Khukhlaeva O.V

From birth to death, a person periodically experiences a sense of fear. Someone is susceptible to it to a greater extent, someone to a lesser extent, but there are no people on Earth who would not be afraid of anything at all. Sometimes it is quite understandable and natural, and in some cases its nature is unknown. What are the causes of fear and how to get rid of it?

What is fear?

Fear is a negative state of the human psyche, provoked by a real or imaginary threat. Everyone in his life has repeatedly experienced this feeling in various situations. Even the most courageous and brave person can be afraid of something at heart.

In psychology, fear is attributed to the basic emotional processes inherent in a person from birth. It mobilizes the body's defense systems, prepares it to fight a threat or to flee.

Fear is a kind of signaling about danger, contributing to the realization Under the influence, it can perform such actions that it is normally not capable of. For example, run at great speed, jump over high obstacles, show amazing intelligence and resourcefulness.

The nature of human fear

Fear originated with humanity itself. Its roots go back to the distant past, when its main function was to preserve the life of our ancestors. Fear is inherent in man by nature in order to quickly and accurately recognize danger.

It was common for ancient people to be afraid of everything unknown and incomprehensible. They were horrified by any unfamiliar sounds, natural elements, and previously unseen animals. With the development of science, a person received knowledge about many phenomena that he used to be afraid of.

Today, fear no longer carries the function of a struggle for survival. The exceptions are those cases when a person finds himself in emergency, extreme situations. However, in the modern world, all kinds of social phobias have replaced the fear of real danger. This is due to the fact that at the moment it is very important for people to be recognized by society, to command respect for their person.

Is fear a feeling or an emotion?

Psychology interprets fear as a human emotion that has a bright negative connotation. At the same time, some sources consider this concept as a human condition. So what is fear? Is it a feeling or an emotion?

People in ordinary life are accustomed to call both feeling and emotion by the word "fear". In fact, there is no clear line between these concepts. On the one hand, fear is more related to emotions, since most often it is of a short-term nature and is intended to activate the protective functions of the human body. And on the other?

If it does not stop for a long time, transforms, periodically repeats, takes on new forms, then we can say that fear is a feeling. In this case, it no longer serves for salvation, but, on the contrary, has a destructive effect on the body. The feeling of fear is not an instant reaction to a certain stimulus, but a product of human consciousness.

Types of fear

There are many different classifications of fear. It all depends on what caused this oppressive feeling. So, they distinguish real, existential and social fears. Let's briefly dwell on each of them.

Real or biological fear is a fear associated with an immediate threat to a person's life or health. In this situation, something poses a potential danger to the individual. For example, a huge dog trying to attack a person, or natural disasters such as tsunamis or earthquakes.

Existential fear is an unfounded fear of something that does not pose a real danger to a person. Such fears lurk in the depths of the subconscious of people and cannot be fully explained. This group includes death, aging, confined space.

Social fears are a relatively new group of human phobias that did not exist before. They cannot do real harm, but only carry a symbolic threat. This includes fear of bosses, responsibility, public speaking, setbacks, blows to self-esteem. Fears of this type are the most common in the modern world, they cause a person psychological discomfort and lead to a host of problems.

and their reasons

Fears of children often have no real basis, they are far-fetched and exaggerated. The imaginations of babies are so rich that even a simple thing can seem sinister to them. For example, the shadow of a toy may seem like a frightening monster to a child.

In addition, children do not have enough information about our world, which can also give rise to some kind of fear. It is good if the child shares his concerns with adults, asks for help and protection. Parents should try to explain to the baby the nature of the phenomena that frighten him, calm him down and give birth to a feeling of security in the baby.

But in some cases, children's fears are caused by real events that have made a huge impression on them. This can happen if, for example, a passer-by is hit by a car in front of a child, or he is bitten by a dog. Such phobias can remain with a person for life, although they will subside over time.

Fear of death

Some people practically do not think that they will live forever, while for others the fear of dying becomes a real phobia. The fear of death is one of the most powerful emotions, it is basic for a person. It is quite logical to be afraid to die, because everyone fears for their life, seeks to preserve and prolong it.

There are many reasons for a person to be afraid of death. This is the frightening uncertainty of what will happen after, and the impossibility of imagining one's nonexistence, and the fear of pain and suffering before leaving for another world.

People who previously did not think about death, when they find themselves in situations that really threaten their lives, begin to experience real fear. This can happen, for example, if a person was nearly hit by a car, or the plane miraculously escaped a crash. At such moments, everyone begins to value their life and think that we are all immortal.

Fear of failure in love

Many people, at least once disappointed in a partner, are afraid to build new relationships. For them, love is the fear that negative emotions and suffering will repeat again. Now it is difficult for them to trust a person, open their heart to him and start trusting.

The fear of new failures in love makes it closed to communication and new acquaintances. Very often, it takes many years to overcome this feeling, and some do not cope with their phobia throughout their lives.

In such situations, it is important to understand that there are very few people in the world who have never experienced a love failure. Having made a mistake once, you should not consider all men or all women the same. It is important to believe that you will definitely be able to find a person who will make you happy and help you forget previous troubles.

How to get rid of fears?

Fear is an emotion that overwhelms every person from time to time. People are afraid of completely different things, so there can be no single recipe for getting rid of our phobias.

First, you should try to understand what exactly caused your fear. Sometimes it is very difficult to do this, since the fear of certain things is hidden deep in our subconscious. Having found out the primary source of your phobia, you need to think about whether your fear is really life in a constant nightmare and experiences, or, in principle, it does not give you any special inconvenience. As a rule, fear as a short-term emotion does not require much struggle, but if it starts to develop into a phobia, then you need to get rid of it as soon as possible.

Next, you need to understand yourself, analyze at what moments you start to be afraid most of all. Try to minimize stressful situations in which you feel uncomfortable, anxious, and anxious.

In the fight against your phobias, you need to learn to switch your attention to something positive and kind, as soon as you feel that fear has begun to creep up to you. If you yourself are unable to cope with the problem, do not hesitate to seek help from specialists.

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Introduction

1. Psychoanalytic direction

2 Existential logotherapy

3 Behavioral direction

1 Fears in childhood

2 Fears in adolescents

3 Fears in adults

4 Fears in the elderly

Conclusion

Bibliography

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Term work topic: "Psychology of fear".

The relevance of the topic of the course work is due to the fact that the feeling of fear is inherent in all higher animals and is even more characteristic of humans. An animal can be afraid only of specific dangers, while a person, thanks to his imagination, also fears imaginary troubles, most of which he himself creates. It is easy to create a new fear, but it is difficult to kill it precisely because of its immateriality. Fear is an emotional state that any person can observe in himself almost every day. However, it is not at all easy to explain what fear is in essence.

The purpose of this course work: theoretical analysis of understandings and approaches to the study of the psychology of fear.

In accordance with the set goal and objectives, the following were studied: definitions and types of fear, theoretical directions in the study of the phenomenon of fear, age-related characteristics of the emergence of fear, factors influencing the emergence of fear, methods of fear correction.

Introduction

The phenomenon of fear is one of the most pressing problems that scientists are dealing with and will always remain it, since as long as a person exists, fear will also exist with him.

It is impossible to find a person who has never experienced a feeling of fear. Worry, anxiety, fear are the same emotional integral manifestations of our mental life, as are joy, admiration, anger, surprise, sadness.

Fear is an emotion familiar to everyone. He has a much greater impact on us than meets the eye. This is an emotion that has a significant impact on perceptual-cognitive processes, on the behavior of an individual. Intense fear creates the effect of "tunnel perception", that is, it severely limits the perception, thinking and freedom of choice of the individual. In addition, fear limits a person's freedom of behavior.

The emotion of fear occurs when a person is in a situation that he perceives as dangerous for his peace of mind and biological or social existence. Fear is a signal, a warning of impending danger, imaginary or real, in principle, it doesn't matter, since our body acts in the same way.

Fear exists regardless of the culture, faith and level of development of the people; the only thing that changes is the objects of fear, as soon as we think that we have conquered or overcome fear, another type of fear appears, as well as other means aimed at overcoming it.

There are a lot of fears in our life. According to psychologists, each person has his own "set of fears", consisting of several components, many of which come from early childhood. Many people are ashamed of their fears and instead of learning how to deal with fear, they seek remedies such as alcohol, drugs, medication, to eliminate it. In an effort to simply eliminate, ignore, drown out fear, a person inevitably falls into delusions and, propagating such ideas, leads to dead ends those who want to learn how to handle their fear.

Many scientists were engaged in research of this problem. These are Z. Freud, A. Freud, V. Frankl, E. Erickson, A. Zakharov, Y. Shcherbatykh and many others.

