety, threat, and separation. This dichotomy suggests that love can serve as
a protective force against fear.
Fear
of Vulnerability: In the context of love, fear can arise from vulnerability.
When individuals open themselves up to love, they may fear rejection, loss, or
betrayal. This fear can inhibit emotional expression and intimacy, making it
challenging for relationships to flourish.
Fear
of Loss: Love often intensifies the fear of losing a loved one. This fear can
manifest as anxiety in relationships, leading to behaviors aimed at securing
the bond, such as clinginess or possessiveness. Conversely, the strength of
love can motivate individuals to confront and manage their fears.
Growth
Through Fear: Fear can also catalyze personal growth within loving
relationships. Facing fears together can strengthen bonds and build resilience.
Couples who navigate challenges or fears together often deepen their emotional
connection.
Love
as a Counterbalance: Love can help mitigate fear. When individuals feel loved
and supported, they may experience reduced anxiety and a greater sense of
security. This supportive environment can empower individuals to confront their
fears more effectively.
Cultural
and Social Influences: Cultural narratives often intertwine love and fear. For
example, stories about passionate love frequently depict fear of loss or
betrayal, illustrating how these emotions coexist in human experiences.
Psychological
Perspectives: From a psychological standpoint, attachment theory suggests that
early experiences with caregivers shape how individuals experience love and
fear in adult relationships. Secure attachments can lead to healthier
expressions of love and a reduced fear of intimacy.
In
summary, love and fear are deeply interconnected. While they can create tension
in relationships, they also offer opportunities for growth, understanding, and
deeper emotional connections when navigated thoughtfully.
From
my personal perspective, if your wife has sexual relations with another man,
this is not considered cheating, but she was in a situation where she needed to
do so and no one owns anyone else. Every person is responsible for their own
body and sexual relations are a personal matter and no one has the right to
interfere in it.
Because
in this situation, the person did this to meet their personal needs and it is
their right.
This
is my perspective.
We
should not interfere in 4 things.
1
Sexual relations
2
Women's makeup
3
The type of clothing they wear
4
Women's travel
A
person can only ask for security reasons, but he does not have the right to
prevent.
But
if a man has a wife and has sexual relations with other women, it is betrayal.
Because
there is a huge difference between men and women in terms of sexuality. A man
should only spend his energy on the one he loves.
But
women have the right and can have sexual relations with other men.
What is the theory of love and fear?
William
Shakespeare wrote puzzlingly of their interaction: "Where love is great,
the littlest doubts are fear; When little fears grow great, great love grows
there." This literary poetics is a theory about love and fear and one I
find useful to explore in my own fear management systems theory.
Love theory 10: “The New Theory of Love”
The New Theory, also known as the Quadruple Framework, is another theory that seeks to explain love. There are four factors, which include; attraction, trust, connection or resonance, and respect (https://psykologi-analyses.blogspot.com): Attraction plays a role in passion, which is an element of love.
10 Love Theories in Psychology: Which love theory describes love the best?
What science could be more interesting than psychology of love? Fascinating psychological research and theories of love uncover the secrets of love. Psychologists and philosophers have made several love theories but which theory of love is the most accurate? After reading this article on psychological theories of love, please give your comment on the best love theory – based on your own experiences and views! After all, the science of psychology is based on real persons’ experiences and interviews, so your own practical theory of love would be very valuable to hear!.
Falling in love with a person is a mystery which many people are still trying to solve. Musicians have composed songs about the strong feelings they experience, and poets have written poems about love, but none of these seem to explain how people end up falling in love with one another.
In general, love can be described as intense feelings of care, need, like, and affection.
But what do theories in psychology actually say about love?
What is love and why do we fall in love?
Who are we attracted to and why?
Do opposites attract or is a relationship with a similar partner happier?
What are the signs of real love in a relationship?
Which are the differences between liking, admiration and true love?
What is consummate love?
What is not genuine love?
How do societal beliefs and perceptions of love affect our relationships?
Should you stop loving your ex after your romantic relationship ends?
Societal beliefs: Love in arranged marriages
The concept of love has had numerous definitions, and they are mainly influenced by societal beliefs. In the romantic era, the concept of love was undermined as society was controlled by males, and they dictated the activities of women. Marriage was a matter of formality, and no romantic feelings were associated with it.
Sometimes marriages were even arranged, and the roles were played by males. The duty of women was cut out in the household, and the reversal of this trend took too many years to appear .
Freedom to choose one’s partner
In the modern era, there was advocacy for female empowerment, and part of the drive was giving them the freedom to choose their partners. The concept of true love became popular and became the signature of freedom movements and humanist activities.
Psychologists have come up with theories that try to explain what love is and how it influences how humans perceive things and interact (Davidson & Beck, 2019).
Scientific developments and study of the brain have helped unveil the concept of love and demystify its existence.
