Host
Sophia Fletcher
Podcast Content
Sometimes, however, the fears extend beyond the situations that cause most, if not all, humans to fear. These findings indicate that simply being around fearful people may cause one to become afraid.
People who have phobias also often worry and avoid things and situations related to their fears. People with phobias feel that danger is magnified and is very real, because their fears are so intense. When people have phobias, they are going to fear the thing or situation in question whenever they encounter it.
When people are extremely fearful of certain things or situations, we call them a phobia. You do not have phobias the way you might have fear of spiders. The final line that I would like to address with regard to fear is to conquer your fears. Conquering a fear means to totally defeat your feelings of fear, to once again take control of your life.
No matter what age you are, you can never conquer the fear that holds you back just by walking away from it. Fear of failure is one of the hardest fears to overcome, as you cannot be bold just for a few seconds, you need to be bold for an extended period. People are not afraid of failing, fear of failure is a slower-acting fear, that is still uncomfortable, that makes you anxious and anxious.
Instead of letting the fear take over, people will tack on the fear and discover they can accomplish whatever they set their minds to. One of the ways that people deal with fear is by pushing themselves into the extremes, whether it is climbing mountains or walking through coal.
This is an interesting fear, as what people are afraid of is not actually darkness. Instead, it is the sort of fear that sets in the background, just like worry, but a lot more chill. Since humans can survive without fear, maybe it is not necessary, as we assume. It is an odd emotion, an odd sensation, because it gives us the right kind of euphoria, it is what we enjoy.
Fear is an unintentional emotional reaction that occurs abruptly when confronted with information or circumstances. Snakes, darkness, rejection, love, spiders, unknown, public speaking, flying, storms, defeat--although the reasons are different, we are all wired to experience fear. It seems like Adam Edwards has that theme or that motifs of, those fears come up, given your activities, and you just kind of run with it and deal with it, and you build your life around it. Adam Edwards is picking out places I am going to go and exploring that freedom, like being a black person in the United States, it is kind of, Oh, gee, if I am just on this trailhead alone, and these strange people are out...I just had this concern about the Rangers showing up, or just meeting folks on rural areas, and, you know, the kind of fear of authorities, being interrogated at various places about why you are out there.
And then practice saying these things and run it by like a close friend or spouse or someone you are comfortable talking to really like, you know, dry run whenever I get stressed I just kind of fall back on like, well, I am just talking to this person, not talking to like 40 people or however many, I am talking to one person. It is a really common fear, and it is a very powerful one, is that Adam Edwards practices, he addresses this through an exposure and desensitization process, where he is thinking about it, then practicing it, and working out what he is going to say, and then working out what he is going to deliver a few words.
I wanted to do something I have tried to do in my own life, which is to show people their fears cannot control them, at least not completely, if we work at understanding them. I had to confront my fears, not just confront them, but live with them, work through them. To get back into the world, even if it was a limiting one, was to expose this old fear.
The fear of going back to church, too, to just sit on the pews by myself, was disconnected. I decided the best way to fight that fear was through love, and wrote a comic book about a man who had Alzheimers, and remembered the man was still loving him.
Recognizing the changes that Mary Lou* was afraid of were an old one, Mary Lou decided to get into therapy to address that old fear. Just sniffing sweat from fear causes the fear centers in your brain to activate.
Phobias are some of the worst fears out there, because it keeps people from reaching their potential, i.e. It keeps people from taking risks, so they never really know how great they can become. Our reactions to other fears may be part of what keeps especially adults from taking risks or trying something new, whether that be parachute diving or applying for a new job. Trying to become familiar with your own fears, and with the unknowns lurking underneath them, is what will help you figure things out, and perhaps even what will give you the courage to step into that dark room.