Fear and Anxiety: Psychologist Explains the Difference
Kyiv • UNN
Psychologist Oleksiy Udovenko explained that fear is a reaction to a specific threat, while anxiety arises when anticipating danger without a clear stimulus. He emphasized that a reaction becomes pathological only when it interferes with daily functioning.
Fear arises as a reaction to a specific threat, while anxiety is associated with the expectation of danger without a clear stimulus. This was stated by psychologist Oleksiy Udovenko, in a podcast with Yulia Zoriy, reports UNN.
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He explained that emotions are a complex psychophysiological reaction involving the body, brain, and intellectual comprehension of events. They are always connected to our experience and are formed as a response to the external world. That is why emotions can be relevant or irrelevant to a specific situation, but in any case, their nature is based on a person's previous experience.
The specialist emphasized that fear and anxiety are not the same. Fear usually arises in response to a specific stimulus that poses an obvious danger. In contrast, anxiety appears when a threat is only expected or anticipated, but not concretely defined.
If we specifically ask what fear and anxiety are, and whether they differ? I usually give a simple example. If we walk through the forest and encounter wolves, most likely we will experience fear. Yes, because there is a specific, concrete stimulus in the form of a wolf. And where do we get this information from? Experience? Yes, we were once told that it is dangerous. If we don't have such a concrete stimulus, then we will expect danger. That is, if we were told that there are wolves there, we don't see them yet, but we know they are there, then we will feel anxiety
He emphasizes that anxiety and anxiousness are not pathological reactions. Any reaction becomes pathological when it disrupts a person's daily functioning.
When it becomes excessive, when this fear becomes excessive, or this anxiety becomes excessive, preventing one from engaging in normal family affairs, then we speak of pathology. In such a case, we speak if any of our reactions hinder our functioning
The specialist also explains that in addition to all this, we have different cultural customs and environments. Moreover, we, conditionally, grew up at different times and in different traditions.
And, for example, observing some conditionally cruel event for a modern person is not the same as observing the same event 500 or 1000 years ago, given a certain culture, circumstances, and so on. Therefore, we do not start from "This reaction is bad or good." We ask whether this reaction interferes with daily functioning, and specifically, functioning in society.
Even ancient philosophers, and later Descartes, emphasized: anxiety arises when a person anticipates danger but cannot clearly define what it consists of.