This article highlights the theories associated with such psychology studies and explains the concept of love.
Theory 1: Consummate Love in the Triangular Theory of Love by Robert Sternberg
Perhaps the most famous love theory in psychology is the Triangular Theory of Love, which was developed by Robert Sternberg in 2004. Robert Sternberg, a world-famous American psychologist, has been the President of APA (American Psychological Association), a professor in many universities, and a member of the editorial board of the well-known psychology journal, American Psychologist, among others.
Robert Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love (or ‘Triangle Love’ in short) states that love consists of three main components:
1. Commitment
2. Passion, which is romantic and sexual attraction
3. Intimacy, which is emotional closeness
The best combination of love is called ‘Consummate love’, which involves all three components of love. However, this form of love may not always last long because it is not easy to maintain. Good long relationships need effort from both partners.
What is “Empty Love” or “Infatuated Love” according to the ‘Triangle love’ theory?
A relationship which involves only commitment and no sexual attraction nor emotional closeness, is called ‘Empty love’. This is common in many arranged marriages but even Empty love may develop into other forms of love after some time.
Combinations of love elements in the Triangular Theory of Love
Robert Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love suggests a few different combinations of these “love components”. Sternberg named the combinations as:
1. Romantic love includes passion and intimacy, but there is no commitment. Romantic love is common among teenagers as well as young adults. Those who experience this lobe can attest that it is only driven by passion and emotional connection. This form of love is usual for longer secret affairs. In a secret love affair, you may feel that your relationship is the best ever, but still leaving you a bit empty because there is no commitment or the kind of commitment you need to feel good in the long run.
2. Fatuous love involves a lot of sexual attraction and commitment, but it lacks intimacy. Fatuous love is characterized by a quick engagement that may occur after a few weeks.
3. Companionate love is characterized by commitment and a very strong emotional connection, but there is no passion. This is common in close friendships and in long-term marriages where you may feel your spouse is your best friend and that is why you don’t want to leave him/her even though you’re not fully happy in your marriage. This ‘Companionate Love’ is why you may still feel love for your partner even though you also feel you would like to divorce. Rare people want to live the rest of their lives without good sex and passion, so they may start cheating their spouses. Although you don’t cheat your best friend, right? An open relationship might be a more honest solution here.
Social impacts on the perceptions of love
‘Consummate love’ – the “best” love according to Robert Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love – is associated often with teenagers and young adults, and sometimes, the perceptions about it can be communal (Van Buskirk, 2018).
Perceptions of love are formed depending on the social circles that people live in, and they may shift depending on the quality and quantity of information that a person hears about. However, it follows the same trend, and the feelings manifest in the same way among the named age group.
A young adult may experience the type of feeling and pleasure regardless of the number of times he ‘falls’ in love within this phase. It then causes confusion, and they rarely do not know who to choose as the right partners.
Love theory 2 ‘Mere Exposure Effect’ suggests that you may “love” your spouse just because you are often exposed to him/her!
Another love theory from social psychology is known as The Mere Exposure Effect, which was discovered by Robert Zajonc in 1968. This theory is not romantic, and it explains that human beings are prone to like things that they are used to or the people they are often exposed to. This love theory seeks to explain that one of the major determinants of interpersonal attraction is physical proximity.
A study that was conducted by Leon Festinger and his colleagues in the 1950s had a connection to the theory of the Mere Exposure Effect (Davidson & Beck, 2019). It explained that people became friends with their neighbors because they lived close to each other. The level of closeness was dependent on the proximity of the apartments they lived in.
Relationships that are formed because of the proximity with one another can develop and become meaningful. The detriment of such relationships is that they cannot withstand long distances, and they gradually fade. For example, school mates or colleagues at work may be very close until one moves forward to another school or employer.
Also a divorce decision may be much easier after living separately for a while. When spending more time on your own, you may pretty quickly notice whether you truly miss your spouse, or were you together just because you were used to – like Robert Zajonc suggested.
Theory of love 3 ‘The Color Wheel’: Have you married a partner who is “good in theory and on paper” but not in real life anymore?
The third love theory is The Color Wheel, developed by John Lee in 1973. This theory of love identifies six styles of love which are named as the “colors of love”, although they are not correspondent to actual colors.
The six “love colors” (styles of love) in The Color Wheel are:
Storge is characterized by friendship and stability. It is often represented by familial love between siblings, parents, and children. This love type is similar to the companionate love in Sternberg’s “Love Triangle”.
Eros is characterized by strong romantic feelings.
Pragma is characterized by considerations that are practical. This involves searching for traits that are suitable, and it is more common in women. Also many of my relationship coaching clients say that “He is a good father and successful in his job and among his peers, but still I feel our marriage doesn’t feel good to me anymore…” You may have married a partner who is “good in theory and on paper” but not in real life in the long run.
