You Can Thank Your Brain For Phobias

Everyone has something that they are afraid of. Whether it be heights, spiders, or small confined spaces, there is a clear explanation as to why the idea of “facing your fears” will always sound so irrational to us in theory. Phobias can form at any time during a person's childhood, but typically the ones that stick form between the ages of 15 and 20. Typically caused by a traumatizing experience or simply just immense overthinking, phobias can last for several decades. All phobias are worsened by the combination of two factors: fear and avoidance. The repeated act of avoidance creates  detrimental effects that change the ways in which people live their lives. On the outside, phobias are notorious for making people appear visibly uncomfortable. Physical reactions such as sweating, feeling faint, shaking, and running away are the most common. Ironically enough, these drastic phobia symptoms are solely due to a small structure inside of our brains. The amygdala is the part of the brain in charge of fear analysis, which is why it holds the nickname, “hub for fear”. Not only is the amygdala responsible for processing our fears, but also for regulating our memories of fear. Our brains are our own worst enemies in prolonging the vicious cycle of phobias. The amygdala correlates and remembers the way our phobias make us feel, proving why people repeatedly experience the same exaggerated reactions. When fear is identified, our brains immediately send signals to the rest of our body to react, and this is only natural. It is possible to work through phobias, but your mentality needs to be stronger than your brain's biological impulses. The easiest way to reduce anxiety and stress during a phobia-triggering experience is to take deep breaths, but in the long run, it has also been proven helpful to speak to someone who can commiserate with you about a specific fear. Our brains are small, but extremely powerful. They hold the ability to control our fears, but this doesn't mean those fears should control us.