A psychologist at Oxford University, part of Emory University, stated: “Fear enhances concentration, boosts muscle strength, and prepares us to respond to any impending situation.”
Watching horror movies, visiting a “haunted house,” or playfully scaring friends are generally harmless activities. However, the fear they evoke can activate the body’s “fight or flight” system – releasing chemicals in the body and triggering various physiological responses.
Kenneth Carter, a clinical psychologist at Oxford University, notes: “The body’s fear response is essentially a fantastic survival tool that helps us in dangerous situations because it happens quickly and energizes us.”
“Fear enhances concentration, boosts muscle strength, and prepares us to respond to any impending situation.”
Fear enhances concentration to respond to impending situations. (Image source: National Geographic)
Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, Director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Institute at Ohio State University, adds: “This is an innate survival mechanism that has existed since ancient times when humans had to flee from predators.”
However, even though this mechanism helped our ancestors escape saber-toothed tigers and keeps us safe from modern dangers, continuously activating the body’s fear response isn’t always beneficial.
“If fear is triggered constantly, or if sudden scares occur frequently, it can weaken our bodies,” Carter says.
The Fear Response
The body’s fear response always begins in the amygdala – a part of the limbic system that plays a crucial role in threat recognition and emotional processing.
Upon detecting a threat, the amygdala sends distress signals to a command center in the brain known as the hypothalamus, which orders the nervous and endocrine systems to release hormones and neurotransmitters such as cortisol, dopamine, norepinephrine, and adrenaline.
“Neurotransmitters are released from nerve cells in the nervous system, while hormones are released from the adrenal glands – a pair of endocrine glands located on top of the kidneys,” explains Marc Dingman, a behavioral health scientist at Pennsylvania State University.
Research shows that these hormones and neurotransmitters work together to increase breathing rate and help the heart pump oxygen-rich blood more quickly to muscles and vital organs. This prepares the muscles and brain to rapidly coordinate a response to the threat.
In such a state, “our muscles tense up, preparing us for action; our pupils dilate, allowing us to see better; our minds sharpen, enabling us to focus entirely on the threat; and our hearing improves, making us more sensitive to sounds,” Kiecolt-Glaser explains.
The release of adrenaline also reduces pain by inhibiting signaling pathways, allowing us to run farther or fight harder than we normally could endure.
While stress hormones play the biggest role in these changes, fear also prompts the body to release dopamine for even heightened alertness.
“This can contribute to the unexpected thrill that some people often experience in fear-inducing situations,” says Emily Hemendinger, a stress management researcher at the University of Colorado.
Real vs. Fake Threats
Holly Blake, a Professor of Behavioral Medicine at the University of Nottingham Medical School (UK), states that our immediate biological response to fear is the same – whether we face a real danger or something that merely appears threatening.
For instance, a situation where a “actor” wearing a scary mask chases you in a “haunted house” with a fake chainsaw will stress you out similarly to an actual murderer wielding a real chainsaw.
Lower levels of stress hormones are typically released when scared. (Image source: Medium).
Your brain will usually recognize these real-fake threats quickly, but sometimes it can’t discern what is real. Think of a friend in costume trying to scare you or a thrilling horror movie experience.
Because our brains evolved in the real world billions of years before films were produced, sometimes they interpret what we see on screen as reality.
This explains why “Jaws,” a film featuring a mechanical killer shark, terrifies millions as if they are facing a real shark.
In these situations, the body’s full “fight or flight” response may not occur. Instead, lower levels of stress hormones are typically released, resulting in effects such as increased heart rate, sweaty palms, or feelings of restlessness.
Dr. Mihail Zilbermint, Director of the Endocrinology Program at Johns Hopkins Medicine, says: “While harmless and entertaining for many, frequent fears can still be stressful, even for those who believe they enjoy it.”
Kiecolt-Glaser explains that when stress hormones are released too often or for prolonged periods, “it can deplete your body.”
“In some people, it can lead to health problems such as high blood pressure, heart and digestive issues, or immune system disorders because your body is continuously in ‘high alert’ mode.”
And since adrenaline has been found to potentially damage heart tissue in some individuals, those with heart conditions need to be especially cautious. “I recommend avoiding intentional scares if you have arrhythmia,” Millstine advises.
Similarly, for those with chronic back pain, “sudden muscle spasms triggered by pain can cause muscle tightening and exacerbate symptoms,” she notes.
Excessive exposure to frightening experiences can also dull your sensitivity to fear – it must be emphasized that fear is an important survival response in the evolutionary process.
“People who enjoy horror movies or frequently visit haunted houses may not react strongly to real dangers because their brains have become accustomed to these situations through a process known as ‘habituation,'” Carter states.
