Let's pretend we don't know fear. We would easily jump from a height, fall under cars, we would not think about the danger, we would commit crimes without fear of punishment, etc.
So, despite all the unpleasant sensations caused by fear, the latter, nevertheless, protects us and signals a threat to us or our life.
Psychoanalysts distinguish between real fear (real danger) and neurotic fear.
Real fear arises in situations where a person's values (life, health, work, spouse) may be lost. Neurotic fear can be represented in two varieties. The first is pointless, biased fear, when a person expects the worst, is afraid of all kinds of uncertainties, new people, situations. The second type of fear, on the contrary, is tied to a specific object or situation. Most often, this type includes a very intense, unreasonable fear - a phobia. There are a huge number of phobias, some of them are situational (fear of loneliness, crowds), some are quite realistic (fear of snakes, mice), and some are completely unrealistic (fear of ideas - ideophobia, xanthophobia - fear of yellow, epistemophobia - fear of knowledge).
Most often, in neurotic fears, people replace the object of their fear, and a phobia acts as an expression of an internal conflict. After the "opening" of the unconscious conflict and awareness of it, as a rule, the phobia itself disappears. So, for example, a girl is afraid of the terrible Babai. And, as you know, it is difficult for children to perceive an evil mother. Then the image of Babai appears, on which fear and hatred are projected, and mother remains loved and kind.
Treatment of phobias can be complex: psychotherapy + medications. But I do not recommend engaging in medication alone, because after stopping the medication, phobias can reappear. And psychotherapy is necessary, since it is almost impossible to cure neurotic fear on your own.
And remember that we have all the possibilities and strength within us to overcome fear and live outside of it. You just need a specialist who will help you understand the cause of fear and together with you will find ways to cure it. Good luck to you!
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