Hector Azuara

Carly Huegelmann
English 1104
April 5, 2016
Fear, Why We Should Face It
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of
freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free. Jim Morrison. Fear is defined as an unpleasant
emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a
threat. Since the beginning of mankind we have had something to fear and while some may try to
run from it or avoid it, there are some who seek fear and try to conquer it. These people are often
called thrill seekers, adrenaline junkies, or something else along those lines. In the world we live
in now, there are so many things to be fearful of, but the worse kind of fear is the ones we let us
from living life to our fullest. Although some suggest to stay away from what they fear, others
may argue that facing and conquering fear is how life should be lived.
Having fear hold you back in life can cause you to miss out on many opportunities and
not living life to the fullest. Think back to a time where you did not go somewhere or do
something because you feared something could have gone wrong, now some may regret not
taking the opportunity that was before you and now you are living regret in your life. The thing is
these types of fears are not really fears these are called anxiety. Anxiety is not the result of a
known or specific threat. Rather, it comes from our minds anticipation or expectation of
dangers that may occur in a given situation. (Lazarus). In the article How to keep your Fears
from Holding You Back, Dr. Lazarus mentions that in order to keep both from controlling your
life, you need to confront your fear and anxiety and not avoid it. Avoiding fear will only cause it

to control you and fear will grow stronger. By confronting your fear and conquering it, you will
take back control of your life and start living a happier one.
Think back to when you were younger, remember when you could not go to the basement
by yourself when the lights were off because you were too afraid to do so? Most fears are all
psychological and probably will never happen. If you ever heard someone ever tell you it is all in
your head, they are right. An experiment was done by Elizabeth A. Phelps, Ph.D. and found that
in the experiment they used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the amygdala (a section of
the brain that processes stimuli into fear) and electrodes hooked to the patient's fingers to
monitor the responses to imagined threats. By comparing her results to the MRIs of people who
had fear conditioned through experience, Phelps was able to show that a subject's brain
responded as if the threat were real.(Martin).The people in the experiment were never in real
danger but were told in the beginning that when the blue square showed up they would receive a
shock they never did receive a shock when blue came up but feared when saw the color blue
because they were told what would happen. This is a very important experiment because it shows
people struggling with fear that it truly is all in their heads and are not in actual danger. Knowing
now that it all psychological, they can start to overcome their fear.
One of the most important reason to overcome your fear is that in the end you truly
become a better person. Working at your fear may be difficult but by doing so the outcome is
worth that work you put in. Sure, having to work through a negative outcome may not be easy
or fun, but we will, in fact, find a way to move beyond it. By going through the exercise of
dealing in our minds with the worst-case scenario, it allows us to mentally shift our thinking
from I cant handle it too I will get through it. Thus allowing ourselves to move forward in
spite of our fears. (Anderson). This is what author Amy Anderson says in her article Face Your

Fear; the Results Might Be Amazing and in the article Anderson talks about how overcoming
fear will make you a better person than you were before. Working on conquering your fear will
not only help you overcome it but also better you and boost your confidence.
Fears are there for a reason but that does not mean we should let it control us, and while
others let it control them, Conquering fear will be better than just avoiding it. What is life when
you live with regret and not able to enjoy life because fear follows you wherever you go? To
truly live life to the fullest, conquering what you fear is the way to obtain more happiness and
live life without being held back by what will probably never happen.

Works Cited
Anderson, Amy Rees. "Face Your Fear; the Results Might Be Amazing."Forbes. Forbes Magazine,
16 Oct. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Lazarus, Clifford N., Ph.D. "How to Keep Your Fears From Holding You Back." Psychology Today.
N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
Martin, Denise Prince. "Being Afraid Is All In Your Mind." Psychology Today. N.p., 1 Sept. 2001. Web.
31 Mar. 2016.