Fear.
a powerful, electric emotion that is necessary for human survival and evolution
It's been part of life forever. Fear is the first emotion described in the Bible after Adam eats an apple from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, which leads him to take action and awareness of reality (Robin). Humans alone do not experience fear; ethologists study behavior that comes from the same unique sensation in animals. Fear causes animals to recognize situations that have previously brought them a state of uneasiness, and forces them to take necessary actions to avoid it in the future (Steimer).
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The human species would not exist without the presence of fear, as it is the reason we protect ourselves from external threats. In fact, threats are considered threats because of fear, and who knows where we would be if we were unable to make that distinction.
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Fear is powerful and recognizable. We have all felt it.
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Recall the last time you descended a set of stairs into a dark basement. Suddenly, a loud bang comes out of the pitch black surroundings and your heart races, your palms seep with sweat and you desperately want to escape. Five seconds later, you remember the water heater makes a loud sound when it turns on, and relief sets in. When logical thought creeps in again, you realize there was no need to escape as there was no real danger. However, you reacted the same way you would react if there really was life-threatening danger. Without thinking about it.
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Fear is survival. Fear is protection of safety. But ongoing fear due to a pervasive anticipation of threat is where the issue arises, and this sensation creates the line between healthful fear and...
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Sitting in a movie theater, watching the protagonist
slowly creak open the closet door, knowing the murderer is in there.
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Looking over the edge of a cliff after climbing the hiking trail on a mountain, noticing the jagged rocks and rushing ravine at the bottom.
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Seeing the car in front of you suddenly. stop. and slamming on the breaks just in time to avoid a collision.
Fear leads to survival, and for this we owe thanks to a tiny almond-shaped mechanism in the brain's temporal lobe -- the amygdala (pictured to the right). The amygdala initiates the emergency response to take immediate action after being exposed to a threatening stimulus. Not a lot of thought goes into this reaction. As a result, says Dr. Hariri, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, people often react to harmless stimuli with fear.
Anxiety.
Just like fear, anxiety is also a mechanism evolutionarily designed to alert us-- of danger, threat or upcoming conflict. However, anxiety can be triggered even when these stimulants are not precisely pinpointed or known. It is a more generalized response to something unwanted that could potentially happen, or that could occur in the future but hasn't been confirmed.
According to Joseph LeDoux, a neuroscientist who studies the distinction between fear and anxiety at New York University’s Center for Neural Science, anxiety does not originate in the amygdala alongside fear. Instead, it bubbles up from the area between the amygdala and the hypothalamus, also known as the bed nucleus. This area initiates the response to the uncertainty and feeling of lack of control that underlies anxiety.
Anxiety is then associated with the fear of the unknown. It fills the minds of those who wonder about potential consequences or disaster, who question the certainty of their thoughts of the future, who predict possible unfortunate outcomes of processes that have been going on for a while.
While fear is the response to threats that are certain and out of one’s control, anxiety comes from not knowing for sure that uncontrollable threats will come to fruition.
Take a look at the following example of the same stimulant leading to two separate reactions: fear and anxiety.
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Anxiety often comes after fear, as it represents the thoughts about the future. If something scary occurs, many people’s minds often wander to the potential effects of this event or circumstance.
Let’s take a look at some other examples of anxiety, on a much more serious level:
What if someone dangerous is at the concert I’m going to tonight?
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What if security isn’t strict enough?
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What if someone is planning to take advantage of the crowded venue?
What if policies aren’t enacted and enforced soon enough to curb the progress of climate change?
What if America comes under nuclear attack?
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These questions are all too common in the minds of my peers-- the millennial generation. We worry constantly about bad things happening. It's no surprise when we consider what has happened in the world since we were born. But the question is, does our anxiety about these things come from a high probability that they will occur? Or do they come from our own parents' fears that were passed down to us during childhood?
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To consider this question, let's first consider...
Fear
I did horribly on my exam that counts for half of my grade in the class. I am afraid to look at my current class grade now.
Stimulant
really difficult midterm exam
Anxiety
What if I am unable to bring my grade back up in the class after failing this exam? What if it affects my GPA? What if I cannot get into my dream grad school anymore?