We all know what it is like to be afraid. Everyone’s been afraid of something at least once in their lives. And fear can be good. It’s a basic human emotion and is just as important as other emotions like happiness, sadness and anger. Our ability to experience fear is very important. Without the ability to experience fear we’d be in big trouble.
Fear is an emotional and physical response that’s common in all animals. It’s been developed over millions of years and has helped humans survive real threats.
If you’re either in fight or flight mode you’ll feel a number of things: an increased heart rate, shortness of breath, sweating, flushing, shaking, restlessness, agitation, edginess or jumpiness. Increased heart rate, breathing & sweating prepare your muscles for action. Flushing, shaking, restlessness and agitation are the result of changes in blood flow and the release of chemicals like adrenaline that prepare your body for maximum effort in a short period of time.
The switch for turning the fear response on is very sensitive. And it’s important to know that fight or flight response doesn’t last very long – a few minutes to a half hour at most. When the fear response (fight or flight) occurs in situations that are not dangerous or life-threatening, it is called a panic attack.
Do you suffer from panic attacks? Smokers are three times more likely to suffer from panic attacks then the average person. Another great reason to stop smoking!
Ashley, Health Educator