The purpose of this work: theoretical analysis of understandings and approaches to the study of the psychology of fear.

Subject of study: the phenomenon of fear.

To implement the goal of the course work, the following tasks were developed:

1.familiarize yourself with the definitions and types of fear;

2.get acquainted with the theoretical directions in the study of the phenomenon of fear;

.consider the age characteristics of the occurrence of fear;

.familiarize yourself with the factors that influence the onset of fear;

.get acquainted with methods of fear correction.

Chapter 1. Definition of fear

Fear - (German Angst; French angoisse; English anxiety) a person's mental state associated with painful experiences and causing actions aimed at self-preservation (Leibin V. 2010).

By now, there are many definitions of fear.

W. James considered fear as one of the three strongest emotions along with joy and anger, and also as a "ontogenetic early" human instinct.

According to A. Freud and 3. Freud, fear is an affective state of expectation of any danger. Fear of a specific object is called fear, in pathological cases - phobia (A. Freud, Z. Freud, 1993). In his work "Prohibition, symptom and fear" Z. Freud defines shit as, first of all, that which can be felt. This sensation has the character of displeasure. Fears are often the result of unmet desires and needs (Z. Freud, 2001).

According to A. Adler, fear comes from the suppression of an aggressive drive, which plays a major role in everyday life and in neurosis (S. Yu. Golovin. 1998).

According to G. Craig, fear is an emotion that a person tries to avoid or minimize, but at the same time, fear, manifested in a mild form, is able to induce learning (G. Craig, 2002).

E. Erickson describes fear as a state of fear, focused on isolated and recognizable threats, so that they can be soberly assessed and realistically resisted (E. Erickson, 1996).

D. Eike believes that fear is a mental phenomenon that any person can observe in himself almost every day. Fear is an unpleasant emotional experience when a person, to one degree or another, realizes that he is in danger (D. Aike, 1998).

K. Izard writes that fear is a very strong emotion experienced as a foreboding, anxiety. “A person experiences more and more insecurity in his own well-being, fear is experienced as a feeling of absolute insecurity and insecurity in his own safety.”

The person gets the feeling that the situation is spiraling out of control. He feels a threat to his physical and / or psychological "I", and in extreme cases - even a threat to his life. K. Izard defines fear as the most dangerous of all emotions. Intense fear even leads to death: animals and humans can be literally scared to death. But at the same time, fear also plays a positive role: it can serve as a warning signal and change the direction of thought and behavior (K. Izard, 1999).

I.P. Pavlov defined fear as "a manifestation of a natural reflex, a passive-defensive reaction with slight inhibition of the cerebral cortex." Fear is based on the instinct of self-preservation, has a protective character and is accompanied by certain changes in higher nervous activity, is reflected in the pulse and respiration rate, blood pressure indicators, and the secretion of gastric juice. In its most general form, the emotion of fear arises in response to the action of a threatening stimulus. At the same time, there are two threats that are universal and at the same time fatal in their outcome. This is death and the collapse of life values, opposed to such concepts as life, health, self-affirmation, personal and social well-being.

E.P. Ilyin views fear as an emotional state reflecting the protective biological response of a person or animal when they experience a real or perceived danger to their health and well-being. However, according to the author, if for a person as a biological creature the emergence of fear is not only expedient, but also useful, then for a person as a social being, fear can become an obstacle to achieving his goals (E.P. Ilyin, 2001).

According to A.I. Zakharova, fear is one of the fundamental human emotions that arises in response to the action of a threatening stimulus. If we objectively consider the emotion of fear, we can state that fear performs various functions in a person's life. Throughout the entire period of development of the human race, fear acted as the organizer of the struggle of people with the elements. Fear allows you to avoid danger, as it played and plays a protective role. Therefore, A.I. Zakharov believes that fear can be viewed as a natural accompaniment of human development (A.I. Zakharov, 2000). The emotion of fear, like many other emotions, is distinguished by its predisposition to fixation in memory.

It has been proven that those events that are associated with the experience of fear are better and more strongly remembered. Fear in relation to objects and actions that caused pain and trouble is useful because it encourages avoiding them in the future. Fear is “a kind of means of cognition of the surrounding reality, leading to a more critical, selective attitude towards it,” writes A. Zakharov.

According to L.S. Vygotsky: “Fear is a very strong emotion that has a very significant impact on the behavior of an individual and perceptual-cognitive processes. Our focus drops sharply when we experience fear, focusing on an object or situation that signals danger to us. Intense fear significantly limits the thinking, perception and freedom of choice of the individual, creating the effect of "tunnel perception". In addition, fear sharply limits a person's freedom of behavior. We can say that in fear, a person ceases to belong to himself, she is driven by a single desire - to avoid danger or eliminate the threat ”(LS Vygotsky, 1983).

Chapter 2. Classification of fears

There are several different classifications of fears.

Sigmund Freud divided fears into two groups: real fears and neurotic ones. Real fear is a completely normal emotional process. It arises in a situation of danger and helps the body to mobilize in order to avoid this danger. And neurotic fear is what we used to call a phobia; it occurs when colliding with situations and objects that are not actually dangerous.

Also, A.I. Zakharov, developing the ideas of Z. Freud, distinguishes real and imaginary, acute and chronic fears. Real and acute fears are predetermined by the situation, while imaginary and chronic ones are predetermined by personality traits (A.I. Zakharov, 1995).

Exploring the state of fear, the famous Polish psychiatrist A. Kempinski identifies four types of fear: biological, social, moral, disintegration. He connects this classification with situations that cause the installation of fear. For example, life-threatening situations generate biological fear. The threat emanating from the outside is clearly recognized by the subject, causing fear, and it is the stronger, the more helpless a person feels in a situation of danger. Fear also appears if the threat comes from within, but “the awareness of the threat is vague and vague. There is only fear, but the reasons for it are unknown ”(A. Kempinski, 2000).

The scientist, psychotherapist A.I. Zakharov believes that conditionally all fears can be divided into natural and social. According to Zakharov, “natural fears are based on the instinct of self-preservation, and in addition to the fundamental fears of their own death and the death of their parents, they also include fears of monsters, ghosts, animals, darkness, moving vehicles, the elements, heights, depths, water, enclosed space, fire, fire, blood, injections, pain, doctors, unexpected sounds, etc. " (A.I. Zakharov, 2004). The author refers to social fears the fear of loneliness, of some people, of punishment, of not being in time, being late, not coping, not coping with feelings, being not yourself, condemnation from peers, etc.

Also, A.I. Zakharov believes that fears in their most general form are conditionally divided into situational and personally determined. Situational fear occurs in an unusual, extremely dangerous, or shocking environment for an adult or child. It often appears as a result of mental infection with panic in a group of people, anxiety from family members, difficult trials, conflicts and life failures.

Personally conditioned fear is predetermined by a person's character, for example, his anxious suspiciousness, and is able to appear in a new environment or in contact with strangers (A.I. Zakharov, 1995).

Analyzing childhood fears, A.I. Zakharov distinguishes between age-related fears and neurotic fears. He considers age-related fears as arising in emotionally sensitive children, as a reflection of the characteristics of their mental and personal development. Neurotic fears have the following essential differences: high emotional intensity and tension; adverse impact on the formation of character and personality; painful sharpening; relationship with other mental disorders and experiences; avoidance of the object of fear, as well as everything new and unknown; a strong connection with the fears of parents and the relative difficulty of eliminating (A.I. Zakharov, 1995).

Professor Yu.V. Shcherbatykh in his classification of fears divides all fears into three groups: natural, social and internal. Natural fears are associated with a threat to human life. Natural phenomena that inspire fear in people: thunderstorms, solar eclipses, the appearance of comets, volcanic eruptions and accompanying earthquakes, which humans associate with the fear of the end of the world. A special group of natural fears are fears of animals. Snakes are undoubtedly among the animals that cause especially strong fear in humans. The second group is made up of social fears - fear of a change in their social status. Social fears can arise from biological fears, but they always have a specific social component that comes out on top, pushing aside more primitive factors of survival. The third group is made up of internal fears, born only by the fantasy and imagination of a person and not having a real basis. The researcher refers to internal fears not only fears born of a person's fantasy, but also fears of their own thoughts, if they run counter to existing moral attitudes. There are also intermediate forms of fear, standing on the verge of two sections, and the author refers to them the fear of spiders. “On the one hand, there are poisonous spiders (karakurt, tarantula), the bite of which is painful and even fatal, but the chances of meeting them in our latitudes are minimal, and people are afraid of all spiders, even completely harmless ones.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, people are afraid not of a specific animal they met, but of that terrible image that they themselves created in their minds in childhood ”(Yu.V. Shcherbatykh, 2007).