Ludus is characterized by a need for excitement and a view of love as a game. Those who portray this kind of love are not ready for commitment because it is viewed as playful. Research indicates that men are more likely to be ludic than women.
Agape is viewed as unconditional love and selflessness.
Mania involves jealousy, obsession, and extreme highs and lows.
This theory of love indicates that any form of love can fit within the colors of love.
How does your love color palette look?
Love theory 4: The Commitment Equation including The Investment Model by Caryl Rusbult
The fourth theory of love is Caryl Rusbult’s Commitment Equation, which is dependent on how committed one is to their partner. Research indicates that it is dependent on three key factors, which are;
How much one gets out of the relationship
How one is invested in the relationship
Whether there are attractive alternatives
The Commitment Equation Theory includes Caryl Rusbult’s “Investment Model”, which came up with three variables predicting commitment (Ng, 2020). This love model offers an explanation as to why people might stay in abusive relationships. People might not be able to leave an unhappy relationship because there might be children involved, or there can be financial constraints and one of the partners is financially dependent on the other. Additionally, there might be a lack of a support system, and this may be a reason why one might not be able to leave an unhappy relationship.
Do opposites attract? Not enough, based on the theory of love 5: The Clone Attraction
The fifth theory is The Clone Attraction, which shows that people are more attracted to those they feel are similar to them. People are attracted to those with similar values, interests, and shared religious, political or other beliefs. Even though some believe that opposites attract, actually couples with similar personality and physical appearance tend to be happier.
In one experiment, participants were more attracted to the morphed versions of their own faces, which may be due to some evolutionary reasons: a father recognizes his own child more easily if the child’s both parents look similar.
This love theory explains that couples who are similar tend to be a lot happier compared to those who have different interests and beliefs.
Love theory 6: ‘Vulnerability and Care Theory of Love’ by James Giles
The sixth theory of love is the Vulnerability and Care Theory of Love, which was developed by James Giles, a Canadian psychologist. This love theory was introduced in an article ‘A Theory of Love and Sexual Desire’ in 1994.
Giles indicates that vulnerability is an important aspect of love. A person may choose to become vulnerable so that the partner may show care and also to encourage vulnerability in the partner as well so that he or she may care. This means that if a partner chooses to be vulnerable, he or she wishes that their desires will be reciprocated.
Theory 7: The Theory of Liking Versus Loving by Zick Rubin.
The theory of liking versus loving was proposed by Zick Rubin to explain love and other emotional attachments. According to him, romantic love comprises three elements:
Intimacy: Intimacy refers to the exchange of thoughts, desires, and feelings with another person.
Attachment: Attachment is a longing to receive approval, care, and physical contact with another person.
Caring: Caring is valuing a person’s happiness as much as it was your own.
Zick Rubin further explains that sometimes people may have great admiration for a particular person and may enjoy spending time with them, but this does not fit to be called love but liking. Love is a much deeper feeling, and it may include a strong desire for contact and physical intimacy. Love is concern and care for a person’s needs as much as your own while like is more of enjoying each other’s company.
Theory 8: Elaine Hatfield’s theory of love
According to psychologist Elaine Hatfield and her colleagues’ theory, love exists in two types, which are Passionate and Compassionate love:
Passionate love involves intense emotions of sexual attraction, affection, and anxiety. Hatfield believes that this love lasts between six and thirty months.
Compassionate love consists of affection, mutual respect, attachment, and trust.
Many people long to have relationships that have both passionate and compassionate love because it lasts long, but Elaine Hatfield believes that it is rare to have relationships that have both.
What do you think?
Love theory 9: “The New Theory of Love”
The New Theory, also known as the Quadruple Framework, is another theory that seeks to explain love. There are four factors, which include; attraction, trust, connection or resonance, and respect (Tobore, 2020):
Attraction plays a role in passion, which is an element of love.
Trust plays a significant role in relationships because it results in satisfaction.
Connection or resonance brings about oneness in relationships, and it results in intimacy.
Mutual respect is an important factor for any relationship, also in love relationships.
The New Theory has enabled a further understanding of love, and you can see many similarities with the other psychological theories of love.
10
LOVE PSYCHOLOGY: Which theory is the best or the most accurate?
I suppose we all agree that true love is beautiful especially when it is really authentic and balanced. Love relationships – like all human relationships – are often complex and it may not be so easy to build and maintain a healthy, warm relationship for years – at least not with any person.
We may not always understand why our friends get together with some weirdos, but at the same time we ourselves cannot always explain our own choices and decision in love.
To make love at least sound a bit more easier, many psychological theories have sought to simplify the complexity of it all. So, now it is time for you to make your conclusions! What is true, real, genuine love for you?
Did you find some similarities or differences in these theories?
And if you look deeper within: what kind of a love life do you want for your tomorrow? Please share your thoughts below and in the social media
https://psykologi-analyses.blogspot.com/
What is love from a psychological perspective?
