Impact of chronic fear Living under constant threat has serious health consequences. Physical health. Fear weakens our immune system and can cause cardiovascular damage, gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome, and decreased fertility.
Fear Is Physical
Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released. Your blood pressure and heart rate increase. You start breathing faster. Even your blood flow changes — blood actually flows away from your heart and into your limbs, making it easier for you to start throwing punches, or run for your life.
Fear sets in, and your brain gets to work. Your amygdala, an area of your brain that helps you take in and respond to emotions, immediately presses the panic button. Because fear isn't just any emotion. It's a powerful, primitive one that your brain and body rely on to maintain your safety.
Fear even causes a metabolic response affects things such as glucose levels, which can increase your risk of heart disease, kidney disease, vision problems, and more. Therefore, prolonged stress on the body from fear and anxiety can cause many other physical symptoms and affect your long-term health.
As we age, we produce much less adrenaline, which can cause racing hearts and dizziness. This means the intense fears we may have experienced in youth no longer trouble us as much. However, older people often experience a greater sense of vulnerability, so things like heights or big crowds become more of an issue.
The presence of death anxiety is reported to peak in middle age and disappear in the elderly (20, 24, 25).
While fear is a natural response to some situations, it can also lead to distress and disruption when extreme or out of proportion to the actual threat. Fear can also be a symptom of some mental health conditions, including panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
What makes us fearful. The universal trigger for fear is the threat of harm, real or imagined. This threat can be for our physical, emotional or psychological well-being. While there are certain things that trigger fear in most of us, we can learn to become afraid of nearly anything.
That stress, fear and trauma builds up and can lead to serious, long-lasting impacts on physical and mental health. When you feel threatened, your body goes into “fight or flight” mode – a stress response – that causes your heart rate to increase, your breathing to quicken and your blood pressure to rise.
Take time out. It's impossible to think clearly when you're flooded with fear or anxiety. The first thing to do is take time out so you can physically calm down. Distract yourself from the worry for 15 minutes by walking around the block, making a cup of tea or having a bath.
The more often the stress response is activated, the more often we can feel afraid. Many people experience a heightened sense of danger and fear when they are stressed. Feeling afraid all the time is a common consequence of frequent stress responses. Anxiety also activates the stress response.
Our stomachs and intestines store our feelings of fear. The adage, 'I am sick to my stomach' justifies this. Fear is another negative emotion that has far-reaching repercussions on our health. It can cause digestion problems, pain in the gut, bloating, constipation and even Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
It is programmed into your nervous system, and gives you the survival instincts you need to keep yourself safe from danger. Fear is unhealthy when it makes you more cautious than you really need to be to stay safe, and when it prevents you from doing things you would otherwise enjoy.
"When the body cannot handle emotional overload, it simply begins to shut down. And that is often manifested by a sense of extreme tiredness and fatigue," says Kalayjian.
This state of being is coined as 'psychosis', which basically affects an individual's thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Paranoia, another name for fear psychosis is experienced with longstanding feelings and perceptions of being persecuted.
1.Agoraphobia
Probably the most crippling of all phobias listed is a fear of wide, open spaces. People with agoraphobia often have a hard time feeling safe in any public place due to a lack of control.
We are born with only two innate fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud sounds. A 1960 study evaluated depth perception among 6- to14-month-old infants, as well as young animals.
Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. Arachibutyrophobia is a rare phobia that involves a fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.
As you age, some fears dissipate, yet fears about being over-the-hill can creep into your daily life. Fear of not living up to expectations, fear of taking risks, fear of retirement, and a fear of the future.
Chronic stress can lead to DNA damage that causes us to age faster, developing a haggard appearance. Fortunately, there are some healthy habits that can counteract stress and powerful non-surgical treatments that can support youth, beauty, and overall mental wellness.
As a person is dying they will have less energy and become easily tired. They are likely to become weaker and may spend more time asleep. They may become detached from reality, or unaware of what is happening around them. They may be less interested in eating and drinking.
A little anxiety is fine, but long-term anxiety may cause more serious health problems, such as high blood pressure (hypertension). You may also be more likely to develop infections. If you're feeling anxious all the time, or it's affecting your day-to-day life, you may have an anxiety disorder or a panic disorder.
Everyone experiences anxiety sometimes. But an anxiety disorder causes excessive worry that affects daily activities. Agoraphobia can make you feel extreme fear and stress, which may cause you to avoid situations. The signs of agoraphobia are similar to a panic attack.