The phobia is stronger and more persistent than just fear and the desire to avoid an object or situation is greater. Phobias are obsessive fears, an intense and overwhelming fear that grips a person despite understanding meaninglessness and trying to cope with it.

People with a phobia feel fear even at the thought of an object or situation that frightens them, but they usually feel quite comfortable as long as they manage to avoid that object and thoughts about it. Most of them are well aware that their fears are excessive and unfounded. Some are unaware of the origin of their fears.

Chapter 3. Theoretical directions in the study of fear

1 Psychoanalytic direction

According to Z. Freud, the development of fear is closely connected with the system of the unconscious, with libido. The transformation of libido into fear is carried out through the process of repression. Repressed sexual impulses seem to find their release in the form of fear, moreover, neurotic fear. So, considering phobias, S. Freud identified two phases of the neurotic process. The first phase is characterized by the implementation of repression and the translation of sexual drives into fear, correlated with external danger. In the second phase, the organization of a defense system is observed, which helps to prevent a collision with this danger, when repression is nothing more than an attempt to escape from sexual desires. In other neurotic diseases, other defense systems are used against the possible development of fear (Freud Z. 2001). But in any case, according to Z. Freud, the problem of fear occupies a central place in the psychology of neuroses.

In his work "Beyond the Pleasure Principle" S. Freud stated that the concepts "fear", "fear", "fear" are incorrectly used as synonyms. Distinguishing fear, dread and fear in terms of attitudes towards danger, Freud made the following considerations in this regard. In his opinion, fear means a certain state of expectation of danger and preparation for the latter, even if it is unknown; fear presupposes a certain object that is feared; fear reflects a moment of surprise and is a state that occurs in the event of danger, when the subject is unprepared for it.

In his work "Inhibition, Symptom and Fear", dedicated to the problem of fear, Z. Freud emphasized that the underlying danger of real fear comes from an external object, while neurotic danger comes from the demand for attraction. But the demand for attraction does not seem to be something far-fetched, it is real, and, therefore, we can assume that neurotic fear has no less real grounds than real fear. This means that the relationship between fear and neurosis is explained by the defense of the "I" in the form of a reaction of fear to the danger emanating from the drive. From Freud's point of view, the demand for a drive often becomes an internal danger precisely because its satisfaction can lead to an external danger. At the same time, in order to become significant for the "I", external, real danger must turn into an internal experience of a person (Freud Z. 2001). In this work, Freud expressed such an understanding of the nature of fear, which testified to the clarification and revision of his earlier ideas about fear. The revision of the ideas about fear previously formulated by him in his lectures on the introduction of psychoanalysis was associated with the approach to the analysis of the mental life of a person, which was carried out in the work "I and It". In it, Freud emphasized that the poor, unhappy "I" is endangered on three sides and can be gripped by a threefold fear - a real fear of the outside world, a fear of conscience before the "Super-I" and neurotic fear of "It". Indeed, the structuring of the psyche led Freud to the psychoanalytic understanding that the unconscious It does not feel fear, since it cannot judge situations of danger, and it is “I”, not “It” that is the place where fear is concentrated. It is no coincidence that in his work "I and It" he emphasized that "I" is "a true hotbed of fear" and, in view of the threat of three dangers, develops a "flight reflex", as a result of which neurotic symptoms and protective mechanisms leading to phobias are formed. “We welcomed as desirable the correspondence that the three main types of fear: real fear, neurotic and fear of conscience - without any stretch of the imagination agree with the three dependencies of the“ I ”- from the external world, from“ It ”and from the“ Super-I ”(З . Freud., 2011).

Some of Freud's ideas were further developed in the works of K. Horney, who introduced a lot of new things into the understanding of anxiety and the nature of fear in psychology.

“All kinds of fear arise from unresolved conflicts. But since we must be subjected to their action, if we still want to achieve the integrity of our personality, they seem to be a necessary obstacle in our movement towards ourselves. They represent, so to speak, the purgatory through which we must pass before we can attain salvation ”(K. Horney., 2007).

The cause of personality conflicts, according to K. Horney, is, first of all, the impact of social factors, cultural values ​​(rivalry, hostility from others, fear of failure, etc.).

As a result of these influences, a person finds himself in front of complex contradictions (a tendency to aggressiveness and a tendency to give in; excessive claims and fear of never getting anything; a desire for self-aggrandizement and a feeling of personal helplessness.) That prevent the satisfaction of necessary needs and desires, which gives rise to feelings of isolation, helplessness, fear and hostility.

3.2 Behavioral direction

At the beginning of the development of behaviorism, John Watson named several stimuli that cause fear: sudden loud noises, sudden loss of support, jolts and impacts when falling asleep. Other stimuli that trigger fear reactions, from his point of view, are a combination of those already mentioned.

On the basis of innate (unconditioned) reactions of fear in the course of life, new stimuli appear that cause fear. In his experiments, Watson found that many stimuli, for example, animals, darkness, fire, do not cause fear in infancy.

Studying the emotions of infants, John B. Watson, among other things, became interested in the possibility of forming a fear response in relation to objects that did not previously provoke fear. Together with Rosalia Rayner (Watson, Rayner, 1920), Watson tested the possibility of the formation of an emotional reaction of fear of a white rat in an 11-month-old infant who had previously tolerated the rat in his crib and even played with it. Albert, the son of a nurse who worked in the hospital, was a completely healthy boy, and before the start of the experiment (at the age of 9 months) he was not afraid of white rats, rabbits, dogs, cotton wool, monkeys and other animals. The three other children who were in the hospital at the time were not afraid of these objects.

An experiment was undertaken to answer three questions:

Can a baby be taught to be afraid of animals if the animal is presented simultaneously with a stimulus that causes fear (the sound of hitting a metal plate)?

Will this fear spread to other animals?

How long will conditioned fear last?

Loud sounds were used in the experiment as an unconditioned stimulus causing fear (they knocked with a hammer on an iron strip behind the baby's back).

In the first episode, the plate was hit only twice each time Albert touched a white rat placed in his cradle. After two attempts, Albert began to avoid contact with the rat. A week later, the experiment was repeated - this time the strip was hit five times, simply by placing the mouse in the cradle. The baby began to show an avoidance reaction and cried only at the sight of a white rat.

After another five days, Watson decided to test whether the fear reaction would carry over to other objects. Fear was recorded upon presentation of a rabbit, dog, fur coat. Albert also avoided contact with cotton wool and the mask of Santa Claus. Since these objects were not accompanied by loud sounds, Watson concluded that fear reactions were transferred to similar objects. For control, Albert was allowed to play with wooden cubes. Cubes of fear did not evoke (Watson D.B., 1998). Watson suggested that, by analogy with this, many of the fears, antipathies and anxiety states of adults are formed in early childhood.

Further, Watson found that conditioned fears in humans are surprisingly stable, easy to transfer to adjacent situations and often require rather long-term therapy. This is due to the fact that conditioned fears easily spread to similar situations, but the extinction of fears achieved during therapy does not apply to similar situations.

With the development of B.F. Another (operant) model of fear conditioning emerged with Skinner's operant conditioning theory. According to this model, fears can be generated, maintained, and reinforced by the reinforcement that occurs after the fearful behavior.

Here it is customary to distinguish between positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement.

The possibility of fear emerging as a result of positive reinforcement with pleasant consequences can be illustrated by the following example.

A child who is frightened of something and comes running for protection to his parents receives care, affection and protection from them. In any potentially dire or unpleasant event, he is now more willing to turn to his parents for support, demonstrating a persistent escape strategy.

Sometimes the child can even feign fear in this case in order to get another reinforcement. Fear acquires what is commonly called latent benefit in behavioral therapy. Such fears are especially strong in the event that being scared for the child is the only way to attract the attention of the parents. The flight response reinforced in this way occurs more often in the future and is often generalized. A child, for example, asks to go to bed with his parents, motivating this with the fear of the dark.

Since fear itself is an unpleasant stimulus, then a person strives to prevent fear. Whenever this succeeds, operant (negative) reinforcement occurs. Thus, fear begins to reinforce itself, which explains the persistence of fear to extinction in the absence of a conditioned stimulus.

3.3 Existential Logotherapy

V. Frankl describes the mechanism of the formation of the fear reaction in this way: a person develops a fear of any phenomenon (heart attack, heart attack, cancer, etc.), the expectation reaction is the fear that this phenomenon or condition will occur. Individual symptoms of the expected state may appear, which intensifies the fear, and the circle of tension closes: the fear of anticipating the event becomes stronger than the fears directly related to the event. A person begins to react to his fear by flight from reality (from life).

