How Often Do You Experience the Emotion of Fear?

Page 1 of 1 [ 16 posts ]

How often do you experience the emotion of fear?

Many times a day	10%	[ 4 ]
Many times a day	10%	[ 4 ]
Daily	12%	[ 5 ]
Daily	12%	[ 5 ]
Every couple of days	5%	[ 2 ]
Every couple of days	5%	[ 2 ]
Once in a while	19%	[ 8 ]
Once in a while	19%	[ 8 ]
Almost never	5%	[ 2 ]
Almost never	5%	[ 2 ]

Total votes : 42

NeantHumain
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 24 Jun 2004
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 4,837
Location: St. Louis, Missouri

08 Aug 2005, 8:00 pm

Fear to me is an emotion that requires an external stimulus (an object of danger). This clearly distinguishes it from mere anxiety, or nervousness. I have to say I very rarely ever experience fear despite being prone to nervousness. When I experience fear, it's usually an emotional "bleep" that lasts about ten seconds before dissipating into emotional neutrality or some other emotion. My guess is those who people who have phobias are more likely to experience fear in general and may even experience panic attacks.

Serissa
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 10 Jul 2005
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,571

08 Aug 2005, 8:32 pm

Merriam-Webster Online wrote:

Main Entry: fear
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English fer, from Old English f[AE]r sudden danger; akin to Latin periculum attempt, peril, Greek peiran to attempt
1 a : an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger b (1) : an instance of this emotion (2) : a state marked by this emotion
2 : anxious concern : SOLICITUDE
3 : profound reverence and awe especially toward God
4 : reason for alarm : DANGER

Main Entry: anx·i·ety
Pronunciation: a[ng]-'zI-&-tE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -eties
Etymology: Latin anxietas, from anxius
1 a : painful or apprehensive uneasiness of mind usually over an impending or anticipated ill b : fearful concern or interest c : a cause of anxiety
2 : an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physiological signs (as sweating, tension, and increased pulse), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one's capacity to cope with it

Just to get those technicalities out of the way.

From a psychological perspective, fear is a reaction to an immediate or near-definite threat; something which you are currently, about to, or likely to experience. Anxiety is a reaction to something you think "may" happen. I'm not sure how how "proportionate" the threat is (i.e. a phobia trigger) weighs into it; however whether something should trigger fear or not is fantastcially subjective.

SINsister
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 25 May 2005
Age: 58
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,435
Location: Pandaria

08 Aug 2005, 8:52 pm

NeantHumain wrote:

My guess is those who people who have phobias are more likely to experience fear in general and may even experience panic attacks.

Uhhhh...there's really no need to "guess" about this - it's a known fact. Phobias are manifestations of an anxiety disorder, as are panic attacks. Perhaps you should discuss your questions/theories about fear/anxiety and their responses with a mental health professional sometime...

_________________
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

~Steve Jobs

NeantHumain
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 24 Jun 2004
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 4,837
Location: St. Louis, Missouri

08 Aug 2005, 9:05 pm

SINsister wrote:

NeantHumain wrote:

My guess is those who people who have phobias are more likely to experience fear in general and may even experience panic attacks.

The question is how is the experience of fear for you? I know one other aspie who experiences crippling panic attacks sometimes. I was wondering how common fear of this sort is among us aspies.

SINsister
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 25 May 2005
Age: 58
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,435
Location: Pandaria

08 Aug 2005, 10:05 pm

NeantHumain wrote:

The question is how is the experience of fear for you? I know one other aspie who experiences crippling panic attacks sometimes. I was wondering how common fear of this sort is among us aspies.

Well, I can't answer as an aspie, anyway, as I don't know whether or not I actually have AS. I can say, though, that since the age of 13, I've experienced crippling panic attacks; frequency, duration, and intensity all vary, though, and there's never any telling what might trigger one, at least for me.