The Psychological offers a psychodynamic
definition of a love, describing it as a “complex” emotion that involves:
Affection toward another individual. A sense of tenderness. Sensitivity to
their responses. Experiencing pleasure due to another individual.
Love,
Hypothetically: The Psychology Behind Love.
Love,
Hypothetically: The Psychology Behind Love
“I
was at a party, feeling very shy, because there were a lot of celebrities
around, and I was sitting in a corner, alone, and a very beautiful young man
came up to me and offered me some salted peanuts, and he said, ‘I wish they
were emeralds’ as he handed me the nuts, and that was the end of my heart. I
never got it back.”
The
above quote by actress Helen Hayes attempts to express how extraordinary,
nevertheless recognizable, and deeply visceral love can feel. Hayes’s personal
anecdote delivers her own take on a universal human experience, which has
managed to evade a clear-cut definition.
To
arrive at a well-rounded, and even evidence-based, understanding of the
psychology of love, it is necessary to examine what love is in psychological
terms, the different factors that go into it, and the different types of love
known to exist. So read on, to find out what’s love got to do with it.
Love: Style
The Psychological offers a psychodynamic
definition of a love, describing it as a “complex” emotion that involves:
Affection
toward another individual.
A
sense of tenderness.
Sensitivity
to their responses
Experiencing
pleasure due to another individual.
Devotion.
It
is this mix of emotions that make up the multi-layered and, at times,
life-altering experience that is love.
The
Triangle of Love
The
APA further mentions the “triangle of love” theory, put forth by psychologist
Robert Sterberg. According to Sternberg, all forms of love are composed of
varying levels of the following essential elements:
Intimacy:
This aspect of love causes individuals to feel close to one another, and
involves feelings of warmth, and connectedness.
Passion:
Both raw and tender, passion involves both romance, sexual attraction, and
sexual relations.
Commitment:
Describing the considered wish to stay together, commitment involves feelings
of perseverance, maintaining a relationship, and weathering its storms.
According
to Sterberg, these three components are able to create seven distinct forms of
love:
Liking:
“True friendship,” whose main attribute is a greater sense of intimacy.
Infatuation:
Characterizing instances of love at first sight, this form of love is prone to
be short-lived, as it prioritizes only passion.
Empty
Love: This form of love emphasizes commitment and describes either
relationships that begin through a more cerebral understanding of its benefits
(such as arranged marriages), or a relationship whose passion and intimacy have
since run out.
Romantic
Love: A combination of heightened intimacy and passion, romantic love refers to
feelings of mutual appreciation, desire, and excitement, together with a wish
for physical proximity. Romantic love has been exalted in many a song, and its
loss has just as often been mourned. It has also been the catalyst in a large
number of relationship OCD cases, when an individual finds themselves
constantly doubting whether someone is really their “one true love,” or if they
indeed are satisfied with their relationship.
Companionate
Love: Relationships where both intimacy and commitment are their defining
features. These can be older romantic relationships, where there is no longer a
great deal of passion, but still a fondness and an appreciation between
partners.
Fatuous
Love: Often characterized by impulsivity and drama, fatuous love describes a
connection where the partners’ strong commitment to the relationship is based
largely on their attraction to one another, without necessarily getting to know
their partner, or finding common ground with them.
Consummate
Love: Stable, satisfying, but not easily achieved, consummate love holds a
beneficial, though not necessarily long-lasting, balance between intimacy,
passion, and commitment. With all three elements acknowledged and tended to,
this form of love includes real admiration for one another through deep
familiarity, a vital sense of attraction, and the mutual agreement that this
relationship is worthwhile. Sternberg emphasizes that even with all these
elements at play, it is crucial for partners to work at maintaining their love,
by regularly expressing its different facets.
On
Love and Aggression
Focusing
specifically on romantic love via a psychological definition, psychologist Zick
Rubin wished to pinpoint certain, psychology-based “facts” of love. He
therefore put forth his own, empirically-based theory, positing that romantic
love is made up of the following three elements:
Attachment:
Describes the individual’s need to depend on their partner, and to be taken
care of by them.
Caring:
Viewing their partner’s happiness as important as their own, together with
being prepared to work toward improving their partner’s well-being.
Intimacy:
The need to share private thoughts, feelings, and secrets with one’s partner,
together with a need for exclusivity, through the belief that they are the only
individual with whom their partner has such an open and vulnerable
relationship.
Rubin
created two questionnaires to measure the levels of these components. His
research found a distinction between liking and loving: liking someone is
normally associated with calmer feelings, such as pleasantness, respect, and
warmth.
Romantically
loving someone, on the other hand, tends to arise stronger, and even
aggressive, feelings, as well as a willingness to fight for their partner and
relationship.
