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Fear: Know its benefits and how to control it
For a long time we have been taught that fear is a harmful emotion, and that it is not beneficial at all, but the truth is that it turns out to be more useful than it seems. Fear has its dark side, but this does not mean that it does not have benefits.
It is inevitable to feel fear, and despite the fact that many project a very good facade, all of us in many scenarios have experienced its effects. The problem with fear is the same as with other emotions, you have to know how to control it.
And so that you understand the importance of fear in our lives, here I show you everything you need to know to dismantle misconceptions and live healthy with it.
What really is fear?
In very simple terms, it is an emotion that our brain activates when it feels that we are being threatened or in danger.
The threat can be real or fictitious, but our brain interprets it the same way and alerts us.
This emotion is natural and common for any human being, however, it can be classified as harmful when it exceeds normal levels and becomes a phobia or panic. In these cases it can affect the functioning of the body in a very crude and direct way.
How does this emotion benefit?
There are those who mistakenly think that not feeling fear would be very useful and beneficial, but the truth is that this would be a problem.
Fear is among the guardians of our nervous system and has good results when controlled, some are as follows.
it's an alarm
One of the reasons why you do not run into the unknown, or why you avoid a situation when you see it suspicious, is because of that alert that your brain sends, to tell you that you may find yourself facing something dangerous.
Fear helps preserve and protect your safety, if we did not feel it, we would expose ourselves to all kinds of risks, without any prudence.
makes you be cautious
When we feel fear, we tend to be more careful and detailed, people who are careless and inattentive, it is partly because they lack fear of the consequences of their actions.
Feeling afraid of failing in the face of a responsibility can lead you to perform it more efficiently.
fear educates
As you experience situations where your fear emerges, you get to know what scenarios, elements or organisms produce it. This is part of your learning system, because your brain registers and stores it to help you avoid it.
In a few words, it teaches you to differentiate and remember all those things that are not considered safe, so that you do not repeatedly run into them being affected.
Boost
Behind many stories of overcoming, there is a feeling of fear that pushed its protagonists to move forward.
Also when people experience fear of failure, forgetting or seeing their loved ones suffer, this can become a great motivation to emerge.
Fear, when we see it through a more extreme lens, has made ordinary people, in moments of critical danger, carry out heroic acts to save their lives and the lives of others.
Consequences of excessive fear
Like any other emotion, fear must be controlled, or it will cause psychological chaos in our lives, since, although in small doses it is beneficial, in large doses it is extremely harmful and can affect us in the following way.
Stagnation of interpersonal development due to isolation
When fear goes from being a recurring emotion to a constant behavior, it can happen that the person who suffers from it isolates himself from many environments, in search of security. This happens on many occasions with people who have experienced some trauma.
It even reaches the point of giving way to paranoia, shutting themselves up at home and avoiding contact with anyone so as not to feel threatened.
missed opportunities
Most advances carry risks in any scenario, and if the fear of failure is much greater than the desire to succeed, no goal will ever be achieved. Many turn down great opportunities because they are afraid.
lead an unpleasant life
Many of the aspects that give life emotion, joy and mischief are intertwined with situations where there are mistakes, successes, risks and fears. When fear plunges someone into a state of control, they live with such a degree of caution that they don't enjoy it.
These types of people channel so much effort into staying safe that their perception of enjoyment is clouded and suppressed by safety.
What can I do to control fear?
The first thing we must clarify is that the factors that produce fear and its degree in each person are very different. So, if your problem goes beyond a slight fear, the most correct thing to do is consult a specialist, who in this case would be a therapist.
On the other hand, the following actions are always beneficial in all cases:
Name it : Don't be afraid to talk about your fears or the factors that cause them, not talking about them only intensifies them.
Face it : You must face what frightens you, if you only avoid it you will never be able to overcome it.
Think positively : One of the actions that fuels fear is to think negatively, imagine everything from the glass of success.
Imagine the worst scenario: When you imagine what the most serious consequences and their repercussions may be, your mind automatically begins to develop solutions for those cases as well, reducing fear.
Self-motivate yourself: Recognize the benefits that overcoming fear will bring you and use them as motivation.
It is impressive how a single emotion can have two very different faces, and cause an individual to be affected or benefited by it, according to their psychological strength, fear is a necessary evil that should not disappear.
