No fear

By Amy Tay

Daily Bruin Contributor

Franklin Roosevelt may not have been completely correct when he
told Americans, “we have nothing to fear but fear
itself.”

According to Michael Fenselow, a professor in the psychology
department, fear is actually not the negative force most people
consider it to be. Instead, it is a necessary defensive
mechanism.

“We focus on the negative aspects of fear, and fear can be
a problem when it’s inappropriately expressed,”
Fenselow said. “But appropriate fear is what keeps us
alive.”

Will Kang, a first-year English student, agreed with
Fenselow.

“Fear is a survival mechanism” he said. “It is
a natural thing that prevents people from attacking lions or doing
anything dangerous.”

Fenselow defined fear as the activation of certain brain systems
under threatening conditions in order to elicit appropriate
responses.

For instance, Fenselow said that frightened individuals may
freeze in their tracks, try to run away, or become aggressive,
depending on the circumstances.

In addition, the heart rate may increase and the body might
release endogenous opiates, called endorphins, which can make
someone impervious to pain, according to Fenselow.

“A person who is in a threatening situation may be injured
and not react to the pain of the injury because of
endorphins,” Fenselow said.

“Then you can defend yourself better because you’re
not concerned that you have a sprained ankle or whatever ““
you’re going to run away,” he continued.

Originating in one of the most primitive areas of the brain,
fear, Fenselow said, is found nearly universally.

“Everyone has the brain systems for fear,” Fenselow
said.

Geary Lyons, a first-year math student agreed.

“Everyone has to be afraid of something. Fear is just an
inherent part of human nature, of animal nature,” Lyons said.
“Even hamsters are scared of things.”

On the other hand, Fenselow said that if an individual is born
without a brain structure called the amygdala, he will be unable to
experience fear.

“There are certain clinical cases where people don’t
have the systems for fear, but they are very rare,” he
said.

According to Fenselow, people acquire their fears in two
different manners. Some fears are inherited, while other fears are
learned through personal experience and societal influences.

“Some things you just recognize as being
frightening,” Fenselow said. “And sometimes you learn
to be afraid of things when you observe others expressing fear to
them.

“But you might take something that is completely neutral
and become afraid of it if there is a bad experience related to
it,” he continued.

Because people can develop their fears through experience,
everyone has their own personal collection of fears.

Jack Kirecci, a second-year undeclared student, fears fire above
all else.

“I hate fires, especially lighters because I’m
afraid of burning myself,” he said. “I’ve been
scared every since I lit my sweater on fire when I was 7 years
old.”

Fred Tan, a first-year pre-business and economics student, had a
frightening ordeal during a sixth grade class trip to the
beach.

“I somehow fell in the water and I almost drowned,”
he said. “The ocean is haunting ““ it’s wide and
vast and deep.”

Despite the variety of phobias, certain fears are very common,
according to Fenselow.

“The distribution of fears is not random,” Fenselow
said, “When you look at the population as a whole, you see
that there are some things that have a fairly common base and other
things that people just don’t become afraid of.”

Some of the most widely found fears include the fear of heights,
snakes, spiders, blood and public speaking.

While most people relate with these fears, they often ridicule
less typical fears.

“I know people who are scared of clowns and I think that
is really stupid because they are just people with makeup,”
Kirecci said.

Lyons also said, “My grandmother was afraid of the vacuum
cleaner. I guess she thought she would get sucked in.”

On the other hand, Kirecci and Lyons said that they also possess
fears that others may ridicule.

“My dumbest fear is the fear of failure because you
can’t really die from failing ““ you can die from
falling though,” Kirecci said.

Lyons said he felt sheepish about one of his own fears as
well.

“Some people might laugh, but I’m afraid of just one
day vanishing without a trace just falling off the face of the
earth and never being heard from again,” Lyons said.

According to Fenselow, not only do people have different and
sometimes silly fears, but they also experience and express their
fears at various levels.

Some people are more susceptible to fear than others because
their brain mechanisms undergo greater levels of activity.

“There’s natural variation with the brains’
circuitry for fear,” Fenselow said. “So some people are
on one extreme and it takes a lot to make them afraid while for
some people it takes much less.”

No matter how extreme the fear, however, Fenselow said he
considered the emotion one of the most treatable psychological
conditions.

“The standard therapy for someone with a phobia is to
gradually increase their exposure to what they are afraid
of,” Fenselow said.

“If you keep on experiencing the same stimulus over and
over without anything bad happening, you can get over your
fear,” he continued.

This method of treatment worked for Tan who overcame a childhood
fear of horror movies.

“As a kid I was really afraid of watching Freddy
Krueger,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep at night,
but later on I was able to get over my fear of scary movies by
watching more and more of them.”

But sometimes overcoming fear is too difficult a task to
undertake alone.

“With extreme cases of fear, people can’t do it on
their own ““ they need to get professional help,” he
said.

Furthermore, Fenselow said that not seeking help can lead to
more problems.

“Some people are afraid to ever go out and they shut
themselves off from the rest of the world because of their
fears,” he said.

Kirecci likewise encouraged people to seek assistance for their
phobia.

“It is a good idea for a person to get help for their fear
if that particular fear was inhibiting their life,” he
said.