Psychology Of Fear

Day 280: We all have our small fears: spiders, stock market crashes, the monster under the bed, dropping our cell phone down an open manhole, but what does it mean to be truly afraid? "Afraid," as in "terrified?" How many of us have been held at gunpoint, seen a comrade in arms blown to bits beside us, fallen from a great height? How many of us can actually claim that we know what that type of fear feels like? And how can we say that we know how we'd react in such a situation? You've heard the expressions, "paralyzed with fear" and "running into the face of danger." They seem contradictory, and in fact they are, and yet both are perfectly normal reactions to terror. Aside from being instinctive and almost uncontrollable reactions, in both cases, the result is the same: we do the wrong thing. We make a choice (conscious or not) which, if we'd had a little more time to think about it, might have shown itself to be a foolish one.

Right now, people are scared out of their wits, myself included. We see the rising numbers in the case counts and death tolls in our country, our states, our counties, and if they don't set us trembling in fear, then we are either ignorant or insane. Many people are reacting as if they are invincible, i.e., flaunting danger by going maskless or gathering in groups. Others are gambling, believing the odds to be in their favour, pulling the handle on the slot machine over and over and over, sure the winning combination will come up until finally they realize they're out of money. Fear inspires foolish behaviour. Fear drives us to make bad choices, not only as individuals but as a mass. Reopen schools! Hold that county fair! Let's go to the park! Let's have a picnic! We'll be fine if we wear masks and stay six feet apart. No, we won't, and it's time we face up to facts.

Get a grip on your fear. Don't let it make you do something stupid. In the words of Frank Herbert as spoken by Paul Muad'Dib in 'Dune,' "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." And know that I am repeating these words not because you need to hear them, but because I desperately need them to be true.