SpaceCase
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,621
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

08 Aug 2005, 11:04 pm

How often do I experiance fear?Whenever I think about zombies.-shudder-

SpaceCase

_________________
Live and let live.

Serissa
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 10 Jul 2005
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,571

08 Aug 2005, 11:16 pm

SINsister wrote:

I'm an aspie and have panic attacks. Since I know (now) what they are I don't feel "fear" in the sense that I feel danger; I just feel, literally, panic- as in, my body is shooting out a crapload of fight-or-flight signals and my heart is going like a hummingbird. Mostly when I have panic attacks my thoughts become really irrational and disorganized, more than firghtened. It's not fear. Terror, maybe, not because it's more "intense" than fear but because I do not sense danger. If I do feel fear, it's a result of the disorganized thinking, or fear of what I might do to myself, but that's not the main emotion; it's mostly a speeding up of all my sensations, thoughts, and sympathetic nervous system. However, I'm merely relating my own experience and not trying to represent the population asa whole.

Sean
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 3 Apr 2005
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,505

08 Aug 2005, 11:16 pm

SpaceCase wrote:

How often do I experiance fear?Whenever I think about zombies.-shudder-

Umm...that could probably be helped by cutting down on the horror movies.

Most of the time I can turn off or at least dull my sense of fear. I might test it someday by picking up a black widow in my bare hand.

SpaceCase
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,621
Location: Pennsylvania, USA

08 Aug 2005, 11:18 pm

Sean,that's why my counselor said I can't watch horror movies anymore.AND also something to do with "feeding my dark side".Heh,whatever!

SpaceCase

_________________
Live and let live.

Serissa
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 10 Jul 2005
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,571

08 Aug 2005, 11:32 pm

SpaceCase wrote:

Sean,that's why my counselor said I can't watch horror movies anymore.AND also something to do with "feeding my dark side".Heh,whatever!

SpaceCase

Join tha dahk sahd, Space Case. I am your father. *cuts off your hand*

Sean
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 3 Apr 2005
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,505

09 Aug 2005, 12:31 am

SpaceCase wrote:

Sean,that's why my counselor said I can't watch horror movies anymore.AND also something to do with "feeding my dark side".Heh,whatever!

If you know what's causing it, then I guess it would be up to you to weigh the odds of having nighmares and other phobias against the desire to watch horror movies. There is informed consent, though I'm not sure how that works when you're under 18, because I never had to use it at that time.

TaliDaRadical
Snowy Owl

Joined: 18 Oct 2004
Gender: Female
Posts: 152

09 Aug 2005, 1:14 am

I have extreme phobias of:
the dark
crossing the street
large groups of goth or punk kids- they just look scary
a door being open when it's not supposed to be
I have actually passed out in such situations.

eamonn
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 8 Jul 2005
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,301
Location: Scotland

09 Aug 2005, 12:08 pm

The only person im scared of is me and what id do to anyone who messes with me.

Neuroman
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Jul 2005
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,892
Location: 1134

09 Aug 2005, 7:15 pm

I am anxious about a great many things, but when the time comes to do something I can do it.nI currently am anxious because I need to buy a new car and I don't know when someone is cheating me. I always take the salesperson at their word.
However when the time comes I will just do it.

_________________
Raised by Wolves

if you are going through hell, keep going.
Winston Churchill

MishLuvsHer2Boys
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 8 Oct 2004
Age: 52
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,491
Location: Canada

09 Aug 2005, 7:48 pm

I'd have to say once in a while because it doesn't happen really frequent at all... mostly it's a fear of leaving my kids without a mother if something happened to me or a fear of losing one of my kids either through custody, or illness leading to death.

Mockingbird
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,169
Location: Upstate New York

09 Aug 2005, 7:58 pm

I am often anxious, but rarely fearful. Most of my fear stems from past experiences/abuses. I know I would be afraid if I did something like rode a rollercoaster or parachuted, etc., but I would never do those things

Page 1 of 1 [ 16 posts ]

Jump to:

How Often Do You Experience the Emotion of Fear? Post Reply New Topic

How Often Do You Experience the Emotion of Fear?