A story of two young boys shows the consequences of fear in one and the beginning of fear in the other. The older brother knowledgeable of a bees’ sting, reacted with fearful immobilization to a hive swarming, and probably signaled his fear to the swarming bees with pheromones. The younger boy, naïve to bee sting, watched with fascination as the hive swarmed up and over him, landing instead on his brother giving the older boy a stinging reaffirmation of the reasons he feared bees in the first place. With multiple stings, thankfully not life-threatening, the older boy surely reinforced his fear of bees, while the younger brother probably created his own set of fear memories that day.
In response to stress, we secrete substances that can signal our fear. These substances, called pheromones,are volatile, meaning that they are vaporous, and easily carried through the air. It is well known that pheromones function to signal from one individual to another. The advantage of signaling your fear to a potential attacker is not clear, but studies suggest that chemical signals from frightened humans enhance cognitive performance of recipients. In other words, if you are in trouble, those around you may increase their vigilance. The advantage of such an action, of course could be to inform others of your family or tribe of the danger you have perceived. It is likely that the older brother directed the bees to himself by being afraid, signaling his fear through pheromones. It is also likely that watching his brother’s dilemma was the beginning of Melissophobia, fear of bees, in the younger boy.
MORE THOUGHTS ON ACCEPTANCE VS DENIAL:
When you see, or hear something that may be threatening, your immediate evaluation of that information dictates how you respond. If you do not want to deal with the threat, you enter a state of denial. The denial mechanisms, whatever they are, are falsely telling you that there is no need to act. BUT, your frontal brain is accurately defining the threat. The result is mental chaos; cognitive dissonance. Because of this chaos, fear signals (startle, freeze and fight or flight) result in slow response and weakened resolve. The final result is ineffective response, possibly ending in injury or worse.
On the other hand, if you correctly interpret the sensory information as an incoming threat, and you acknowledge that information, unpleasant though it may be, you are in a state of cognitive consonance. In that state, you are mentally calm and therefore, free to act. Your response and your resolve will be stronger and you are much more likely to have an effective response.
See following diagram:
Below is a side view of the brain, ( horse brain, actually) showing the three main structures: the Cerebral Cortex, The Cerebellum (behind the cortex) and the Medulla Oblongata ( part of the brain stem).
Underneath the brain, looking like the gondola hanging beneath a derrigible, is the Hypophysis (pituitary - master gland of the endocrine system).
The structures involved in experiencing fear are all contained within the brain, and not visible from outside the brain. The Hypothalamus, a major player in the fight or flight response is just above the hypophysis - just follow the Infundibulum (stalk) up into the brain
In the dissected view you can see the hypothalamus, origin of fight or flight. However, the Amygdalae cannot be seen from this view; they are to either side of the hypothalamus.
The diagram shows the theoretical effects of denial or acceptance on our ability to respond to a scary event.
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