The fear of fear

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.

It might sound weird at first, but fear is actually a good thing. It prevents you from getting into dangerous situations or messing things up - for example, not studying for exams or cheating because you are not sufficiently afraid of the consequences.

The situation is different if you are overcome by strong feelings of fear out of the blue or in situations that are actually not threatening at all. Some people then get palpitations, weak knees, shaky hands. They feel sick and panic. The fear of fear can then overshadow all of life. For fear of having to endure similar fears again, those affected avoid such situations. Of course, this is problematic in the long run because it can severely limit life.

If unfounded and strong fears occur more often or over a longer period of time, one speaks of an anxiety disorder.

Afraid of embarrassing yourself

The fear of being embarrassed, rejected or laughed at is particularly common among young people. Contact with strangers is particularly frightening. Doctors call such fears "social phobias". For example, young people skip school when they have to give a presentation, do not dare to join a sports club and do not go to parties. They prefer to stay to themselves. The fear of others makes them lonely.

Fear of the outside world

Another form of anxiety disorder is fear of the outside world. Doctors call this agoraphobia. It occurs particularly in open spaces and in crowds, or when those affected move further away from home. They also experience situations from which one cannot easily escape as frightening, for example driving in elevators or trains.

Some also have an exaggerated fear of harmless spiders, cats or birds, or they are terrified of flying. Doctors refer to such problems as “specific phobias”.

Fear out of the blue

For others, the fear has no specific cause, but comes out of the blue. This is called “generalized anxiety disorder” in medical jargon. And finally there is the "panic disorder" in which the fear is so great that it is almost unbearable.

Naturally Fearful?

It is not yet known exactly why some people develop an anxiety disorder. As with most mental disorders, different things have to come together before a person becomes sick.

Some of them are evidently cautious, shy and fearful by nature. One reason for this is genes. But even the development in the womb can possibly increase anxiety - for example if the mother was very stressed during pregnancy. In this case, the person is particularly sensitive to stress and prone to mental illness.

Formative experiences

In addition, there are the experiences that a person has in the course of his life and especially in childhood: For example, those who have overcautious parents as a child are more likely to react anxiously to the world.

The risk of developing an anxiety disorder is particularly high if a person has traumatic experiences, for example becoming very seriously ill, being severely neglected as a child, sexually abused or raped, or experiencing a disaster.

That helps against fear!

If you are much more anxious than your peers or even have an anxiety disorder, psychotherapy can help.

Phobias, such as a spider phobia, can be treated well with exposure therapy. Most of the time, this happens step-by-step: At first, spiders are only shown in photos, then later they are shown alive. So you can have the experience: "Nothing happens to me, I can bear the fear and it will eventually decrease". The spider can then come closer to you without you panic. In the end, you'll even be able to run a large spider all over your hand!

Treating a social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, or panic disorder is a bit more involved. With a mixture of psychotherapy, relaxation techniques and sometimes anti-anxiety medication, one can get the irrational fear under control.

It is important that you seek help as quickly as possible. The longer a disorder lasts, the more difficult it is to get rid of it.

You can find more information and help here: