Tag: fear

Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat, commonly known as the fight-or-flight response. Extreme cases of fear can trigger an immobilized freeze response. Fear in humans can occur in response to a present stimulus or anticipation of a future threat. Fear is involved in some mental disorders, particularly anxiety disorders.

In humans and other animals, fear is modulated by cognition and learning. Thus, fear is judged as rational and appropriate, or irrational and inappropriate. Irrational fears are phobias. Fear is closely related to the emotion anxiety, which occurs as the result of often future threats that are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable. The fear response serves survival and has been preserved throughout evolution. Even simple invertebrates display an emotion "akin to fear." Research suggests that fears are not solely dependent on their nature but also shaped by social relations and culture, which guide an individual's understanding of when and how to fear.