Overcoming Fear

In the early years we often like to test ourselves with feats of daring. Are we like our super heroes who can do the impossible? Can we live without fear?

We learn, as I have in many attempts to eliminate fear, that it is a natural healthy built in response. It is in every species on earth. We can only learn to manage the feeling when it arises.

The reptilian brain only has a few functions. One of them is to warn us when we see, hear, smell, or sense something that might be harmful. The Thalmus receives the sensory information and sends it to the frontal cortex for calm evaluation. The frontal cortex sends back a message validating the alarm or assuring the cortex that the situation can be handled.

The Thalmus takes in the new information and mixes it with memories to create its own reality. Its reality therefore would be different from other people’s reality.

If the Thalmus decides that regardless of what the frontal cortex says, it remembers this as being life threatening, it may cause the messages to the body to result in “freezing motionless” unable to react or “running” for its life.

If in earlier situations the frontal cortex had warned that the situation could be handled, the Thalmus took its word for it and the human organism handled the situation, the Thalmus might have developed more confidence for the next adventure.

The brain and then the motor skills function much better in a relaxed mode. Even if the situation is tense many professional athletes talk about being in the zone. The zone is where everything fast is in slow motion. A boxer can see the combinations developing.  A basketball player sees a much bigger hoop. A tennis player sees the ball from the moment it leaves the racquet of the opposing player and he hits it easily.

After many attempts to scare myself in skiing and other events, I thought the only thing I was really afraid of was skydiving. So I talked two friends into tackling it with me. Turns out I was scarred to death when I looked out the airplane and saw little cars 2,500 feet below. We jumped alone in those days. When I stepped out onto the wing of the airplane and realized when I was ordered to let go, that I would neither be in the plane nor have an open shute. It was the most scarred I have been in my life. It did teach me that you cannot eliminate fear.

James Bond has confidence in his fighting skills, evaluation skills, and innovative abilities to think he can get out of any dangerous situation and his brains perfectly coordinate his actions where others would certainly fail. That is why we idolize him. In the audience, we know we would be too scarred to operate perfectly. He does not get a message from his brain “You’re going to die!”  His brain gives him adrenalin pumped approval to take his best shot. “You can do it!”

A quarterback or any player in the super bowl has to fight the over pumped adrenaline of fear of failure or making a mistake. That is why in big moments they always say the guy with the experience has the best chance. The pressure is fear of failure. The experienced brain has learned that in these moments, you have to act as though it’s a sunny day in the park and not think of negative consequences.

Any soldier or law enforcement officer, fireman, and even court room attorney can build on an already developed sense of security in fearful situations and elevate their skills to meet new challenges. Each new challenge met gives the brains more confidence that situations are best handled by staying rationale and not going into alarm mode.