Rubin’s
research has found correlations between romantic love and passion, desire,
possessiveness, and devotion. More specifically, those who scored higher on the
loving scale were found to gaze into each other’s eyes more, and that partners
were more likely to marry if they rated higher on the more passionate “loving”
scale, then on the calmer “liking” scale. Put differently, those who feel a
fire for their partner are likelier to decide to wed them, compared to couples
whose defining feature is an appreciation of each other’s values or opinions.
A
Love of Many Colors
Love
can grow in different contexts and includes the love for individuals other than
one’s romantic partner. As one goes through life, the significance they place
on different forms of love is likely to change. It is important to be open to
these emotional shifts, and to allow their evolving perspective to contribute
to the actualization of uplifting, supportive, and loving relationships. A Love of Many Colors
Love
can grow in different contexts and includes the love for individuals other than
one’s romantic partner. As one goes through life, the significance they place
on different forms of love is likely to change. It is important to be open to
these emotional shifts, and to allow their evolving perspective to contribute
to the actualization of uplifting, supportive, and loving relationships.
Part 2
Of course, fear is a natural thing in humans. It must
exist to protect oneself.
But we have two types of fear: one that is unconscious
and unknowing and far from reality, and the second fear is conscious fear to
protect ourselves from an unpleasant event. Suddenly, Suddenly, fear makes us humans less likely to
walk a dangerous path, change our path to a better one, and choose a more
correct path.
False fear or unrealistic fear.
All fears are accumulated by the experiences and the
person throughout life and the type of interaction that has been made with him
and has become a nightmare for the person. Past events throughout life and events that have occurred
throughout a person's life all turn into a bitter life experience.
What
is the psychological perspective of fear?
The
Psychology of Fear
What
Is Fear? Fear is a natural and primitive emotion that can be experienced by
everyone to some degree. Fear is a basic, emotional response to a perceived
threat or danger. It triggers the body's 'fight-or-flight' response, leading to
physiological changes like increased heart rate and adrenaline levels.
The
Psychology of Fear: Definition, Symptoms, Traits, Causes, Treatment.
On
This Page:
Biochemical
Reaction
Emotional
Response
Symptoms
and diagnosis
Is Fear Useful?
Disorders
That Involve Fear
What Causes fear?
Brain's
Fear Response
Managing
Fears
What Is Fear?
Fear
is a natural and primitive emotion that can be experienced by everyone to some
degree.
Fear
is a basic, emotional response to a perceived threat or danger. It triggers the
body’s ‘fight-or-flight’ response, leading to physiological changes like
increased heart rate and adrenaline levels.
Fear
is an essential survival mechanism, helping individuals react to potentially
life-threatening situations. It can respond to immediate, tangible threats and
more abstract or future concerns. Fear can also be learned through past
experiences or observations.
People
may experience fear when in situations such as walking home alone at night,
facing animals they perceive as dangerous, or when about to skydive out of a
plane.
Fear
can also be attributed to feelings of stress and anxiety. It may also
contribute to some feelings of disgust, as according to a study investigating
those who feared or did not fear snakes, those who experienced this fear
reported high feelings of disgust and fear .
Fear
is a normal human experience that can be felt by anyone at certain times in
their lives.
Fear
is a very natural human response that arises as a defense mechanism in the face
of potential danger or harm. It can manifest in a variety of situations and is
a normal part of the human experience.
However,
when fear becomes extreme in certain situations, such as in social situations
or towards a particular object, it may indicate a more significant issue.
In
such cases, seeking professional help and support can be beneficial in managing
and overcoming the fear.
Biochemical
Reaction
Fear
is a normal response to many situations and comprises two primary reactions:
biochemical and emotional.
The
biochemical reaction to fear causes our bodies to respond to perceived threats
in the environment.
Living
With Anxiety
Gentle,
practical advice and science-backed strategies to help you understand and
manage social anxiety - one small step at a time.
This
produces automatic physical reactions such as sweating, increased heart rate,
breathlessness, and dilated pupils. These bodily reactions prepare the body to
either combat the threat or run away from it – this is called the ‘ fight or
flight ’ response.
In
response to a threat, the sympathetic nervous system, part of the autonomic
nervous system, is activated by the sudden release of hormones.
The
sympathetic nervous system then stimulates the adrenal glands to trigger the
release of hormones, resulting in physical reactions. These hormones are:
Epinephrine
(adrenaline) – Provides energy to the major muscles of the body so they can
respond to a perceived threat.
Norepinephrine
(noradrenaline) – increases alertness, arousal, and attention. Connstricts blood
vessels that help maintain blood pressure during times of stress.
Emotional
Response
The
emotional response to fear, however, is personalized to the individual. Since
the biology of fear involves some of the same chemical responses to pleasant emotions,
such as excitement and happiness, people can experience either pleasant or
unpleasant emotions to fear.
For
instance, some people may enjoy riding extreme roller coasters, while others
may have a negative reaction and will avoid these at all costs.
