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Most Common Fears

by Melany Miller

Credit: https://www.facebook.com/AZHDubai/photos/acrophobia-is-an-extreme-or-irrational-fear-or-phobia-of-heights-acrophobia-is-o/1236859913127486/

The most common fears for humans across the globe to have are fear of heights, fear of insects, fear of flying, fear of snakes, fear of needles and the fear of storms. (Horn) What makes these fears so common around the globe? Many people believe that our primal instincts have a lot to do with our common fears. We may be afraid of heights and snakes due to our far off ancestors knowing these things could play a role in their death. If they weren't cautious they could fall off a cliff to their death, or stumble upon a snake, get bit and die as they didn't have the luxury of hospitals and antivenom to their disposal.

For those of who fear flying, in 2016 a total of 40 million commercial passenger flights landed safely, only ten ended in fatalities. (Rosling 112) So what makes the fear of flying so scary when data shows that it's quite safe? The fear instinct works wonders and makes us fear things that aren't proven to be dangerous consistently, it's just something that can be dangerous in the right situations. Just because you have a fear, doesn't mean every time you're around that fear that you're in absolute danger. The graph below shows that there were only 47 people killed in commercial flights in 2017. As you can see, that's significantly less than the years prior.

Credit: https://www.statista.com/chart/3335/people-killed-in-commercial-plane-crashes-since-1942/

Most Common Fears By Demographics

Common fears can change by age groups. As a baby you're not aware of flying or spiders, so they may not be your common fear. A lot of younger children under preschool age have a fear of strangers, being alone, people in costumes or even loud noises. (Young) This is because these things happen to frighten them as it's some new or scary to them. While children ages 7-11 years old have a fear of monsters, ghosts, a shadow on the wall at night time or being home alone. It really shows the differences that ages make when you think of common fears. A broad range of common fears affect those in teenage years to late adulthood years. However, a whole new set of common fears affect those of younger ages. While the fear instinct is a natural and common thing to have for all human beings, their fears can differ based on their age group and what type of situations they're in during their lifetime.

Speaking of different situations, people who live on a Level 4 lifestyle based on the Factfulness book, may have different common fears than those of who live on a Level 1 lifestyle. Level 4 people most likely do not fear invasion of their homes by militia or getting malaria, or even where they'll come up with money for their weekly food allotment. However, these can be common fears for the people living on Level 1. While Level 1 may have a true and real fear of snakes as snakes surround their home and wildlife on the 4 mile walk it takes to fetch their water supply, this fear can also be common in Level 4 people to fear snakes. However, Level 4 people are less likely to come into contact with a snake in their lifetime where as a Level 1 person might see snakes daily.

Sources

Horn, Allyson. “Phobias: The Ten Most Common Fears People Hold.” ABC News Australia, 01 May 2015, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-01/ten-of-the-most-common-phobias/6439210.

Rosling, Hans, et al. “Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong Above The World – And Why Things Are Better Than You Think.” Flatiron Publishers, New York, 2018, pp. 101-123

Young, Karen. "Fear and Anxiety – An Age by Age Guide to Common Fears, The Reasons for Each and How to Manage Them." Hey Sigmund, 2017, https://www.heysigmund.com/age-by-age-guide-to-fears/.

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How Fear Effects the Brain - Short Term vs Long Term

Brianna "Shae" Mullins

Fear is a sensation everyone is familiar with and is one of the most important feelings the body produces. The best way to understand how fear reacts in the brain to body, is to look at the short term and long term effects.

Credit: Research Gate

In the short term, fear is in its essence a physical feeling. People typically feel fear before their thoughts have a chance to catch up. According to Debiec and LeDoux, the first signs of fear are body tensing, blood pressure rising, release of stress hormones such as adrenal, and your body going into a flight/fight/freeze response. Essentially, the brain processes the external danger, sends signals to your body, then sorts out the best way to achieve a safe state. 

Credit: How Stuff Works

Now in the long term, fear can affect the brain and body much more. Debiec and Ledoux expand on how, when something traumatic happens, the brain forms what is known as a “fear memory”. When a fear memory is triggered, the person is brought back to the traumatic event. This can lead to life-long disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, agoraphobia, and anxiety (p. 809-813). Further, we can see an example of a long term fear created in Chapter 4 of Factfulness. In the 1950s, DDT was used as a pesticide but people became fearful that this chemical was showing up in the food that they consumed thus causing it to be banned in multiple countries. DDT has since been proven to only be “mildly harmful” but the fear of chemicals still stands for many people (Rosling et el. 116-118).

All this being said, fear should not be seen as only a negative response. Fear can be helpful in getting us out of dangerous situations, making the best decisions for our safety, and even shielding us from traumatic events and memories.

