DON’T BE AFRAID | Better health news

We may laugh at other's fears, but fact is, we all have our own private bogeys, some expressed, others not and some hurries deep in our subconscious. "Fear is normal; it helps to save our lives when we are in danger. It gives us the impetus to do our best, put in optimum efforts, "informs Dr Harry, mental health consultant. Fear is a primal instinct; it looks over us, protects us and pulls us back from the brink of danger. It helps us survive. Normal fear is healthy, it is not disruptive, in fact it helps us cope and improve. It is like a big brother watching overs us, making sure we don't do anything reckless or life threatening. But fear can also be paralyzing, affecting our functioning, causing inertia, distress, anxiety and interfering with our daily lives. When fear becomes disruptive, professional help is necessary.

Fear can be categorized into three broad categories - fear of fellow human beings, of and object, or an activity.

Fear of homo sapiens makes us worry about rejection, not being accepted, losing something/someone we love, not being seen as an equal or not being considered as being up to the mark.

Fear of objects (animate/inanimate) make us react rather strongly to lizards, snakes, cockroaches, mosquitoes, insects, etc.

Speaking in public, entering a gathering, appearing for an exam

Being introduced to a group, flying, sex, harming someone, attempting suicide - these come under the third category

We do not always know why we fear what we do. A man who was chased by a dog as a kid can attribute his fear of canines to that incident, but not all fears have such easily traceable genesis, In fact all of us have some fear that are irrational and we have no idea why they set our mental alarm bells ringing. Nevertheless, it is interesting to trace some of the common cause of fear%u2026

1. Sexual abuse in childhood result in fear of sex in adulthood.

2. Getting choked in a pool may make a child fear going near a water body as an adult, A burnt child fears fire.

3. Learned fear if a parent threatens to hand over a naughty child to a policeman, the child begins to fear people in uniform.