What are you afraid of?
WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? HOW YOUR BRAIN CREATES FEAR – AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT Posted by: Lori from Lifesuccessnz What makes us afraid? Snakes, the dark, rejection, love, spiders, the unknown, public speaking, flying, storms, failure — though the reasons are varied, we are all hardwired to feel fear. Or are we? What about people who never seem to be afraid? Or the small percentage of the population that literally cannot feel fear? Why are there kids completely unafraid of taking risks and then others who seem afraid of everything? Fear’s purpose is to keep us from harm, but what if it holds us back from what we really want? THE BIOLOGY OF FEAR First, some facts: There is no single fear switch for humans; responding to threats involves multiple areas of the brain. We’re not 100% how, but scientists have found the amygdala—almond-shaped bundles of neurons buried deep in the brain, just above the brain stem—central to the process. “When you sense something potentially dangerous,...