Irrational Fears

All fears are irrational! Fear is an emotion, and emotions, by definition, aren’t rational. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t reasonable. There are some pretty dangerous things out there, and it makes sense to be scared of them. Sometimes our fears are reflexive, caused by loud noises, falling downstairs, a sudden pain, or a charging rhinoceros, and our emotional reactions kick in faster than we can think.

At other times, our fears are driven not by physical triggers but rather by a narrative we tell ourselves. We are not afraid of the thing itself, but instead by the story we construct around it. If we are afraid of walking home in the dark, it’s not that the dark has done anything bad to us directly. Instead, we start thinking about all of the terrible things that might happen to us in the dark, and those stories drive our fears.

Maybe we might lose our way and get lost. Maybe we might fall and break our ankle. Maybe we might be attacked by bandits. All of those things are possible, even if improbable, and now we are frightened. But it gets worse, since aside from the possible, our minds create stories about things that have never been. We might run into ghosts or evil spirits in the night. Aliens might land in a spaceship and abduct us. We might get attacked by werewolves or vampires.

Possible? Not really, but that doesn’t stop our imaginations, and we can imagine some pretty scary things. Fear is a very powerful emotion, often driving us to action, or alternatively, paralyzing us in our place. In our fear, we might lash out at others or run away from the scary situation. The fears and the actions are just as powerful whether we are in physical danger or have constructed a story regarding a potential or imaginary threat.

We fear so many things these days, and each of us is afraid of different possibilities, depending on our situation and our narratives. We might be afraid of Covid-19, vaccines, the government, corporations, immigrants, police officers, autonomous cars, airplanes, strangers, spiders, or dogs. The list is endless, and we all, to some extent, become both authors and victims of our fears. Being fearful can save us, but it can also cause us harm. A fear of snakes reminds us to keep our distance, but a fear of witchcraft caused the death of many innocent people.

We therefore need to examine our fears carefully so that they protect us rather than hurt us or those around us. We might never get over our fears or make them go away, but if we learn to ask ourselves hard questions, we might feel better and make better choices. What exactly are we afraid of? Why? What are we telling ourselves right now? What do we actually know? It is dangerous to act upon our fears without addressing these questions. Our fears are irrational, but we don’t need to be.