In this situation, V. Frankl suggests using self-removal. The ability to detach itself is most clearly manifested in humor. Humor allows you to distance yourself from anything (including yourself) and thereby gain control over yourself and the situation.

Fear is a biological response that allows you to avoid situations that seem dangerous. If a person himself actively searches for these situations, then he will learn to act "past" fear, and fear will gradually disappear, as if "atrophying from idleness" (Frankl V., 2001).

In his correctional work with fears V. Frankl uses the method of paradoxical intention. This method assumes that the psychologist directs the client exactly what he is trying to avoid. Paradoxical intention helps to cope with your fears - a psychotherapeutic method that was proposed by Alfred Adler and then developed by Viktor Frankl. The term "intention" (from the Latin intentio - "striving", "attention") means internal striving, the focus of consciousness on some object or phenomenon, and "paradoxical" - literally "done the other way around." (Frankl V., 2001).

Fears often arise when something happens and the unpleasant experiences associated with it. For example, someone has a public speech, he is very worried and suddenly notices that his hands are shaking. When he has to perform again, the fear that his hands will tremble again is added to the usual excitement - and this fear comes true. Then the person begins to refuse to perform: he thinks about how his hands will shake again and it will not be possible to hide it. If fear is not overcome in time, the situation can worsen. This is how a phobia is formed, which leads to the fact that the symptom does recur, and as a result, the initial fears are further intensified.

In such situations, a paradoxical intention helps. V. Frankl described such a case: the parents of a nine-year-old boy turned to a psychotherapist, who, despite all the punishments and reproaches, wetted his bed every night. The therapist surprised the child with an unexpected proposal: every time the bed is wet, he will receive 50 cents for it. The boy was very pleased, hoping to earn money from his lack. But although he did his best to receive the award, nothing came of it. The neurotic symptom disappeared as soon as the desire for its recurrence came to the fore.

For example, if a person is afraid of closed spaces, he is encouraged to force himself to be in such a room. And as a result of a long stay, as a rule, fear disappears, and the person gains self-confidence, ceases to be afraid of what he previously avoided (Frankl V., 2001).

Chapter 4. Age characteristics of the experience of fear

1 Fears in childhood

Children's fears are children's emotional reactions to a threat situation (real or imagined), or to an object that is dangerous in the children's minds, experienced by them as discomfort, excitement, a desire to run away or hide.

Young children have more fears and phobias than adults and experience the emotion of fear more intensely. Their fears can start and stop for no apparent reason, in the process of child development. Newness, unpredictability, and sudden changes can create fears in children. Adults teach children to be afraid of certain things before the child faces them. Children can “pick up” the fears of adults in the family (IM Marks, 1987).

First year of life

Increased anxiety in children in the first months of life most often occurs when vital physiological needs for food, sleep, activity, bowel release, warmth are not satisfied, i.e., in everything that determines the physical and emotional comfort of the baby. If physiological needs are not fully satisfied, long-term preservation of the anxiety caused by them is possible, for example, at the moment of falling asleep, eating (A.I. Zakharov, 2004).

Psychological needs as sources of anxiety do not manifest themselves immediately. The first manifestation of emotional contact is the reciprocal smile of the baby between the 1st and 2nd months, which speaks not only of the need for positive human emotions, but also of the separation of the mother from the surrounding people, and soon other adults. At the age of 2 months. anxiety appears in the absence of the mother and in a new environment (A.I. Zakharov, 2004).

At 7-8 months. anxiety in the new environment decreases, but the child's ability to distinguish it from others increases. This speaks of the formation of an emotional image of the mother.

The anxiety associated with separation from the mother and the fear people experience in empty or crowded places are very similar. According to many psychiatric theories, it is this period of a child's life that is a decisive moment for determining whether this person in the future will suffer from the fear of "open spaces" or will be spared such a fate.

Age 7-9 months. - this is a period of increased sensitivity to the occurrence of anxiety and fear, respectively.

Starting from 14 months life, there is a decrease in anxiety in the absence of the mother and the fear of strangers is practically reduced.

1 to 3 years old

By the age of 2, children quite clearly distinguish between the sympathies of their parents. This is the age when they cry from resentment and interfere in the conversation of adults, unable to bear the lack of attention. Anxiety due to the inseparability of the parents' feelings is fully reflected in the dream, filling it with the horrors of the mother's disappearance.

Those parents who prohibit, limit the independence of the child, protect, risk interfering with the development of activity at the earliest stages, which further contribute to the emergence of fear. If you miss the time to dock the emotional and volitional sides of the developing psyche of the child, then they will exist independently of each other. The behavior of such a child is “quiet”, “downtrodden” at home and aggressive with peers or anxious. Night fears are not uncommon (A.I. Zakharov, 1995).

3-5 years old

This is the age of emotional formation of the child's “I”. A sense of community is also formed - "we". Feelings of guilt and empathy appear. Independence increases, does not require constant attention from adults and strives to communicate with peers. From about 3 to 6 years, the period of night fears lasts: the darkness is teeming with terrible monsters, ghosts. The child is afraid of thunderstorms, lightning, fire, night. He doesn't want to be alone, he needs the light next to his bed to stay on and the door ajar.

5-7 years old

A feature of preschool age is the intensive development of abstract thinking. At this age, the experience of interpersonal relationships is formed, based on the child's ability to accept and play roles, to anticipate and plan the actions of another, to understand his feelings and intentions.

6-year-old children have typical fears of devils, as violators of social rules and established foundations, and for one thing and as representatives of the other world. Obedient children are more susceptible to the fear of devils, who have experienced a feeling of guilt characteristic of age when they violate the rules, instructions of authority figures significant for them. And also overwhelmed by anxiety and doubts about his future - "What if I won't be beautiful?" (A.I. Zakharov, 2004).

At 5-7 years old, they are often afraid of terrible dreams and death in a dream. Moreover, the very fact of awareness of death occurs most often in a dream. It is not uncommon for children of this age to dream of separation from their parents, due to the fear of their disappearance and loss.

7-11 years old

By the age of 7, the child's fears change: from terrible and vague fears, the child moves to more specific ones - this is a period of anxiety about school and school, relationships with peers and with the teacher. These fears can be expressed in the child's refusal to go to school.

There can be two components to this manifestation of fear. Firstly, it is anxiety due to separation from the mother, from the mother's, home environment, the fear of leaving his mother, the fear that something will happen to her during his absence. Secondly, it is fear of the school itself and all that may happen there. The child starts to complain about the school and, in the end, refuses to go there. If he is forced to return to school, then he is overcome by anxiety, he loses his appetite, he has nausea, vomiting, headaches. All these diseases allow him not to openly express his refusal to go to school: he is simply "sick", more and more often.

In some cases, fear of school is caused by conflicts with peers, fear of physical aggression on their part. This is especially true for emotionally sensitive, often ill and weak boys and especially for those of them who have transferred to another school.

The leading fear at this age is the fear of “not being the one” who is well spoken about, who is respected, appreciated and understood. In other words, this is the fear of not meeting the social requirements of the immediate environment. Specific forms of fear of “being wrong” are fears of doing the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing, not doing the right thing. They talk about growing social activity, about the strengthening of a sense of responsibility, duty, duty, i.e. about what is united in the concept of "conscience". A complete lack of a sense of responsibility is characteristic of children of parents with chronic alcoholism, who also lead an antisocial lifestyle. There is also a delay in the development of a sense of responsibility in cases of mental infantilism and hysteria (Zakharov A., 2004).

The overwhelming majority of fears to one degree or another are due to age characteristics and are temporary in nature. Children's fears, if you treat them correctly, understand the reasons for their appearance, most often disappear without a trace. If they are painfully sharpened or persist for a long time, then this serves as a sign of trouble, speaks of the child's nervous weakening, the wrong behavior of the parents, their ignorance of the mental and age characteristics of the child, their own fears, conflict relations in the family.

Fears in the early years are always less and they fade away faster if the mother is next to the child, the father dominates in the family, the parents do not wage a "war" with stubbornness, they develop, rather than suppress or drown out the emerging "I" of the child with anxiety, the parents themselves are sure in themselves and are able to help children in overcoming imaginary and real dangers (Zakharov A., 2004).

Since fear is one of the defensive reactions that ensure the avoidance of potentially dangerous objects, learning to fear often takes the form of intimidating children, as a result of which fears are generalized and become chronic, that is, they become pathological phenomena - phobias. Thus, regular intimidation of a child in the context of the struggle for personal hygiene can lead to a phobia of infection and insects and be accompanied by the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder (Breslav G., 2004).