Although
the biochemical reaction for fear may be the same, some people will experience
the intensity of fearful situations differently than others.
Symptoms
and diagnosis.
People
can experience fear differently, but some of the common physical and emotional
symptoms are:
Sweating
Rapid
heart rate
Nausea
Dizziness
Chest
pain
Dry
mouth
Upset
stomach
Chills
Shortness
of breath
Trembling
Feeling
overwhelmed
Feeling
out of control
A
sense of impending death
Dread
For
a condition associated with fear and anxiety to be diagnosed, the symptoms must
be persistent, interfere with some part of normal functioning, and cannot be
better explained by another condition.
If
feelings of fear become persistent and excessive, this could be diagnosed as a
type of anxiety disorder, depending on the symptoms being experienced.
Common
disorders which are associated with fear are: phobias, generalized anxiety
disorder, social anxiety disorder, healthy anxiety disorder, panic disorder,
and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Is fear useful?
In
many situations, fear is normal and healthy in that it can keep us from
entering harmful situations and help us decide when to get out of these
situations.
The
immediate threat of danger and the physical responses that come with it can
help focus our attention and mobilize us to cope with the danger, but either
fighting against it (fight) or running away from it (flight).
Fear
may also help us to react to danger without having to think about it
consciously.
For
example, if a car is coming towards us, fear can make us jump out of the way
and thus save our lives. Also, if humans have the capacity to notice fear in
others since we recognize it in ourselves, we can offer compassion and
reassurance to others to help them cope.
In
contrast, extreme levels of fear could result in the development of mental
health conditions such as phobias or other anxiety conditions. A phobia is an
intense, persistent, and out of proportional fear of something, an event, or a
situation.
Phobias
twist the normal fear response into something difficult or impossible to
control and can be detrimental to people’s lives. Likewise, other anxiety
conditions, such as generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder,
involve intense worry or fear of many things and social situations
respectively.
The
biochemical and emotional response to fear can be so extreme that it can
negatively affect people’s lives. If fear gets too extreme, such as in those
experiencing anxiety disorders, it can keep us trapped, preventing us from
doing things we want.
Disorders
That Involve Fear
Phobias
Phobias
may be diagnosed when certain situations, events, or objects create a strong,
irrational fear. Some symptoms of phobias include:
A
sensation of uncontrollable anxiety when exposed to the source of the fear.
The
feeling that the source of the fear needs to be avoided at all costs.
Not
being able to function properly when exposed to fear.
They
may acknowledge that the fear is irrational and exaggerated, combined with the inability
to control feelings of fear.
Feeling
incapable of coping with the fear.
Different
types of phobias can be diagnosed: specific phobias, social phobias, and
agoraphobia. Specific phobias are intense, irrational fears of a specific
trigger.
Some
common specific phobias are spiders and snakes. Social phobia is a profound
fear of public humiliation or being judged negatively by others in social
situations.
Agoraphobia
is an intense fear of situations from which escape might be difficult (or
embarrassing) or in which help may not be available in the event of having an
unexpected panic episode. This could be a fear of enclosed spaces, as well as
open or crowded spaces.
Specific
phobias are known as simple phobias since they can usually be linked to an
identifiable cause and are unlikely to affect daily living as the person can
avoid the trigger.
For
instance, if someone has a phobia of heights, they are not likely to experience
this fear day-to-day, only in situations where they may have to face their
fear.
Social
phobia (also known as social anxiety disorder) and agoraphobia, however, are
known as complex phobias since their triggers are less easily recognizable or
avoidable, and the individual is more likely to experience the associated fear
more frequently than those with a specific phobia.
Posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD)
PTSD
is a mental health disorder that can develop in people who have experienced or
witnessed a traumatic event, such as a serious accident, military combat,
physical or sexual assault, or natural disaster.
One
of the key symptoms of PTSD is experiencing intense fear, anxiety, or distress
when confronted with reminders of the traumatic event, even if the present
situation is not actually dangerous or threatening (Maren et al., 2013).
This
fear response is thought to be related to the way the brain processes and
encodes memories of the traumatic event. When someone experiences a traumatic
event, the brain’s fear response is activated, causing the release of stress
hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
However,
in people with PTSD, the brain’s fear response can become overactive and
hyper-vigilant, causing them to perceive even minor cues in their environment
as potential threats. For example, a veteran who experienced combat trauma
might feel intense fear or panic when they hear a car backfire or fireworks, as
these sounds could trigger memories of gunfire or explosions.
In
essence, the fear response in people with PTSD is triggered by associations
between present experiences and past traumatic events, rather than by a real
and present danger.
These
associations can be so strong that even subtle reminders of the trauma can
trigger a full-blown fear response, leading to symptoms like panic attacks,
hypervigilance, and avoidance behaviors.
