Ways - worrying excessively about the outcome of things.
NORMAL FEAR VS PATHOLOGICAL FEAR HOW TO
We use this creative capacity to great advantage when we envision how to make our lives better, but we can just as easily put it to work in less productive Over that yet to be experienced, possibly impossible scenario. While anxiety is defined by uncertainty, human anxiety is greatly amplified by our ability to imagine the future, and our place in it, even a future that is physically impossible. We can project ourselves into the future like no other creature. The ability to anticipate, a capacity that is also present in some other animals, but that is especially well developed in humans. But anxiety ― an experience of uncertainty ― is a different matter. The capacity to fear (in the sense of detecting and responding to danger) is pretty universal among animals. We respond to danger, then only afterward realize danger is present.Įvery animal (including insects and worms, as well as animals more like us) is born with the ability to detect and respond to certain kinds of danger, and to learn about things associated with danger. The automatic nature of the activation process reflects the fact that the amygdala does its work When the neutral stimulus (the rock or the sound of an airplane) later occurs, it automaticallyĪctivates the amygdala like the original danger did, eliciting fear, and also triggers worry - anxiety. Region in the brain called the amygdala connects the two events, forming an unconscious memory of the association. To make a complicated story very simple (though not inaccurate) a We actually know a tremendous amount about what goes on in the brain when stimuli present during danger become memory triggers for the danger. 11Įxamples above illustrate, the same thing happens in dangerous situations.
The dog’s brain formed an association between the sound and the food, and the sound came to elicit salivation in preparation for the imminent food. How do things come to symbolize threats? Remember Pavlov’s dog? When the bell rang the dog salivated because the bell had previously been rung as the dog was being fed (actually, it wasn’tĪ bell, but no matter). 11 attacks, for instance, many New Yorkers felt uneasy at the sound of low flying airplanes. Signposts or signals that stand for harm rather than things that are truly harmful. In modern life, many fear states are like this - they are brought on by things, If you saw the abovementioned snake at a particular rock on the path of your walk, and are nowĪt that spot, the rock may stand in for the snake and elicit fear, even though the snake itself is nowhere to be found. We sometimes confuse the two: When someone says he is afraid he will fail an exam or get caught stealing or cheating, he should, by the definitions above, be saying he is anxiousīut the truth is, the line between fear and anxiety can get pretty thin and fuzzy. Scientists generally define fear as a negative emotional state triggered by the presence of a stimulus (the snake) that has the potential to cause harm, and anxiety as a negative emotional state in which the threat This simple distinction between anxiety and fear is an important one in the task of defining and treating of anxiety disorders, which affect many millions of people and account for more visits to mental health professionalsĮach year than any of the other broad categories of psychiatric disorders. The experience of walking through the woods is fraught with worry. Still, you are worried that you will encounter one. Human anxiety is greatly amplified by our ability to imagine the future, and our place in it.Ī week later, you are taking the same walk again.
0 kommentar(er)