2 Fears in adolescents

“Adolescence is a crucial period in the formation of a teenager's worldview, a system of relationships, interests, hobbies and social orientation. Self-esteem undergoes significant development, which is inextricably linked with a sense of self-esteem, self-confidence in the context of real interpersonal relationships ”(A. Zakharov, 2004).

It is always difficult for a teenager to endure collisions with the adult world. With one hand he is still holding onto his parents, while with the other he grabs onto his future.

A.I. Zakharov, in his book Day and Night Fears in Children, writes that if natural fears prevail in early adolescence, these fears decrease, and social fears increase with a maximum increase of 15 years. Compared to boys, girls have more not only instinctive fears, but also interpersonal (social) fears. This not only confirms the greater fearfulness of girls, but also indicates a more pronounced anxiety in them. The growth of anxiety and social fears is one of the criteria for the formation of self-awareness in adolescents, which increases sensitivity in the field of interpersonal relations.

“The unstable adolescent psyche greedily snatches out of the context of the surrounding life scarecrows prudently proposed by society (death, illness, poverty, pain, cruelty, maniacs, rapists, crisis, war, mafia, isolation, condemnation, impossibility to succeed, ugliness, unattractiveness ...). There are many scarecrows. Almost every decade creates new monsters and reconstructs old ones. And at different times they sprout in different ways in the minds of maturing children ”(A. Zakharov, 1995).

Fears in adolescents are usually carefully hidden. The presence of persistent fears in adolescence always indicates an inability to protect oneself. The gradual development of fears into anxious fears also speaks of self-doubt and lack of understanding on the part of adults, when there is no sense of security of confidence in the immediate social environment. Thus, the adolescent problem of “being oneself among others” turns into both self-doubt and lack of confidence in others. The self-doubt that grows out of fear is the basis of alertness, and the lack of confidence in others is the basis of suspicion.

Alertness and suspicion turn into distrustfulness, which later turns into bias in relations with people, conflicts or isolation of one's “I” and a departure from reality.

4.3 Fears in adults

Adults are also worried and disturbed by many fears, anxieties and phobias.

“Many try to hide their fears because social conditions condemn people who show their fears, especially men. Therefore, many people prefer not to tell anyone about their fears so as not to damage their reputation ”(Shcherbatykh Yu. V., 2011).

For example, among male manufacturing workers, the most common fears are related to economics, personal happiness, and political events. Women - both high and low socioeconomic status - most often indicate concern about relationships with others, fear of natural phenomena (thunderstorms, dark places) and political collisions, and also often mention fears associated with the economy.

Educational fears are secondary in the college years, when men and women are most concerned about personal relationships, political events, and fear of aging. Learning fears are about perceived financial costs, not academic achievement. College professors, who were asked to rank their fears, confront fears about the country's economic situation and political clashes with concerns about mediocre students, the burden of regular publishing, impending re-election, and a lack of academic freedom. Lawyers also prioritize economic and political fears, followed by concerns about too many immigrants and foreigners buying land in the United States. Doctors rank their fears like lawyers, except that they prioritize the fear of litigation (Raymond Corsini, Alan Auerbach 1996).

“Stanley Hall interprets his data on the significant predominance of the number of fears in the female part of the population in all age groups (for girls, on average, 5.46, and for boys, 2.58) - because boys unconsciously reproduce the ancestral patterns of fearless hunters and fishermen. "(Breslav G., 2004).

4.4 Fears in the elderly

One of the main sources of fear in elderly and senile people can be considered the lack of a clear rhythm of life; narrowing the scope of communication; withdrawal from active work; nest emptying syndrome; withdrawal of a person into himself; a feeling of discomfort from a confined space and many other life events and situations. The fear of being alone in old age is the strongest. Loneliness in old age can be associated with living separately from younger family members. However, psychological aspects turn out to be more significant in old age: isolation, self-isolation, reflecting the awareness of loneliness as a lack of understanding, indifference on the part of others. Loneliness becomes especially real for a person who lives for a long time. The heterogeneity and complexity of the feeling of loneliness is expressed in the fact that the old person, on the one hand, feels an increasing gap with others, is afraid of a lonely lifestyle; on the other hand, he seeks to isolate himself from others, to protect his world and stability in it from outside intrusion. One of the very serious reasons for the disruption of communication with others lies in the disruption of the bonds of old people with young people (Craig G. 2005).

In late adulthood, the level of fears rises, this is due to the fact that, on the one hand, they accumulate throughout life, on the other hand, the approach of the end poses a threat. The problem of fear of death is difficult enough to discuss. Individual differences in relation to death are due to their life values, adaptability to life, and state of health. People are afraid of death who have not accepted old age as an inevitable stage in life, not adapted to it.

The fear of death has several sources. Death can be associated with insurmountability, hopelessness, suffering and deprivation are attributed to it; death is also associated with the action of all negative emotions, for which images, words, signs, rituals of death become stimuli.

The solution to the problem of waiting for death presupposes the ability to say goodbye to everything that happened in life. This skill is far from obvious, a person's old age can last from one to fifty years, not everyone can feel the deadline set for him with accuracy.

Chapter 5. Factors influencing the emergence of fear

“Not all contemporaries shared the idea of ​​John Watson's innate emotion of fear, most considered fear an acquired property” (Breslav G., 2004).

The first experience of fear in a person occurs at birth, which objectively means separation from the mother, and therefore the state of fear is considered as a "reproduction of the trauma of birth." Some followers of the psychoanalytic direction have also made attempts to associate various phobias with "birth trauma". Some, for example, considered the violation of a happy intrauterine existence during childbirth as the root cause of fear. Others focused on the early bonds between the mother and the child and the possibility of the transfer of anxiety from the mother to her child (Rank O. 2001).

“Tomkins names physiological drives, emotions and cognitive processes as the causes of fear. Some researchers consider the development of the emotion of fear as a function of the quality of the child's attachment to the mother. Other researchers, speaking about the causes of fear, highlight specific events and situations ”(Izard K., 1999).

A drive acquires psychological significance when its intensity reaches a critical level, when it signals a person about an acute physiological deficit. In these cases, the drive activates the emotion, and that emotion can be fear. The need for oxygen is one of the vital needs of a living organism, and the powerful affect accompanying the feeling of suffocation guarantees immediate concentration of attention on satisfying the need, and therefore is one of the most important safety factors.

Any emotion can activate fear on the principle of emotional contamination. According to Tomkins, reactions of fear and arousal, due to the similarity of their neurophysiological mechanisms with the mechanisms underlying the emotion of fear, are often activators of the latter. He believes that the basic relationship between the emotions of interest, surprise and fear is due to the similarity of their neurophysiological mechanisms. Tomkins believes that "a sudden and complete release from prolonged and intense fear activates joy, while partial release from fear causes arousal." We observe an inverse relationship between fear and arousal when the emotion of interest-excitement develops into fear (Izard K., 1999).

“Studies of the 20th century have shown that the formation of fears is socially conditioned. A small child can be terribly afraid of a doll with unprecedented black eyes, but not at all afraid of a train or fire, and parents need to make a certain effort to teach him to be afraid of truly life-threatening objects ”(Breslav G., 2004).

Fear (like any other emotion) can be the result of a cognitive assessment of a situation as potentially dangerous. Tomkins calls this reason "cognitively engineered." Indeed, cognitive processes constitute the most common class of fear activators. So, for example, fear can be caused by the memory of a certain object, a mental image of the object. These cognitive processes quite often reflect not a real threat, but a fictional one, as a result of which a person begins to fear situations that do not pose a real threat, or too many situations, or life in general. The memory of the fear experienced or the anticipation of fear itself can be a fear activator. Thus, a person, object or situation can become a source of fear as a result of:

a) the formation of hypotheses (imaginary sources of harm);

b) expectations of harm;

c) direct collision with a constructed (imaginary) object of fear.

The mechanisms that prepare a person to perceive a possible threat are extremely useful in terms of adaptation and survival.

Psychiatrist John Bowlby says that certain objects, events and situations tend to arouse fear, that is, they are "natural signals" of danger. Bowlby names only four factors as natural signals of danger, namely: pain, loneliness, sudden changes in stimulation, and rapid approach of an object. These factors are not necessarily innate, internal fear activators, but we seem to be biologically predisposed to respond to them with fear.

