Fear is one of the most primary human emotions that exist and one of the most important that we have, since it has helped us face the dangers and threats of the environment, quickly, since the beginning of our species.
The fears that we carry from childhood or that we develop in adulthood shape our personality and indicate the type of person we are, the way in which we relate to the environment and our ability to face daily adversities, problems or obstacles.
That is why for several decades both psychology and medicine have been dedicated to studying this human emotion in depth to understand ourselves and to treat a wide variety of psychological problems or alterations in people.
The physiological study of the mechanisms that trigger fear in people has also helped us understand this very important emotion, as well as to know what biological and hormonal elements are involved in fear.
In today’s article We will explore the concept of fear and what its consequences are at the hormonal level from the psychological and also biological field.
We can define fear as a natural emotion present in our biological baggage and that human beings experience when faced with a real or imagined threat and that helps us make the decision to avoid it or confront it.
It is an unpleasant emotion that is present in our lives from the moment we are born and that constitutes an essential part of our learning and socialization with the world from early childhood.
Fear puts us on alert for any type of danger present in the environment and is very useful especially in the childhood stage, a period in which the individual is stalked at all times by all types of risks to his life and it is advisable to respond to them. them quickly.
Being one of the primary emotions of the human being and one of the most important when defining a person’s character, Fear has been widely studied in both the world of psychology and medicine and constitutes a central axis of some of the most influential psychological orientations of the 20th century.
Fears, both in childhood and in adulthood, are the cause of trauma and also of all types of psychological disorders that can significantly affect people’s mental health, which is why we can conclude that fear is necessary for human beings, but in quantities. Excessive amounts can be very harmful to your health.
Physiology and biochemistry of fear
If there are two hormones that we must talk about to explain the biophysiological functioning of fear, they are cortisol and adrenaline, two of the most important hormones for the correct functioning of the body.
1. Cortisol
Cortisol is also known as a stress hormone for being released when the person experiences stressful situations, although it is also released in the body in states of anxiety, anguish, fear or suffering.
More specifically, it is the neurotransmitter responsible for governing those emotional states that require physical and motor tension to respond to them, which is why it is so important in cases in which a person may feel real or imaginary fear that could put them in danger. his physical integrity.
Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands and its release is controlled from the hypothalamus, one of the main nerve centers for hormonal regulation of the human brain that acts both in the central nervous system and in the rest of the body.
2. Adrenaline
Adrenaline is known in the field of medical science as the fear hormone, and it is the neurotransmitter that sets the body in motion to respond to a critical survival situation in case it is necessary.
When the person experiences the fear of a threatening situation or danger, whether real or imagined, adrenaline is quickly released into the bloodstream and is produced both in the adrenal gland and in some neurons of the central nervous system.
The main function of adrenaline is, therefore, stimulate the sympathetic nervous system with the aim of giving our body the energy necessary to flee from danger that causes us fear or confront it with sufficient force.
With the release of adrenaline in the body, the first thing a person experiences is an increase in heart rate, as well as an improvement in blood flow, an increase in glucose metabolism, increased sweating, and an increase in blood pressure.
Both hormones work in combination
As indicated, both cortisol and adrenaline are essential for the correct functioning of the body in scary situations; that’s why It is important that both hormones are released into the bloodstream in the right amount
However, an excess of both cortisol and adrenaline can lead to real imbalances in the body in most cases, as well as diseases and disorders of all kinds.
For example, an abnormally high level of cortisol can cause a person to feel anxious, stressed, as well as irritable, conflict-prone, and irascible. In these cases, the person has difficulty being in a good mood and reacting proportionally to what happens to them during the day.
On the contrary, a high level of adrenaline can cause cardiovascular diseases, weight gain, cases of anxiety or depression, digestive problems, metabolic problems, headaches, sleep disorders and memory or concentration problems.