Works Cited

Debiec, Jacek, and Joseph LeDoux. “Fear and the Brain.” Social

Research, vol. 71, no. 4, 2004, pp. 807–18. JSTOR,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40971979. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.

Rosling, Hans, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, et al. Factfulness: Ten

Reasons We’re Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are

Better Than You Think. Flatiron Books, 2018.

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Fear vs Reality

Lauren Perez

Credit: Google Images

Society's fear is ultimately fear in something or in some type of thing. Fear is a powerful factor that has impacted society throughout history and within our current society. We tend to pay more attention to the things we are afraid of when we should be more focused on what could do more harm to us. Focusing on the problem and not the fear or panic itself is a big step towards eliminating these walls towards any progress to finding any real solution in our world today.

In order to control fear, it is important to acknowledge there are both real and perceived risks. Fearfulness fuels the misconception of the world being more dangerous which are considered real risks, or frightening, which are considered perceived risks. Our natural fears of contamination, natural disasters, and violence makes us habitually overestimate actual risks. It is known that panic increases risk, and by calculating these risks, we can find the solution towards less fear which leads to less panic.

Interesting enough, more people die each year from falling vending machines than shark attack. Death by vending machine is higher than shark attack, but most people would perceive greater risk from the shark versus the vending machine. The yearly risk of dying from shark attack is 1/250 million. The yearly risk of dying from a vending machine accident is 1/112 million. Thats almost twice as deadly then sharks.

Credit: Google Images

Our emotional perception influences our ability to relying on rational calculations or factual evidence. Factfulness is knowing how to tell the difference between what actual risks and perceived risks are, and while we tend to oversee those things that are at bigger risk when fear in involved, it is still possible to see the world differently, once fear is subsided.

Works Cited

“Afraid? of What?” New America, https://www.newamerica.org/digital-impact-governance-initiative/reports/afraid-what/iv-risk-perception-vs-actual-risk/. 

Factfulness Hans Rosling - Center for Distributed Learning. https://cdl.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Factfulness-Hans-Rosling.pdf. 

Heal the Bay. “Vending Machines More Hazardous than Sharks.” Heal the Bay, 4 June 2017, https://healthebay.org/vending-machines-more-hazardous-than-sharks/. 

The Global Risks Report 2021 - World Economic Forum. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2021.pdf. 

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Overcoming Fears

Olivia Murphy

Main points: Steps to overcoming fears

There are many ways to overcome fears. These can include support from family members, a strict routine, or even adding different things into your schedule to overcome fear. According to the Mental Health Foundation, there are many questions you can ask yourself regarding overcoming fear including identifying what makes you afraid. Rosling from the book Factfulness writes how fear can be controlled by calculating the risks pertaining to your fear. Rosling mentions "Fear can be useful, but only if it directed at the right things" (Rosling 122)There are many fears and phobias possible to have in the world but there are also things to help cope such as statistics. For example "What makes you afraid?" and how your fear specifically makes you feel. After grasping a foundation of your fear, you can start taking measures in order to overcome these fears. Overcoming fears is overall not an easy process and does take time and dedication. When overcoming fear it is important to realize that you are not alone. Activities such as exercise and relaxation techniques can help overcome this fear. It is also important to keep that foundation going and know what could have created this fear. It is important to know yourself in order to take full effect of overcoming fears. Steps such as avoiding alcohol and drugs are best in order to complete the steps getting over fear. There are therapists specialized to help overcome fear and if comfortable and needed medication can be prescribed to help maintain overcoming fears. Harvard said "By understanding the real reason why you worry, you can take effective action towards feeling at ease and at peace." This describes the importance of the foundation needed to overcome fear- knowing yourself, and knowing the fear you have.

“Overcoming Fear and Worry - Harvard Health.” Harvard Health, https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/overcoming-fear-and-worry. Accessed 3 Mar. 2023.

“How to Overcome Fear and Anxiety | Mental Health Foundation.” Mental Health Foundation, https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/publications/how-overcome-fear-and-anxiety. Accessed 3 Mar. 2023.

maisonvie. “Coping with ‘Fear of the Unknown’ and How to Overcome It.” Maison Vie New Orleans Therapy and Counseling, https://www.facebook.com/MAISONVIE/, 4 Sept. 2020, https://maisonvieneworleans.com/coping-with-fear-of-the-unknown-and-how-to-overcome-it/.

“Moving from the Fear Zone to the Growth Zone | Succeed On Purpose.” Succeed On Purpose | Business Career & Life Transformation, https://www.succeedonpurpose.com/post/moving-from-the-fear-zone-to-the-growth-zone. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.

Rosling, Hans, et al. Factfulness. 2018.