J. Bowley identified two groups of causes of fear: "natural stimuli" and "their derivatives." He believes that innate determinants of fear are associated with situations that do have a high likelihood of danger. Derived incentives are more influenced by culture and context than natural incentives. Bowley considers loneliness to be the deepest and most important cause of fear. He attributes this to the fact that both in childhood and in old age, the likelihood of a danger of falling ill with loneliness increases significantly. In addition, such natural stimuli of fear as the unfamiliarity of stimulation and its sudden changes are much more frightening against the background of loneliness (Ilyin EP, 2001. Emotions and Feelings).

Pain, the first and most important of the natural activators of fear. Any object, event or situation associated with the experience of pain can become conditioned stimuli, the repeated encounter with which reminds the individual of a past mistake and of the experience of pain. However, numerous experiments show that with repeated presentation of a dangerous object, animals successfully avoid it without showing signs of fear (Ilyin E.P., 2001).

Many scientists also call the factor of darkness one of the fear activators. For most people who experience fear in the dark, this feeling is associated with a sense of danger emanating from something terrible and invisible. On the basis of the "objective danger" that people endure at night for many centuries, humanity has endowed darkness with "subjective danger." And thus, fear in the dark gradually turned into a more general concept of fear of the dark. True, there are objective reasons why people are so afraid of the dark. Our senses are poorly adapted to life in low light conditions: sensitive visual cells - cones - turn off in the evening.

“John Bowlby refers to a sudden approach as a natural activator of fear. The important factors of fear in this situation are the appearance, size and speed with which the object approaches the person. Thus, the rapid approach of an object under certain conditions can serve as a natural signal of danger. These conditions may include: the unusualness of an object, a high speed of its approach, the size of the object, as well as the factor of surprise and suddenness ”(Izard K., 1999).

Altitude as a fear activator can also be seen as a natural danger signal. Under certain conditions, and at a certain stage of individual development, children begin to fear heights. The results of the experiments of the American scientist Campos showed that already at the age of four months, children are capable of depth perception. Today it is only known that, despite the fact that children begin to crawl at different ages (from seven to eleven months), they discover fear of heights and falls from a height only after a three-week experience of crawling.

Thus, the main factors influencing the emergence of fear are due to biological (heredity) and social (associative learning and social borrowing) influences.

Chapter 6. Methods for correcting fear

Overcoming fear, including fear correction, is a very difficult process. Ignoring fear will most likely give a negative result. It is more correct to recognize that a person has fear and help him overcome it.

The main method of fear correction is psychotherapy. Gestalt psychology, cognitive, behavioral psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, hypnosis, NLP are used here. In the course of the conversation, the specialist determines which of the working methods is more suitable for this particular person. He can and combine them with other methods of psychotherapy.

Gestalt psychology is not very suitable for people who like to "delve into themselves" (neurotics). This type of psychology calls the accumulation of unfinished situations one of the reasons for the formation of neuroses. Its main idea is the ability of the psyche to self-regulation, to creative adaptations of the organism to the environment and the principle of human responsibility for all his actions, intentions and expectations. The main role of the therapist is to focus the person's attention on the awareness of what is happening “here and now”.

The basic idea of ​​behaviorism is that the behavior of the organism, including the emotional, is a learned response. Therefore, the body can be learned, or taught in a different way. For example, a phobia, from the point of view of behavioral therapy, is a pathologically conditioned reaction that arose as a result of a situation threatening a person. The cause of the disorder is sought in the patient's present, and the goal of behavioral therapy is to replace the patient's inappropriate behavior with adequate behavior. This type of psychotherapy is usually used for obsessive actions, with obsessive thoughts, it is practically useless. Using the immersion (exposure) method, a person is repeatedly introduced into a situation that causes obsessive actions or anxiety, while being asked not to perform actions that, in their opinion, they are obliged to perform in this situation.

Psychoanalysis believes that fear is not a disease, but a guide to real problems, to a person's true anxieties. Treatment of a phobia in this case is to find its true cause. When talking about a symptom, a person perceives it as part of his being. During psychoanalysis and work around this being, signs of a phobia are deprived of status.

The symptom becomes a partner for later life and even helps to cope with the true causes of mental pain.

In cognitive psychotherapy, a system of highly effective technologies, techniques and exercises has been developed aimed at restructuring maladaptive thinking and developing the ability to think more realistically and constructively. The most important advantage of the cognitive direction of fear treatment is the development of self-regulation skills, i.e. teaching a person some techniques that will allow him to independently cope with newly emerging negative experiences and life problems.

Ways to overcome fear in children have their own specifics. One of the most effective methods is the game correction of fears. In the game, a new experience of social interaction is comprehended, the imagination is developed and the circle of communication is expanded, new knowledge and skills are acquired. Children themselves in spontaneous play overcome their fears when they play battles, hide and seek, climb trees, sheds, attics, portray "Cossack robbers". In a big city, they are often deprived of this. Active play is replaced by intellectual activities, moreover, if the child is the only one, then, as a rule, he is overprotected and cannot express himself emotionally in the game through restrictions and prohibitions, as he would like. Parents, who also did not play with children in childhood, play little or no play with children. Character traits such as lack of communication, internal tension and conflict, imperiousness and authoritarianism also deprive them of live communication. Parents of nervous children can be advised to play with children as much as possible.

Another effective method for correcting fear in children is painting. Drawing, like play, is not only a reflection in the minds of children of the surrounding social reality, but also its modeling, an expression of attitude towards it. Therefore, through the drawings, you can better understand the interests of children, their deep, not always disclosed experiences and take this into account when eliminating fears. Drawing provides a natural opportunity for development, flexibility and plasticity of thinking. Indeed, children who love to draw are distinguished by greater imagination, spontaneity in expressing feelings and flexibility of judgment. They can easily imagine themselves in the place of this or that person and express their attitude towards him, since this happens every time in the process of drawing.

With the help of drawing, it is possible to eliminate the fears generated by the imagination, that is, what has never happened, but can happen in the child's mind. Then, according to the degree of success, there are fears based on real traumatic events, but that happened a long time ago and left a not very pronounced emotional mark in the child's memory by now. There is no need to be afraid of some revival of fears that occurs in the process of drawing, since this is one of the conditions for their complete elimination. It is much worse if they remain with the child, ready to arise at any moment.

It will help in overcoming children's fears and sculpting. Sculpting, as a method of correcting children's fears, is used mainly in older preschool age. A specific feature of sculpting is its close connection with play. The volumetricness of the executed figurine stimulates children to play actions with it. The teacher offers different topics: "a good person", "parents", as a complication "blind the whole family". As a corrective method, "blind and break" is used, the purpose of which is to overcome fear by means of "physical destruction" of what has been done. The child is offered the topic “blind what scares you, or what you are afraid of,” at the end of the sculpting, the child is asked a number of questions about the figure made, then it is suggested to crumple the figure into one large piece with both hands.

Conclusion and conclusions

An analysis of the literature review showed that the problem of fear, although rooted in the distant past, remains relevant always, because as long as a person exists, fear will also exist with him. As society and civilization develop, it will acquire new forms, and people will invent new ways to combat it.

Fear is not only inevitable, but also necessary. As you know, fear is a positive quality when it mobilizes us for some action or stops us. Another thing is that fear can have negative qualities and direct people's actions in a destructive direction. For example, aggressiveness is one of the most effective ways to suppress fear. If a person finds the strength from a passive state of fear to go into an attack, then the painful feeling of fear disappears. This is how wars arise, murders take place, etc.

Fear belongs to the basic emotions of a person, which have a strong impact on various aspects of his life. Forming at the earliest stages of ontogenesis, later this feeling accompanies a person throughout his life. Fear is part of our life. A person experiences fear in a variety of situations, but all these situations have one thing in common: they are felt, perceived by a person as situations in which the peace and safety of him and those close to him are threatened. In the social development of a person, fear acts as one of the means of education: for example, the formed fear of condemnation is used as a factor in the regulation of behavior. Since in the conditions of society the individual enjoys the protection of legal and other social institutions, the increased propensity to fear loses its adaptive meaning and is traditionally assessed negatively.

It should be noted that quite voluminous works on the study of the emotion of fear have been done by K. Izard, C. Spielberger, G. Kaplan and B. Sadok, and other American psychologists. A large place was given to this issue in the works of Z. Freud, S. Kierkegaard, F. Riemann, D. Eike, O. Rank, P. Tillick, C. Ricroft, K. Horney, H. Heckhausen, A. Kempinsky.

In the course of this course work, I was able to get acquainted with various definitions and types of fear. In my work, I referred to the definition of fear by K. Izard: “Fear is a very strong emotion experienced as a foreboding, anxiety. Fear is experienced as a feeling of insecurity and insecurity in one's own safety ”(Izard K., 1999).

Analysis of the literature has shown that there are several different classifications of fears. These are real fears and neurotic ones; natural fears and social; situational and personality-related, age-related fears.