Generalized
anxiety disorder (GAD)
Those
who experience GAD typically have persistent and excessive worries about
everyday life and worry about multiple things. They may be fearful about their
health, finances, safety, and relationships, etc. to the point where it can
become exhausting.
People
with GAD tend to experience the physical symptoms associated with fear but more
often and for more reasons.
Panic
disorder
Panic
disorder is characterized as fear and worries of the panic attacks experienced
recurrently, which are sudden and intense feelings of terror.
These
feelings could sometimes occur without warning and are associated with physical
symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, fast heart rate, and
trembling.
Panic
attacks could become very intense that impairs the individual functioning
during the episode.
What Causes fear?
Specific
phobias usually develop in childhood and, in some cases, can be pinpointed to
an exact moment.
In
some cases, specific phobias can result from an early traumatic experience with
the feared object, event, or situation, such as a phobia of bicycles caused by
a traumatic incident of falling off a bike as a child.
Phobias
that start in childhood could also be caused by witnessing the phobia of a family
member and developing the same phobia. For instance, if a parent has a phobia
of spiders, the child may also learn to have a phobia of spiders.
Evolutionary
theory of fear
Seligman
(1971) applied his preparedness hypothesis theory to explain why humans fear.
The preparedness hypothesis is the belief that humans tend to fear things that
were a source of danger to our ancestors.
Seligman
proposed that the fears of individuals diagnosed with phobias reflect the
evolutionary prepared learning to fear events and situations that have provided
survival threats.
He
argued these threats would be from an evolutionary rather than a contemporary
perspective.
This
can explain why phobias such as threatening animals, heights, closed spaces,
and social evaluations are very common and appear to be innate fears.
Contemporary
fears such as bicycles, broken electrical equipment, and guns are less common
as these would not have been survival threats to our ancestors.
The
preparedness hypothesis suggests that humans can have innate responses to
specific stimuli without any previous environment input.
This
has been tested by scientists who found it was easier to train humans to fear
snakes and spiders than friendly dogs of pillows, for instance.
This
was especially true for very young children who appeared to fear snakes and
spiders before encountering or hearing about them.
Fear
conditioning
Pavlovian
fear conditioning is a state of fear or anxiety that has been demonstrated in
animals after repeated pairings of a threatening stimulus with a previously
neutral stimulus using classical conditioning.
In
experiments, the researchers would pair a neutral stimulus with an unpleasant
stimulus – such as a loud noise or shock. After repeated pairing of these two
stimuli, the neutral stimulus on its own would eventually elicit a state of
fear.
This
is another way in which intense fear could be caused. The fear expressed by the
animals would be seen as essential for their survival in this instance.
This
fear conditioning could be learned in humans who suffer from posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD).
Post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by very distressing,
frightening, or traumatic events, causing individuals to relive them through
symptoms of intense or prolonged psychological distress when triggered.
This
includes marked physiological reactions such as exaggerated and unrelenting
unconditioned responses to stimuli (e.g., crowds, flashes of light, or sounds)
associated with trauma (e.g., death or injury).
PTSD
can bring about feelings of intense fear when something specifically triggers
it. Most of the time, the trigger will not be an actual threat to survival but
is a conditioned stimulus for the individual.
This
means they can experience intense feelings of fear at times when it is not
appropriate.
The
brain’s fear response
The
primary brain region that is responsible for fear is the amygdala. The amygdala
is a collection of nuclei in the limbic system.
Some
main nuclei in the amygdala are the lateral, basal, central lateral, and
central medical nuclei. The lateral nucleus is the primary input that receives
input from the thalamus and the brain’s cortex, providing it with information
about the sensory stimuli being experienced.
The
primary output nucleus of the amygdala is the central medial nucleus which
projects to different structures, such as the paraventricular nucleus of the
hypothalamus, which triggers the release of the stress hormone cortisol.
It
also projects to the lateral hypothalamus to stimulate the autonomic nervous
system, which results in the physiological symptoms associated with the fight
or flight, or fear, response.
The
amygdala is also thought to be the brain area responsible for fear
conditioning. In rats, it was found that an unconditioned stimulus, such as a
shock, is picked up by the spinal cord, which sends this signal to the thalamus
and the cortex, which then both project to the lateral nucleus of the amygdala.
The
synaptic inputs from the unconditioned stimulus are strong enough to excite the
lateral amygdala neurons, activating the neurons in the central medial nucleus
and thus produces a fear response.
Sensory
information from a neutral stimulus (e.g., music) also reaches the thalamus and
cortex.
Still,
the inputs from this stimulus are not strong enough on their own to excite the
lateral amygdala neurons, so the central amygdala neurons remain unstimulated,
and there is no fear response.
However,
if the neutral stimulus (music) is paired with the unconditioned stimulus
(shock), neurons can encode both simultaneously.
This
can strengthen the synapse between incoming neurons carrying information about
the neutral stimulus and the lateral amygdala neurons.
