What Purpose Does Fear Have?

by Denise Lammi Author

I became interested in the nature of fear and its impact on human happiness while doing research for a fiction novel I recently published. In the story, there is a contagious disease called khaos. Those infected with khaos are prone to destructive emotions such as hate, anger, jealousy, and insecurity. Let’s call these khaos emotions.

I discovered that fear is the underlying cause of khaos emotions. Not all fear; just unwarranted or misdirected fear. Let’s call this illogical fear.

When is fear logical and when is it illogical? Imagine a predator is chasing you; it could be human or animal. You should be scared! That fear is logical. You need to think fast and consider your options for survival. Fear alerts you to a threat and provides you with increased levels of energy and motivation to help in coping with the threat.

Now imagine you’re home safe in your bed and you’re feeling uneasy about decisions you made or events that occurred. What is there to be afraid of? You might say, “It’s just worry thoughts.” That’s illogical. Why worry about the past? If it’s related to a problem, then direct your thoughts to a solution. If there is no solution, then worry won’t help; and you must accept the things you cannot change.

Now imagine you’re home safe in your bed and this time you’re feeling anxiety about the future. Are you worried about something that may never happen? That’s clearly illogical. Are you worried about an actual future event? You might say, “There’s a real possibility something bad will happen.” It’s still illogical. Preparations and precautions are productive; worry is illogical fear.

Worry is only one khaos emotion. Let’s look at others.

Fears of rejection or disapproval may trigger feelings of insecurity or low self-esteem. Common compensatory behaviours — such as criticising others, arrogance, or shyness — may push people away all the more. All of this is illogical.

What about envy and anger? When humans feel fear, they experience a fight-or-flight reaction. This is appropriate for life-threatening situations, like being chased by a predator. Most situations in life are not of the ‘chased by’ sort. Envy and anger are old ‘fight’ emotions which once served humans in the struggle for survival. Envy resulted from the fear of not having enough of something. Anger resulted from fear related to a threat. To feel envy or anger, when not necessary for survival, is khaos.

So if envy and anger are caused by a fight reaction, what’s caused by a flight reaction? Other than the obvious — like running away — using drugs or alcohol ‘to escape’ is a flight reaction and khaos based. Substance abuse can’t solve threats, life-threatening or otherwise.

Logical fear helps keep you from harm; not illogical fear. Without logical fear, humans as a species would never have evolved and survived. So why do we feel illogical fear? What causes the brain to confuse stimuli and trigger a fight-or-flight reaction when there’s no real threat or danger? The answer lies in neuroscience.

Thoughts occur when brain neurons produce (‘fire’) signals and form connections. There’s a tendency for neurons that ‘fire together to wire together’. Meaning: connections between neurons are strengthened when stimulated repeatedly; and a strong connection between two neurons makes it more likely that if one of the neurons fires, it will stimulate the other to fire. As a result, the brain doesn’t have to make a new decision with each stimulus; because with repeated experience, it forms associations. Consequently, repeating patterns occur and similar thoughts, feelings, and reactions are maintained. We can infer that if you practise fearful thoughts, you will have stronger neuron connections to support these emotions and they will become more natural to you. Therefore, to overcome illogical fear, you must train your brain to not react in a fight-or-flight manner when there is no real threat; and perhaps even more importantly, to not perceive a threat where there is none.

Illogical fear sabotages success. Think about it. You hope you can get promoted at work, and you fear you can’t. If fear causes you to abandon hope, you are processing information in a distorted manner. Your fear is a perversion of reality. Your brain’s repeating neural patterns of illogical fear want to keep firing together. Fear equals fight-or-flight. You unwittingly perceive obstacles and find diversions and you abandon your goal.

Now to address the question posed in the title of this article: What purpose does fear have? The answer: Logical fear helps you perceive and react to danger. Illogical fear serves no such purpose.

If you let your brain get into the habit of using illogical fear as a substitute for good sense and judgement, it will bring you discontent. Your thoughts will be of past disappointments and future anxieties. Mishaps will generate more fear. Your love of life and of adventure will be lost.

Eliminate illogical fear. You can accept your history, live in the present, and plan for the future. You can view mishaps as experiences that generate wisdom. You can be happy and adventurous.

Khaos emotions can be overcome if you don’t give in to illogical fear. You have nothing to fear except illogical fear.