In the course work, the theoretical directions in the study of the phenomenon of fear were considered. Psychoanalytic direction: Z. Freud's ideas about the nature of fear gives an understanding that the development of fear is closely related to the system of the unconscious. Behavioral direction: John Watson describes fear as a set of reactions that arise to a number of external stimuli. Existential logotherapy: V. Frankl on the development of fear and the use of the method of aparadoxical intention in corrective work with fears.

The age-related characteristics of the experience of fear and the factors influencing the emergence of fear were considered and studied. The first experience of fear in a person occurs at birth, which objectively means separation from the mother, and therefore the state of fear is considered as a "reproduction of the trauma of birth."

Thus, the goals and objectives of this course work are fulfilled.

fear age emotion

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Vilyunas V.K. (1976). Psychology of emotional phenomena. M.

Vygotsky L.S. (1983). History of the development of higher mental functions // Sobr. op. - M .: Pedagogy.

Golovin S.Yu. (1998). Dictionary of the Practical Psychologist. - M .: AST, Harvest.

Journal of Applied Psychology The Origin of Fears in Children. - 2003, No. 2 - 57 p.

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8. Zakharov A.I. (2004). Day and night fears in children. "- SPb .: Publishing house" Soyuz ".

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Carnegie D. (1994). How to stop worrying and start living. - M.

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Any human (and inhuman, too)) relationship (and not only them))) experience ...

Fear is a survival tactic that is inherent in the human species. You are all familiar with the fight-or-flight response, a condition in which the body is mobilized to eliminate a threat. It is in him that fear originates. And although in the modern world we are more often faced with emotional hazards than with physical ones, the body and the brain do not see the difference between them.

When you feel anxious, your body starts producing the stress hormone, cortisol, as well as adrenaline. At this point, the body's ability to fight or flee increases. Now this reaction can be triggered by everyday worries, which, in fact, change the brain architecture, as well as the control of impulses. That is, despite the fact that fear is intended to help a person, in our time it rather interferes.

In addition, if fear is obsessive and pervasive, it can lead to serious mental and psychological problems. Therefore, a modern person is simply obliged to understand the psychology of fear, as well as learn how to manage and mitigate it.

Fear- This is an internal state due to impending or anticipated disaster. From the point of view, it is considered a negative emotion.

In this article, we'll also look at one fear-like emotion - anxiety. Anxiety is a negatively colored emotion that expresses a feeling of uncertainty, insurmountable premonitions. During anxiety, a person mobilizes all his psychic energy in order to deal with a potentially dangerous situation that does not necessarily occur.

To put it simply, when experiencing anxiety, a person rummages in his memory and finds examples of dangerous events there. And then projects them into the near future.

The more often and more intense the anxiety, the greater the damage to the body. Moreover, both physiology and psyche suffer, phobias and neuroses appear, panic attacks are possible.

Despite the fact that fear and anxiety are still different emotions, they are closely related and can be "treated" by the same or similar methods.

Signs of fear

During fear, a huge number of changes occur in human physiology in comparison with the usual state:

• Cortisol, adrenaline and norepinephrine are released.
• The sympathetic nervous system is activated.
• The pain threshold, reaction rate, muscle strength, endurance increase.
• Heart rate and respiratory rate increase.
• Sweating and blood pressure increase.
• The blood vessels throughout the body constrict.
• Digestion slows down or stops completely.
• Pupils dilate.
• Sugar levels rise.
• Instant reflexes are accelerated.
• Tunnel vision appears.

All these reactions of the body are characteristic of the instinct of self-preservation - perhaps the most powerful instinct of all. They also have negative consequences: general depletion of the body, thirst, trembling in the body. The more often you experience fear, stress, anxiety and anxiety, the more likely the immune system is suppressed, which, as a result, leads to illness.

It is important to understand that fear is absolutely normal. However, if you experience it every day, and for petty reasons, it’s about time.

Human fears

According to Professor Yuri Shcherbatykh, all fears are divided into three groups: biological, social and existential. Biological includes everything that poses a threat to life: fear of pain, fire, heights, predators, natural phenomena (volcanic eruptions, lightning, thunderstorms), terrorism. Such fears are justified, apart from those that are phobias.

Social fears include everything that can spoil the social status of a person and lower his self-esteem: fear of losing his job, fear of public speaking, responsibility, social contacts, success, failure and error, assessments, rejection by the team, loneliness.

Existential fears include everything that is related to the issues of life, death and human existence: fear of death, future, time, open and closed space, meaninglessness of human existence.

Often, various specialists try to compose the ten most popular human fears. The ratings are different, but the most common are:

1. Fear of death
2. Fear of loneliness
3. Fear of public speaking
4. Fear of failure
5. Fear of terrorism
6. Fear of nuclear war
7. Fear of spiders
8. Fear of rejection
9. Fear of the dark
10. Fear of heights

What conclusion can be drawn from looking at this list? Many points are associated with irrational experiences, be it public speaking or height. You may also be afraid of the onset of a nuclear war, but this does not make sense: you can only attend to the problem and prepare for it if it does happen.

Therefore, we must first of all realize that in the modern world we are frightened by our own thoughts and fantasy, and not reality.

How to get rid of fear and anxiety

Regulate your breathing

Yes, you have heard a lot, and we have written a lot about deep breathing, which can help you relax, reduce anxiety and anxiety.

Rapid breathing is the first trigger that triggers anxiety symptoms. Thus, by controlling it, one can get rid of fear.

If you intentionally exhale for longer than inhale, the body should calm down. Therefore, if you start to feel fear:

• Focus on breathing.
• Inhale (count to seven).
• Exhale (count to eleven).

If you do this for a minute or so, you will be surprised how quickly you calmed down. This technique is called 7/11 breathing, but, of course, these numbers are rather arbitrary: the main thing is that the exhalation is longer than the inhalation.

Take control of your imagination

Fear, anxiety and worry are born when we imagine the worst. The function of imagination is to be able to "look" into the future, to plan it. However, there is also a side effect: a person sometimes learns to think only about negative possible events.

Uncontrolled imagination is a breeding ground for fear and can ruin your life. Anxiety arises as a reaction to negative thoughts, each event is viewed as potentially dangerous.

Use the AWARE technique

AWARE stands for:

• Accept
• Watch
• Act (action)
• Repeat
• Expect

So if you're scared, do the following:

• Accept fear or anxiety. Don't try to fight them.
• Watch the fear. You should not draw any conclusions, just try to understand what is happening with the psyche and the body.
• Act as if everything is fine. Keep talking and acting as if nothing happened. This sends a powerful signal to your subconscious mind that its overreaction is not really needed because nothing out of the ordinary is happening. Be a firefighter who arrives at the address, sees that there is no fire and comes back.
• Repeat the above steps as needed.
• Expect the best. One of the greatest feelings is the realization that you can control fear much more than you thought possible.

As the name of the technique (translated as “Awareness”) suggests, it helps to bring oneself into a state of awareness.

Play Tetris

Oxford professor Emily Holmes has found that if you play a repetitive, attention-consuming game like Tetris, it reduces the so-called weight of emotional memory. That is, you will stop associating the past with a likely negative future.

Why does it work? The emotional coding part of your brain is too busy looking at the falling blocks and trying to figure out where to put the awkward Z construct.

Of course, you can play any similar game: puzzles, LEGO, logic puzzles, even Minecraft. But don't think bloody shooters will do.

Let's just say: when you play, there is simply no time and energy for worry and fear. As Dale Carnegie said: "Always be busy with something."

Take a course in NLP

It will help you find out how your psyche and mind works. There are techniques that teach a person to change their perception, use framing, and also work with their states.

The following techniques are very effective:

• Stimulus-response concept.
• Anchoring.
• Association and dissociation.

You can learn about all this from our free course.

Books

If you want to throw the glove in the face of your fear and delve deeper into the topic, check out the following books.

• "Psychology of Fear" Evgeny Ilyin.
• "The Psychology of Fear: A Popular Encyclopedia" Yuri Shcherbatykh.
• “How to conquer fear. 12 demons on the way to freedom, happiness, creativity "Olga Solomatina.
• "A pill for fear" Andrey Kurpatov.

We wish you good luck!

Each of us experienced fear in life, sometimes he helped us, protecting us from all sorts of dangers, and sometimes he acted treacherously, when it would seem that it was necessary to show courage, but we were cowardly and allowed fear to control our actions. Only our fear is not our enemy in any case, and in this article I will tell you a lot of interesting things about fear that you dear readers may have never heard or read about it. Fear, as we all know, is an innate basic emotion that signals a person about a real or possible danger, and if you are a completely healthy person, if everything is normal with your psyche, you just have to feel fear - this is your defense mechanism. But fear must be classified, brought to a conscious level and correctly managed, because this information is the same as, say, a feeling of discomfort, and this information needs to be processed like any other information.

