When you are afraid, you start going into fight or flight mode. Your body starts prioritising what is needed for immediate survival - screw routine body functions, if you don't make it past the next few moments there won't be a routine to return to. You stop digesting food. Cell repair slows or stops. You stop producing saliva, which is why your mouth goes dry when you're nervous just before making a speech or going into a difficult conversation. Your heart rate and breathing increase to ensure better blood flow. A cocktail of hormones like epinephrine and oxytocin are cued up and produced, which amplifies your body's ability to act (and remarkably, in the case of oxytocin, reminds you to seek help).
Don't be mistaken about what happens when you feel fear. Your body is readying itself to help you face what you fear in the way it knows how.
What causes us to feel fear?
1) Fear occurs to us unconsciously. Do you pause to think, hey, very angry looking snake! Maybe I should be scared. Of course not, it would be too late! Fear becomes much clearer when we examine what happens inside your brain. When you are afraid, the fear/anger/aggression/anxiety centre of your brain - the amygdalas (get used to this name, it's gonna keep popping up) lights up. And we've covered all the changes that happen in your body: your blood pressure, your hormones, your heart-rate. But remember how amygdala is like a train interchange with direct routes to different parts of your brain? There is a direct neural link between our amygdala and your pre-frontal cortex, the rational thinking part of your brain. And if we look closely enough or we think things through, sometimes we realise, argh! it's not an angry snake, it's just a prank toy that your annoying friend had thrown at you. Or if you've handled angry snakes enough times, your amygdala does not light as much. Your blood pressure and your heart rate do not increase as much, you realise what you need to do is to stay calm and slowly back away.
Finally, notice how fear, anger, aggression, and anxiety are processed by the same part of the brain, the amygdala. This is no coincidence. These 4 emotions are closely tied to one another; aggression maybe triggered because one is nervous, angry, or fearful. Being fearful may cause one to react angrily, as a self-defense mechanism. Fear, like all our emotions, happens to us. Mostly, we can't control how it originates. But we can control how it develops by understanding what exactly is causing fear and by choosing the response that dispels it
2) We fear what we are unconfident or uncertain about. Think back on your ancestors doing something they weren't confident or certain off - hunting a massive animal without a weapon, or eating a berry they've never seen before. Doing so would mean a very high chance of seriously harming themselves. Today, after many cycles of evolution, we have been wired based on these experiences.
Think about it. Are you ever fearful of something you've done before, and are good? Brushing your teeth, putting on your clothes, indulging in your favourite hobby (whatever it is)? Of course not. You know you can perform these functions easily. You are confident.
But many of us would have felt fearful and anxious the first time we ventured into something new: using a pair of chopsticks, riding a bicycle, swimming, going on a first date. We were uncertain about these functions, and we were not confident about performing them. However, once we have demonstrated to ourselves that we are able to perform these tasks, we are no longer afraid. The same applies to more challenging tasks. Some of us struggle with: public speaking, starting a business, having a very difficult conversation with the CEO... You are uncertain and unconfident if you can succeed. But once you have proven to yourself you are able to do it, even for the more challenging tasks, you are no longer afraid. People might start off feeling scared about public speaking, but after speech 3797, you're pro The catch, of course, is that sometimes, we are too scared to start.
Even if we were certain of something OR confident about something, many of us will still feel some amount of fear. We might be theoretically certain how we should use a pair of chopsticks, but if we have never succeeded in using them properly, we remain unconfident and will still feel nervous if we had to use them, especially when others are observing. You might also be confident about
3) we fear what is painful. Boxer. climbing 100 flights of stairs or doing 100 burpees. But pain is not just physical but mental. Failure is painful. Being judged is painful.
This is why you procrastinate. You either fear what you have to do bevause you don't know how to do it (you don't fear brushing your teeth for example), or you fear doing something becaue you know it will be effortful
4) we fear what we cannot control
Learn more about your amygdala, the amygdala hijack, the thalamus, the pre-frontal cortex, and how your brain works here.
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Summary:
- Fear and anxiety (and anger + aggression) are always
How much are we shaped by our beliefs? What if what we believe is not true?
We know that our beliefs shape our thinking and action. But can it affect even our body's natural functions?
Take a look at the 2 brands of milkshakes above.
First we have "Indulgence" - a decadent milkshake, 620 calories, 30g of fat, 56g of sugar - it makes ice-cream look like salad.
Then we have "Sensi-shake" - 0% fat, 20g of sugar (but all from ilk and yoghurt, and just 140 calories - guilt-free satisfaction.
Surely, we can guess the effects of the both milkshakes. For example, which do you think will make people more satiated? Indulgence or Sensi-shake?
Crum et al aimed to find out.
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46 participants were invited to try out milkshakes
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They were hooked up to an IV during the test
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They were then given either of the milkshakes.
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They were asked to first read the label of the respective milkshakes. After reading, they were then asked to finish drinking the milkshake.
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Throughout this time, the IV was monitoring their blood samples. Specifically they were trying to monitor a neuropeptide called Ghrelin, or more commonly referred to as the "hunger hormone".
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As the hunger hormone, Ghrelin is secreted when we have not eaten for a while, to signal to our brains - hey it's time to consume food. Once secreted, Ghrelin also slows down our metabolism - we break down and store food much less quickly in case we don't find new sources. After we've eaten something, this process is reversed- ghrelin levels fall, signalling to our brains - ok you can stop eating now, and revvin up metabolism.
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The participants went through 2 rounds of the above, so that they could try both milkshakes.
Image from Dr. Alia Crum | TEDxTraverseCity
The results?
Well as expected.
The calorically dense "Indulgent" milkshake, with the generous amount of sugar and fat caused Ghrelin levels to drop significantly after consumption. In contrast, the far lighter "Sensi-shake" only triggered a small drop in Ghrelin levels.
"Indulgent" made the participants full, while "sensi-shake" did not completely satisfy them. It's pretty simple really.
But there's just one catch.
Image from Dr. Alia Crum | TEDxTraverseCity
While they were packaged in different labels, both shakes were exactly the same.
All participants drank the same exact milkshake - the "actual" milkshake in the middle column above.
This greatly undermines our previous conclusion. Not only were participants mentally tricked into believing that they consuming something "Sensi-shake" or "Indulgence" when it always the same milkshake, their bodies physically reacted to what they believed instead of what actually happened.
Ghrelin was secreted based on subjective reality and not objective reality. And it worked both ways. Whether we thought we were satisfied or not satisfied, our bodies reacted accordingly.
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This brings to question how can this be the case? And this is not an isolated example. Exercie only works if you believed you have exercised. Pain medication works better if you see it being adminisered. There are even surgeries conducted which are as effective as actual surgery (in fact more effective, becuase there is less risk). How does any of this make sense?
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Related links
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