Diagnosing Fear
Fear is distinguished from the related emotional state of anxiety, which typically occurs without any certain or immediate external threat. Panic occurs when one is intimidated of a certain thing that reminds them of their fear, and experiencing an alarm response. There are many physiological changes in the body associated with fear, which can be summarized as the "fight or flight" response. An innate response for coping with danger, it works by accelerating the heart rate, dilating the blood vessels, and increasing muscle tension and breathing rate. As the name suggests, this primitive mechanism helps an organism survive by either running away or fighting off the danger. After the series of physiological changes, only then does the consciousness realize an emotion of fear.
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Famous quotes containing the word fear:
“When we think of him, he is without a hat, standing in the wind and weather. He was impatient of topcoats and hats, preferring to be exposed, and he was young enough and tough enough to enjoy the cold and the wind of those times.... It can be said of him, as of few men in a like position, that he did not fear the weather, and did not trim his sails, but instead challenged the wind itself, to improve its direction and to cause it to blow more softly and more kindly over the world and its people.”
—E.B. (Elwyn Brooks)