As an emotion, fear is simply experienced by most people, as well as joy, resentment, surprise and a number of other emotions that stimulate our psyche, but nothing more. When you don’t know or understand something, this fear is unconscious, it controls you, because in this case you are acting emotionally, that is, relying on instincts - on basic, innate information. And acting instinctively, we do not always act effectively, more often on the contrary, our actions are erroneous, because in human instincts simple and elementary algorithms of actions are laid down, which are not always and not always appropriate, it is impossible to react to different types of threats in the same way. There are several types of fear, both real and not real, that is, phobias, but in this article I will not analyze all these fears, it is much more effective to look at the essence of this emotional urge of our body.

Those of you who read me constantly know that I profess a somewhat unconventional type of psychology, to a greater extent in any case, namely, I help my readers to bring everything to a conscious level, and I myself am doing this together with you, I am aware of as far as possible, more and more life moments. So with fear, we will do a similar operation, we will realize it with you, therefore we will analyze its essence, and there will be absolutely no difference in what each of us fears to a greater or lesser extent. You and I don’t need to fight our fear, we don’t need to overcome, ignore, and generally try to exclude from our life, understand friends, everything that nature has laid in us, you and I need everything, but we must learn to use everything we have in a competent way. in your arsenal.

And for this, nature gave us the most important thing - our head, or rather the gray matter that is in it, and even if, according to statistics, ninety-nine percent of people live an unconscious life, I will try to do the impossible from the point of view of psychology - to turn to the conscious part of each person ... Help me in this, try to understand everything that I write, then not only fears, but in general nothing in life will bother you. And so, we have found out that our fear is a very important alarm for our safety and survival, therefore, we must listen to it as carefully as possible, and carefully analyze all information coming to us from this alarm. The primary form of fear is a signal, the secondary is our subconscious reaction based on instincts, but the third form of fear is its conscious analysis, and this is no longer inherent in many, because we need to ponder the essence of fear, understand what it wants from you and what to do.

After all, who knows, what if you really are in danger, who knows what there is in this darkness, the risk of friends, this is for the stupid, smart ones minimize the risk, listening to their worries and fears. In this case, all you need is to turn on the light, if there is such an opportunity and to make sure that nothing threatens you, to clarify the situation for yourself, then the natural instincts will recede and the mind will take control of the situation. Of course, to turn on the light, but in life you have to clarify a lot, it does not always work out, we do not know everything, we are not adapted to everything and we do not always know how we should react correctly. Well, for this, friends need to learn, learn more, undergo special training that will teach you to react competently in various kinds of dangerous and non-standard situations.

You need this for a quick and correct reaction, so that a pre-prepared algorithm of actions will help you cope with many possible situations. But since even in this case it is impossible to foresee absolutely everything in order to control and competently use the feeling of fear, we should turn on our head and start thinking about our fear, trying to calculate the algorithm of actions that we need to correctly respond to such a warning. The only drawback in such an analysis is the time it takes to carry out it, because it is one thing to realize some of your phobia and disassemble it piece by piece to get rid of it, and quite another thing is to react quickly and correctly in a situation where fractions of a second can solve everything. ... That is why we, as intelligent beings, in the course of our evolutionary and intellectual development, have moved to a greater extent from an orientation exclusively towards natural instincts and are more focused on learning.

What are the general problems of storing large volumes of information in our head, it is still limitless with us, another thing is that it is not always easy to use the data that is stored in our head, but I assure you that in critical situations, the brain itself will find and use them them to calculate our actions. Natural instinct does not replace the capabilities of the intellect, otherwise, a person would never rise above the animal world and would hardly be able to survive as a rational being at all. You see, where our fear comes from - it is from there, from the very times when we generally knew little about this world, when we did not use our brain actively enough and relied mainly on instincts. However, despite the time in which you and I live today, when there are a lot of sources of information and the opportunity to study all the main points for yourself that can cause fear in you, there are so many people who are afraid of everything, many literally live in constant fear.

You yourself understand that such a life is unacceptable for a modern person, you and I are not cockroaches, so that at the first nimble we run away in some direction, there is always an answer for everything. There is always the most correct reaction to any external, obvious and potential threat, according to which our fear simply turns on our computer and forces us to look for a more appropriate response to the current situation. He either looks for it from the previously stored scenarios of our behavior, or begins to calculate the most correct option, according to which our actions will be as adequate as possible to the threat that our fear signals to us. However, explaining the situation that we have with you today, dear readers, I draw your attention to the fact that despite such a unique opportunity to learn and know more that each of us has today, very few people are engaged in this. Everything that surrounds us, for the most part, is aimed at ensuring that you and I do not think too much and too deeply. Look how much everything in our life is created for pleasure, that is, for stimulating emotions, but not for mental development. This, of course, is not deliberate fooling people, as I think, but only the desire to please them in the best possible way, for the sake of commercial gain. And yet, addiction to a particular way of life begins from an early age, therefore, a certain programming of society, albeit in an indirect way, still takes place.

A person who does not know, a person who does not think, will experience fear in its raw, unconscious form. And this is a great way to manage it, because it is impossible to intimidate a smart person, he will analyze any threat to him and find a worthy answer. While an illiterate person, not thinking, living only by emotions and relying solely on instincts, will only flee or in vain submit to force, which is even worse in reality. Here is your fear, friends, which you do not like, it is raw, it is not thought out by you, it is a signal, and it requires us to make a decision. And if you do not have this solution, if you are not looking for it, you have no choice but to use the basic set of behaviors that Mother Nature has laid down in you. So it turns out that many people have to overcome fear and fight it, simply by turning off the alarm system, which is so important for a person, by a variety of different methods, including psychological pumping, and stupidly expose themselves to a completely unnecessary threat.

It’s like turning off the feeling of pain, after which we simply will not receive signals about it, and therefore we will not control the state of our body, which can receive enormous damage. Analgesia is the name of a disease in which a person does not feel pain, that is, it is a defective biological organism, devoid of a very important natural signaling device, so let's call it. But when a person does not feel fear, I propose to call this without using any scientific terminology - idiocy, and in my opinion this is a very dangerous disease. Moreover, by nature, rarely does anyone not feel fear in their natural conditions. After all, this is a way to protect yourself from a threat. But as they are brought up in a certain way, people cease to be afraid of what they should be afraid of. A person can rebuild his psyche in such a way that he ceases to experience fear, thus losing his immunity to danger. A person will risk his life, he will even be ready to sacrifice it for the sake of some business, in which he sees the meaning. However, this sense may not be there. The main meaning of our life, if we look at this issue from the point of view of nature, is survival and reproduction. And death, caused by a person's lack of fear of an obvious danger, just contradicts this meaning.

Remember the kamikaze who, it seemed to them, were dying for a great purpose. Or suicide bombers, they are also devoid of fear of senseless death. This is a clear example of how the absence of fear ruins a life that could have been lived much more dignified and interesting, but alas, stupidity and insufficient intellectual development ruined a person. I tell you all this in order, dear readers, so that you love your fear and feel your full value thanks to it, it is important that you have this feeling, but I will teach you how to use it. Of course, within the framework of one article, it is impossible to consider all the details of understanding your fear, if it were so easy to bring everything to a conscious level, then the majority would not be unconsciously living people, but people like Buddha, who know almost everything and understand almost everything. And yet, if you carefully read this article, if you delved into everything that I tried to convey to you regarding the nature of fear and its purpose, then you will definitely look at it differently. Nothing in this world can be denied, especially since everything that relates to our essence cannot be denied, and the people to whom I was able to explain this changed their lives radically.

In particular, those of my clients with whom I have worked for a long time and persistently on the problems associated with their fears did not cease to be afraid of everything that they feared. Instead, they learned to use fear signals, respond to them intelligently, and use them to their advantage. Needless to say, in this case, these people fell in love with their fear, as it protected them from many dangers and helped make the right decision in various situations. Well, in those cases when it is false, you can always bypass its influence through a deliberate action.

People who want to understand fear and use it as efficiently as possible will get the most out of this article. Because fear is not a topic that you can simply pass through yourself. It needs to be properly understood. I want you, dear friends, that you look at fear as broadly as possible and accept the point of view that fear is our friend and ally, not an enemy with which to fight. Listen to your fear and try to understand it so that the information that it brings to you passes not only through your emotional sphere, but also through your consciousness.