Fear

Fear
It paralyzes.
It makes one prisoner.
It effects the psyche, the life style and the health.
What is this fear?
It lives within oneself.
It is based on observations, experiences, realities but more often on imagination.
Sometimes it's intentional, like the fear of the Supreme Being in religion but generally it creeps in uninvited and take over our lives.

There are two kinds of fear.
Fear of the known and fear of the unknown.

A person exposed to a traumatic experience is always vulnerable to the memory of it. Our inner defense mechanism sends red alerts to warn us if it senses a similar situation. A person always finds it difficult to drive on the same spot where s/he happen to have an accident. Although the chances of ending up in a similar situation are extremely small and a ration person recognizes it, yet the mind remembers the experience and a fear develops. This fear can be overcome with time and with traveling over the same spot a few times.

Time can help one overcome or develop the fear, depending upon the personality, situation and the experience.

I often hear "face the fear to overcome it".
It is true in many cases but sometimes it is not the solution. In some cases, there is no other way but to simply avoid it. For example, some people have fear of public speaking. If they try to overcome it by going on the stage and instead of overcoming it, become tongue tied in front of the audience, then the situation becomes even worse than before.
I remember my own experience.

During my first pregnancy, I had no idea about the level of labor pains. I underwent the whole experience with a naive bravery. The second time, although my whole pregnancy was much easier and the labor pains were shorter and delivery quicker, I found myself frozen with fear during delivery. Up until then, I had been quite confident and comfortable but then suddenly I realized that my mind and muscles remembered the previous excruciating pains and fear took hold of my whole body. No amount of logic and reasoning would let me relax. It's been some years but I still remember that feeling and experience of fear.

Another kind of known fear is when one observes someone else in a situation. People often make use of this fear to intimidate others. Social pressures work on this principle. Parents give examples of others to scare their children in many households. News channels broadcast stories to warn us of devastating consequences. For example, smoking can lead to lung cancer, etc.

The fear of the unknown is extremely common. From the beginning, fear of the unknown has intrigued, ruled, destroyed or made human beings. Yes, in general, it is a negative thing to be scared as it makes one weak and vulnerable but sometimes it works wonders as well. Religion uses it to make people better human beings. It talks about punishment and consequences. Fear of God. Fear of evil. Fear of hellfire. Fear of karma....all this fear is intended for the individual and collective good. Noble works have been done in the name of this fear. In fact, all other fears fade away when the fear of one God grips a heart.

People like to control others and use fear as a device to achieve this purpose. Instead of focusing on themselves, some people use the religious fear to control, degrade or insult others. Not just religious, they use any other sort of fear for that objective as well. Fear is a weakness and weakness makes one vulnerable. People look for vulnerability to hurt others. If they don't find one, they work on creating it.