As a reader and writer of fiction, I’ve been thinking a lot about how good writing evokes emotion and propels action.  One topic of the human experience that I find most intriguing is “Fear.”

In my experience, fear isn’t something that comes up in conversation all that often.  However, when it does, it causes me to reflect on what “Fear” actually is and how it operates on our psychology and physiology.  It is these reflections that also cause me to consider what can trigger my personal fear and what the difference is between it and anxiety. With an understanding of its triggers and a realization of what is natural and organic, a writer has access to tools and techniques that will keep a reader’s attention.

According to some of the articles written by psychologists and physiologists, there is a distinct difference between fear and anxiety.  Fear is a response to a known or understood imminent physical threat, while anxiety can produce similar physiological responses as a result of unknown or poorly defined threats.  The body’s interpretation and response is a result of how the brain’s amygdala perceives and the hypothalamus reacts to the context of the situation by activating the pituitary gland, which releases hormones.  When these hormones are released, the physiological responses of increased cardio vascular activity and hyper alertness results in a human better prepared to survive immediate physical threats.

I just read an excellent novel titled, “The Swimmer” in which the author, Joakim Zander, does a masterful job of differentiating the actions and behaviors of each of his characters during stressful situations.

When I reflect on personal situations of stress where fear was involved, I can recall some genuine “oh shit” moments of….  “well, I guess this is it…this is what it feels like to face the end.”  There have only been two of these in my 60 years.  One situation occurred early in my 20s and the other several decades later.  In both cases, I found myself at peace in the immediate moments when these events culminated, and then afterward for a more extended period.  My takeaway was this:

Like it or not, we are all born with a death sentence.  How it ends is another matter.

As a former military pilot, I learned early on in my training, the importance of developing an ability to compartmentalize my emotional reactions to nearly everything.  Leaving the details of my personal life on the ground before strapping my jet on, regardless of what sort of mission (training, combat, test, etc).  The ability to compartmentalize and focus, was as much a part of training and survival in the unforgiving environment of aerial combat as the ability to precisely perform an evasive maneuver, or recover a sick jet and bring it back to fly another day.

One aspect of fear which I believe is important to address is that of the people in powerful and influential positions (politicians come to mind), who leverage the human reactions to fear in order to control the behavior of who they may think are their constituency.  Like it or not, all of us are dependent on our local/state/and federal governments to perform their stated responsibilities and duties.  We expect to be provided with an equal opportunity in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.  Like many, I personally take exception to any form of leadership that uses fear to control behavior.  I believe that the “thinking people” everywhere in the world would agree that there are better alternatives.

In the final analysis of Fear, perhaps the challenge is to first embrace the inevitable, then in the mean time, avoid succumbing to the kind of artificial fears that unscrupulous leaders are so ready to leverage. Finally, by learning to compartmentalize and make those categories of fear that really have no impact on physical survival, we could maybe find a way to make them NOT MATTER!