Embracing Fear: Essential for Human Evolution, Researchers Suggest

Have you ever wondered why some people are interested in horror stories, macabre tales, or extreme sports and adventures — sometimes all of these? Well, this type of pastime, in general, produces a feeling of sudden fright and, soon after, the feeling of “post-fear relief” dominates the human body.

Given this scenario, professor Leila Tardivo, from the Department of Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Psychology (IP) at the University of São Paulo (USP), explains that this feeling is necessary for the individual to evolve, as it provides an impulse to overcome fear and, in this way, he is satisfied. However, she warns that those with greater psychic or sensory vulnerability — such as the elderly, children or people on the autism spectrum — should be careful.

From another point of view, Adalberto Studart, researcher at the Hospital das Clínicas (HC) of the Faculty of Medicine of USP (FMUSP), develops: “The triggering of the sympathetic autonomic nervous system response releases adrenaline, the fight or flight hormone, which causes a feeling of pleasure.” He also adds that the scare is a temporary stimulus and, shortly after, the individual realizes that there is no risk to his or her life.

What happens when we get scared?

When the individual is frightened, their blood pressure, respiratory rate and sweating are automatically increased, their hair stands on end and their pupils are dilated — this is an action of the Sympathetic Autonomic Nervous System, which prepares the person for possible escape or physical combat. . “Your sensory organs first capture, you see, feel and hear. These sensory organs take this information to the amygdala , which triggers the process and leads to the activation of the sympathetic autonomic nervous system”, comments the specialist.

For Leila Tardivo, this sensation is an intense threat reaction, because it is something that comes out of the daily routine and dates back to the times of primitive human beings, when they had to hide from predators in caves: “It is a reaction of alert, we always seek well-being, balance, so this is something that breaks that.”

Furthermore, Studart warns that there are cases of people who, during a fright stimulus, suffer cardiac arrest — individuals who already have some heart disease — due to the adrenergic response . In other words, the expression “I’m going to die of fear” can be literal.

Another point indicated by the teacher is for extreme situations, such as experiences lived in wars, natural disasters or accidents, in which individuals suffer from traumas so strong that both the body and the psychological are unable to cope. “The international community that works on mental health is very concerned about the effects on children’s development, especially in these places with excessive trauma,” she says.

The fear

According to Leila, fear is a natural and necessary reaction for the individual, which leads to their protection as a species, however, she emphasizes that its excess, often unfounded, leads to a pathology: panic disorder. She says that there is an imbalance related to some situation experienced, which has a biochemical aspect and requires treatment — be it psychologist consultations or even medication: “There is no real threat, but it is experienced as a fantasy risk and the reaction is physical. It’s not necessarily something pathological, but it brings suffering,” she says.

The psychologist also comments that a person without fear runs many risks, including “exaggerated omnipotence”, in which the individual believes they can do anything without having negative consequences for themselves. According to her, what helped human beings to overcome fear was the development of intelligence and the union between the species, that is, the person needs support to overcome difficult moments.

To conclude, Leila Tardivo guarantees that the human collective is necessary for individuals to take care of each other: “People can recognize their symptoms, their signs, know how to seek help, not despair and not think they are the only person in the world. world with it.”