Why Do People Experience Fear?

Why do humans experience fear? Because, as all animals, they are scared of potential threats to their survival. When threatened with a threatening situation, a human in fear gives the signal that they are feeling threatened and will hold back what they would prefer not to do. As a result, for example, a dog or a cat may hold its tail and lower its head to indicate that it is unhappy about a new situation it finds itself in.

Why do animals act this way? It may have something to do with the evolutionary advantage dogs and cats have over insects and other predators. In order to survive, they need to have a good sense of fear, but for us, fear is one of the many senses we use to assess danger. Some research suggests that fear actually increases the survival rate of individuals and can be a protective mechanism, so there is a “flight or fight” response built into our brains from before.

Why do humans experience fear? Fear is part of a complex mind-body system and has several causes. Sometimes, the cause is related to basic emotion that has not been resolved by thought, and there is usually some sort of danger. For example, a person may experience fear when exposed to fire, but it is not always fire that causes this reaction. Some researchers believe that the body’s natural reaction to danger is what causes the most fear experienced by humans.