Fear is irrational and inappropriate. Let’s try to rationalise it. Firstly let’s recognise what fear is – a chemical reaction. The word fear stands for fantasies envisaged as real. And that’s just what they are. For in primitive times people lived by their fears and their biological instincts when faced with a threat was to fight or flee. The autonomic nervous system directed the organs and systems of the body to deal with a threatening situation by producing chemicals and directing the flow of blood and oxygen to the parts of the body that needed it most. However this is inappropriate when there is no actual foe to fight or flee from. So think good outcomes, big videos with positive emotions and anticipate good things!
The placebo and nocebo effect.
The placebo effect is a somewhat well known phenomenon. Imagine you take a group of people with a headache, you give them a mint pill but you tell them that it was an aspirin with mint flavour. What would happen? A few people will start feeling better; some may even stop having their headache. That is, even if they do not really take a pain killer, somehow, the fact that they think they are taking it actually changes the way they feel: they feel better. This is the placebo effect.
The nocebo effect is its evil twin and produces the opposite results. If you take a group of people that feel fine, and you give them a mint pill and tell them that it is going to give them nausea and a headache, there will be some people that will actually start feeling ill. Studies on the placebo and nocebo effect suggest that perception is not merely a result of external stimuli, but it is not yet clear how exactly our beliefs or expectations alter our perceptions. So thinking good thoughts and outcomes make you feel better!
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