Fear
It was Franklin D. Roosevelt that said, “the only thing we have t fear is feat itself” in his inaugural address in 1933. The entire line goes “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
_______________________
By the way, the fear of fear itself actually has a name. It is known as phobophobia.
_______________________
The National Institute of Mental Health conducted a study to see what Americans fear most. The study discovered that almost all of us have a phobia of one kind or anther. Here is a list of the top ten phobias that Americans have today:
10) Brontophobia (2%)--the fear of thunder & lightning
9) Agoraphobia (2.2%)--the fear of open spaces
8) Claustrophobia (2.5%)--the fear of closed spaces
7) Aeroophobia (6.5%)--the fear of flying
6) Sociophobia (12.1%)--the fear of people or situations
5) Acrophobia (10%)--the fear of heights
4) Achluophobia (11%)--the fear of darkness
3) Arachnophobia (30.5%)--the fear of spiders
2) Necrophobia (68%)--the fear of death
1) Glossophobia (74%) the fear of public speaking
______________________________
The Anatomy of Fear
You are probably aware that fear can invoke all kinds of changes to your body and the greater the intensity of the fear, the greater your body is affected. But what exactly goes oon in our bodies when we get the heebie jeebies or when we are flat scared out of our wits?
First, we see, hear or touch something that causes us to anticipate harm. It causes a signal that travels to our amygdala, a region near the base of the brain. The amygdala then shoots out a chemical to two other regions of our brain. One region makes us freeze in our tracks or makes us suddenly jump. The second region that receives the chemical is the hypothalamus which signals the fight or flight response.
The hypothalamus then sends signals to our heart which is probably in need of more oxygen at this point. The extra oxygen is preparing our heart for the workout it may or may not get. For example, we may have to run like we have never run before and our body has its own way of getting ready for that by feeding it more oxygen. To help meet the increased need for oxygen, the heart starts working overtime pumping blood to the muscles faster and more forcefully. This is why our heart fees like its about to come out of our chest and our breathing becomes more rapid.
The amygdala also sends a message to the nervous system which in turn sends a message to the adrenal glands located above the kidneys and tells them to kick into gear. Adrenaline is released into the bloodstream, triggering a host of defensive behaviors.
Ever notice your knees knocking together or your hands shaking when you get scared? It’s not just your imagination. Because our heart is working harder to pump blood to our large muscles it can increase muscle tension. The extra tension can result in shaking muscles.
Finally we start to sweat, once again in preparation for any running or fighting we may need to do. As in any other time, the purpose of the sweating is to keep us cool.
If our bodies suddenly realize that we are not really in a life-threatening situation (for example if that thing that just jumped in front of us is only our cat) our parasympathetic nervous system kicks in, reversing the flow of adrenaline and lowering our heart rat back to normal.
______________________________
Horror Movies
For all of our phobias,some of us just enjoy a good scare. The film industry has capitalized on our fears turning cowering and screaming from an unpleasant experience to somehow an enjoyable one and something that we actually pay money for. And do we ever—so far in 22020e, the scary movie industry has raked in $510 Million in ticket sales. Though they don’t rake in as much as other genres, they tend to be more profitable since they generally have low production cost and hire B-list actors and actresses.
Horror films have been around since the 1890s and the best-known film being Le Manoir du Diable (often credited as the first horror film). Some of the biggest characters featured in those films include Frankenstein, Quasimodo and Dracula.
The 1940s introduced Alfred Hitchcock who introduced the suspenseful thriller. Hitchcock produced over 65 full-length movies.
By the late 1950s and into the 1960s, monsters were still part of horror flicks, but it was a man by the name of Roger Corman that would introduce a new kind of horror film and open the way to what we now know as the slasher films. Using Edgar Alan Poe’s short stories as the basis for his films, Corman would produce adaptations that starred Vincent Price. Because of these films, Price’s name soon became synonymous with horror flicks.
By the 1970s, Wes Craven, an English professor at Westminster College, emerged on the scene with The Hills Have Eyes. Eventually he would go on to create one of the most recognized characters of horror films, Freddy Krueger, from The Nightmare on Elm Street series. Stephen King would also become a household name among horror film production companies. His stories were quickly getting snatched up for film adaptation with some of the first being The Shining and Carrie.
King and Craven would continue to monopolize the horror industry during the 41980s with the continuance of the The Nightmare on Elm Street mvies as well as numerous King movies including Cujo, Firestarter and Pet Sematary.
By the 1990s, the horror film industry took a hit. Fans were growing weary of the overdone slasher film to the point that horror films of that decade combined ironic humor and poking fun of the obvious in many slasher movies with sudden shock and surprise.
