As soon as you recognize fear, your amygdala (small organ in the middle of your brain) goes to work. It alerts your nervous system, which sets your body's fear response into motion. Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released. Your blood pressure and heart rate increase.
The adrenal gland is an endocrine gland that produces two fear hormones—adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones are carried in the bloodstream to all parts of your body. Fear hormones are secreted by the adrenal gland, an endocrine gland located on top of your kidneys.
NMDA-type ionotropic glutamate receptors
Hebian plasticity is believed to involve N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) and are located on postsynaptic neurons in the lateral amygdala.
The fear response starts in a region of the brain called the amygdala. This almond-shaped set of nuclei in the temporal lobe of the brain is dedicated to detecting the emotional salience of the stimuli – how much something stands out to us.
Common fear triggers:
Darkness or loss of visibility of surroundings. Heights and flying. Social interaction and/or rejection. Snakes, rodents, spiders and other animals.
Even so, our brains are hardwired for fear — it helps us identify and avoid threats to our safety. The key node in our fear wiring is the amygdala, a paired, almond-shaped structure deep within the brain involved in emotion and memory.
Fear of the unknown is universal, but it seems to take form most commonly in three basic human fundamental fears: Fear of Death, Fear of Abandonment or Fear of Failure.
Fear starts in the brain
It is divided into two branches: the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest and digest system) and the sympathetic nervous system (the fight-or-flight system). Fear kicks your fight-or-flight response into overdrive, Evans says. Your adrenal glands secrete adrenaline.
Many of their studies begin with the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure that is considered the hub for fear processing in the brain.
You can do this by slowing down, taking deep breaths, and refocusing your thoughts. These steps allow your brain's frontal lobes to take over for the irrational amygdala. When this happens, you have control over your responses, and you won't be left feeling regret or embarrassment at your behavior.
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.
It alerts the hypothalamus, which sends a message to the adrenal glands to give you an instant burst of adrenaline, the “action” hormone. Adrenaline causes your heart to race and pump more blood to your muscles.
Guilt, Fishkin says, is associated with activity in the prefrontal cortex, the logical-thinking part of the brain. Guilt can also trigger activity in the limbic system. (That's why it can feel so anxiety-provoking.)
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.
Other scholars suggest that our fear of death is what underpins the majority of human action – we are so anxious to face its inevitability that we fill our lives completely as a means to ignore or evade it. Death is one of the only things we know is for certain, and yet the uncertainty of it is what truly terrifies us.
Fear is one of the most basic human emotions. It is programmed into the nervous system and works like an instinct. From the time we're infants, we are equipped with the survival instincts necessary to respond with fear when we sense danger or feel unsafe. Fear helps protect us.
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: anxiety, apprehension, nervousness, dread, fright, and panic.
According to Soukup's study, the fear archetypes include: The Procrastinator, the Rule Follower, the People Pleaser, the Outcast, the Self-Doubter, the Excuse Maker, and the Pessimist.
During depressive phases, many people suffer from anxiety about the future, panic attacks, fear of failure, or rejection. Even fears of everyday activities such as the fear of going shopping or taking the subway can arise. Often these are not an independent anxiety disorders, but rather a consequence of depression.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” The Good News: God is with you even in the anxious times to help you release your worry and find the strength to continue.