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1.2 (A) Understanding Fear

​Fear:
The definition of fear is: an unpleasant emotion, caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous.

Types of Fears:
1.   Innate Fears (natural or inborn)
2.  Phobias
3.   The Five Basic Fears
 
1. Innate Fears
There are only two truly innate fears in humans.
a.     The fear of falling  
b.    The fear from loud noises.
These are both survival behaviors that humans are born with.
Other than the two innate fears, all other fears, we create in our minds.
The good news is, since these types of fears are created, they can also be reversed. And even better, we have tools built into our bodies that can naturally help us deal with our fears.
 
2. Differences Between Fears and Phobias
Natural fears are necessary as they keep us protected.
Then there are phobias that have been thought as irrational fears, or exaggerated fears, that can impair a person to function normally. 
The definition of a phobia is: an extreme or irrational fear or aversion to something.
My opinion is that no fear is really “irrational”. The mind creates the phobia directly from our experiences, again, to protect us. If an experience made us fearful, that’s ok, its just important to understand that we can reverse it.
Examples of phobias are: arachnophobia, (fear of spiders), acrophobia, (fear of heights), and agoraphobia, (fear of open spaces).


3. Five Basic Fears
There are five basic fears we can develop during a lifetime. (Outside of the two innate fears)….and they are:
1.    The Fear of Death. The fear of dying.
2.    The Fear of Mutilation. The fear of losing some part of our body structure. (The fear of animals or bugs, due to potential of being bit, or stung.)
3.    The Fear of Autonomy. The fear of being restricted, immobilized, smothered, or losing control. The fear of autonomy causes claustrophobia, (the fear of enclosed spaces.).
4.    The Fear of Separation. The fear of abandonment and rejection. The fear of not being valued, and where we can develop separation anxiety.
5.    Fear of Ego Death. The fear of being humiliated and shamed. The fear of being worthless.
These five basic fears can be combined together and depending upon our own personal experiences, can create the fears we live with today. 
There is a continuing controversy that some of these basic fears, are actually innate fears. I think it depends on each person individually, as we are all different with different environmental backgrounds. For example, someone who grows up in an inner city, or a war zone, may have different fears from someone who lives in a safe suburb or safe city.
It is said that the five basic fears are typically learned within the first six years of life. So, for example, as a child, you watched your dad jump away from a dog, as he showed that emotional fear to you. You may very easily pick up a fear of dogs. Since your mind may have picked up on the “my parent is fearful, therefore, I must be fearful” adage, one could likely adopt or acquire that that fear from them. But, of course, any fear could be created from your own personal experience as well. 
If you came up to a dog, at a very young age, and it barked, you could develop a fear here too. Remember, it is just the mind sending signals of protection, in order to keep you safe.