The Biggest Cowards in History
Sometimes people’s fears are just more than they can handle. Take for example Bruce Ismay, managing director of White Star lines who oversaw the construction of the Titanic. Ismay jumped ship when the Titanic began to sink. He was one of the first to hop on board a life raft (even though it was supposed to be women and children first). He cowardly deserted over 1,500 people (including his secretary), leaving them to die. Ismay did end up paying for his action, or rather inaction. London society ostracized him and labeled him one of the biggest cowards in history.
_________________________
Similarly, when the Greek cruise liner Oceanos sunk while in transit in 1991, its captain, Yiannis Avranas, left the ship, clambered aboard a helicopter and made for dry land, leaving the rest of the crew and the occupants to sink with the ship. According to Avranas, all communication was down and he left the ship to seek help. The people weren’t buying it, however, and they labeled Avranas one of the biggest yellow bellies of all time. Avranas betrayed the first law of the sea: the captain is always the last to leave a sinking ship.
________________________
Robert Ford had come to be forever known as “the dirty little coward” that shot Jesse James in the back. Ford was James’ cousin who had plotted with James to rob the Platte Bank. On April 3, 1882, after eating breakfast at the home of Jesse James and his wife Zerelda Mimms, Ford and James went into the living room to talk. James walked across the living room to straighten a picture hanging above the mantle. With his back to him, Ford took the opportunity to shoot the unarmed James in the back of the head. He had intended to turn James in for $10,000 in reward money. However he was charged for first degree murder and sentenced to hang. Though he didn’t hang, he and his brothers only received $500.
________________________
During the War of 1812, the American General Hull, believing that he was surrounded by Native American warriors, surrendered Detroit along with the whole US Northwest to the British without a fight.
________________________
In July, 1943, Stalin issued Order No. 227 which outlawed retreat even when the Soviets met overwhelming odds against the Germans. Retreating soldiers were to be shot on the spot for being cowards. The order led to the deaths of thousands of men while Stalin sat comfortably at the Kremlin.
________________________
Numbers, Numbers
The fear of the number 13 is known as triskaidekaphobia.
An estimated $800 to $900 million is lost in business each Friday the 13th due to the extreme fear of the day. Around 21 million people in the United States alone, suffer from the phobia and refuse to conduct business as normal on this particular day.
There an be no more than three possible Friday the 13ths in one year. All years have at least one.
On Friday, March 13, 1998, there was both a full moon and a lunar eclipse.
In their attempt to expose the absurdity of one of the Royal Navy’s most cherished superstitions—that Friday was an unlucky day-- the British Admiralty decided to conduct a little experiment. They christened one of their ships Friday. They also laid the keel of the boat on a Friday, had the ship commanded by a Captain Friday and set sail on a Friday. The ship disappeared with all hands an no trace of them was ever found.
In the Chinese culture (as well as other Asian cultures) many fear the number four or consider it to be unlucky because the word for it (si) sounds to close to the word for death (siwang). The fear of the number is so great that it is common for buildings there to not include the number four in their elevators. Hospital room numbers also do not include the number four. But it goes even further. Italian car manufacturer, Alfa Romeo, renamed one of their new models when it was introduced in Singapore for fear no one would buy it. Similarly, the Beijing traffic management bureau no longer issues license plates containing the number four. By the way, fear of the number four is known as “tetraphobia.”
Famous People and Their Fears
Alfred Hitchcock, who sure seemed to get a kick out of creating fear in his audiences, had a very particular fear of his own. Hitchcock was afraid of eggs. Nor only would he not eat one, he didn’t even want to be in the same room with one.
________________________
More of a hangup than a fear, Oprah Winfrey has an issue with gum chewing. It started in childhood when her grandmother collected chewed gum and placed it in rows on her cabinet. It left such an impression that she has banned it from her studio and all employees and guests have to check their gum at the door before entering.
________________________
President George Washington was so terrified of being buried alive that he made his attendants at his deathbed promise to keep him above ground for at least two days after his passing. Washington’s fears were actually warranted seeing as how (during his time) many physicians would accidentally declare an individual dead when they actually were not. So being buried alive was (remarkably) somewhat common back then.
_______________________
Actress Natalie Wood was scared to death of water after her mother tricked her into standing on a bridge for a movie when she was a child. The rigged bridge gave way, plummeting poor Natalie into the waters below. Eerily, water is what took Natalie’s life when she fell overboard from a yacht and drowned at the age of 43.
U S Legacies
- Log in to post comments