Eventually,
this synapse is strengthened enough to allow them to stimulate the lateral
amygdala neurons on their own without the unconditioned stimulus. The lateral
nucleus will then excite the central medial nucleus to produce the fear
response.
The
hippocampus, which plays a role in storing episodic memories, can also interact
with the amygdala and be involved in fear.
The
neurons from the hippocampus can project to the basal nucleus of the amygdala,
which can then stimulate the central medial nucleus.
Because
it can do this, the hippocampus allows contextual-related memories to respond
to fear. This could be why we can have fearful memories and why they are so
strong.
What does the research say?
There
are suggested to be sex differences in amygdala activation.
A
study that used the brain imaging technique of functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) found that when presented with happy facial expressions, there
was greater activation in the right amygdala for males but not for females.
Both
males and females showed greater left amygdala activation for fearful faces,
which supports that the left may be more involved in negative affect (Killgore
& Yurgelun-Todd, 2001)
Other
researchers have found that the volumes of brain regions involved in fear may
differ for those who have experienced more trauma.
Using
MRI on children who experienced trauma, research found reduced hippocampal and
increased amygdala volume with increasing levels of trauma exposure. Higher
exposure to violence was also associated with increased amygdala activation.
Finally,
increased functional connectivity between the amygdala and the brain stem was
associated with higher levels of exposure to violence (Van Rooij, et al.,
2020).
How
to Overcome and Manage Fear
Treatment
for disorders associated with fear varies depending on the type of disorder and
the symptoms experienced.
Often,
phobias treatments can be used for disorders associated with extreme fear. Some
of these treatment options will be explained below:
Graded
Exposure Therapy
A
common therapy for people with extreme fears is graded exposure therapy. This
involves gradually leading the individual through exposure situations commonly
used for those with specific phobias.
The
aim is to gradually expose the individual to the fear object or situation in
small steps until they feel comfortable and can move on to a higher level of
exposure until they eventually can face their fear.
For
instance, if someone has a phobia of spiders, the steps may go as follows:
Talking
to the therapist about spiders
See
pictures of spiders – this could start off as drawings and gradually get more
realistic until the patient can manage to view a photo of one.
The
patient may be encouraged to watch video footage of a spider
The
patient could handle a toy spider
Eventually,
the patient should get to a stage where they can face a real spider.
The
steps taken to complete the therapy may take a long time, depending on how
strong the fear is and the individual’s capability to cope.
Once
the individual feels like they can manage their fear at each step, they can
move on to the next step until they gradually become desensitized to their
fear.
Cognitive
behavioral therapy (CBT)
CBT
can help tackle negative and unrealistic thoughts regarding intense fear.
The
individual can work with the therapist to work through their fears, form more
realistic thoughts, challenge their fearful thoughts, and learn coping
strategies.
CBT
allows people to learn different ways of understanding and reacting to the
source of their fear and can help teach a person to manage their feelings and
thoughts.
Medication
Some
medications can be useful to aid with the symptoms of extreme fear.
Medication
should only be used as a short-term treatment for phobias because the
medication can become part of safety behaviors for the individual to rely on
when facing fearful situations.
This
can prevent the individual from fully exposing themselves to the fear and not
achieving desensitization eventually.
Below
are some medications that can be used for phobias:
Beta-blockers
– these work to reduce the physical symptoms of fear by lowering stress on the
heart and blood vessels. These block the release of the stress hormones
epinephrine and norepinephrine to prevent the fight or flight response from
being triggered.
However,
these can come with some side effects: insomnia, fatigue, and upset stomach.
Benzodiazepines
– tranquilizers are a type of this medication. This helps reduce anxiety
symptoms and has a sedative effect on the individual, meaning they slow down
the body and brain function.
These
medications can be taken when required but have been known to cause a
dependency and can have withdrawal effects that could be life-threatening.
Selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – these medications are a type of antidepressant
and are commonly prescribed for phobias.
SSRIs
affect serotonin levels in the brain and so can produce better moods in
individuals. Side effects of these medications include nausea, sleep problems,
and headaches.
Other
coping methods
Relaxation
techniques can be used to help people calm down. These can include meditation
and breath retraining exercises to help treat the symptoms of fear, especially
when faced with a fearful situation.
Progressive
muscle relaxation is a technique where an individual purposely tenses a muscle
group for a few seconds and then releases it. The idea is that the release of
the muscles should decrease any build-up tension.
Working
through all the muscle groups this way can encourage the whole body to feel
relaxed and reduce the fear response. Likewise, yoga can prove a useful method
for reducing the fear response.
Combining
physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation in yoga can all help
people improve their management of anxiety disorders and fear.
Finally,
exercise, specifically aerobic exercise, can positively affect stress and
anxiety and may decrease the fear response symptoms.
Samuel
0046735501680
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