The 16 types of fear and their characteristics

The distressing sensation we experience when we notice something that causes fear is not always of the same kind.

Fear is a distressing sensation provoked by the presence of a real or imaginary danger.

It is a reaction that begins with a stressful stimulus and ends with the release of chemicals that cause, among other things, the heart and breathing to speed up or the body to tense up. Fear often triggers stress response behaviors and a response known as the fight or flight response.

However, this is a complex phenomenon that does not always manifest itself in exactly the same way or have exactly the same causes. That is why we we talk about types of fearThe different ways in which this emotion expresses itself depending on our psychological state and the context in which the danger signals arise. Let's see what they consist of, their characteristics, and how they affect us.

How are the types of fear produced?

The stimulus causing the fear it can be a real thought or not, or a threatening stimulus (for example, the presence of a lion). Some authors affirm that there are some fears inherent to human beings and with a practically instinctive component, such as: darkness, uncertainty or death. However, the vast majority of fears are learned by associative learning or classical conditioning.

This combination of Biological factors and environmental and learned factors makes the types of fear we develop very varied.

• You can learn more about classical conditioning in this article: "Classical conditioning and its most important experiments".

The physiological basis

The human brain is a profoundly complex organ. More than 100 million nerve cells form an intricate network of communications that are the starting point for everything we feel, think and do. Some of these communications lead to conscious thought and action, while others produce autonomic responses.

The autonomous fear response, i.e., the one that we do not consciously activatearises long before our reason has been able to decide anything about it. There are many brain areas related to fear. These are the most important ones:

• Thalamus: decides where to send incoming sensory data (from eyes, ears, mouth, skin).
• Sensory cortex: interprets sensory data.
• Hippocampus: stores and retrieves conscious memories; processes sets of stimuli to establish context.
• Amygdala: decodes emotions; determines possible threat; stores memories of emotions and fear.
• Hypothalamus: activates the "fight or flight" response.

You can go deeper into the physiological basis of fear in our article: "The physiological and psychological basis of fear".

Types of fear

Not all people are afraid of the same stimuli and the content of all fears is not the same. Below you can find a list with a classification a list with a classification of the different types of fears:

According to the existence of the stimulus

Depending on whether the stimulus that provokes the fear exists or not, this can be:

1. Real fear

Real fear refers to a type of fear that is constructed from real components. is constructed from real components. For example, the fear of falling from an unsafe high place when there is a real possibility of falling into a void.

It is a pattern of physiological and emotional activation that has adaptive value, because it leads us to avoid danger immediately, often regardless of our conscious intentions.

2. Unreal or irrational fear

Unreal fear has its origin in an imaginary, distorted and imaginary, distorted and catastrophic thinking.. For example, fear of public speaking or fear of flying. These are non-adaptive fears, in which there is no real danger.

In many cases, this type of fear can turn into a phobia; it is something that occurs when this discomfort and the strategies we use to avoid these moments interfere in a way with our quality of life.

According to its normality

Depending on their adaptive character, fears can be:

3. normal fear

Normal fear is that which has an adaptive characterand is presented before a stimulus that can be harmful for the person. It is of short duration, does not interfere with normal daily life and puts the individual in a state of alertness. For example, at the sight of a snake.

4. Pathological fear

This type of fear is activated even when there is no danger and can be prolonged indefinitely.. Its level of interference in daily functioning is high. It causes great psychological discomfort to the person who suffers from it, and sometimes also affects third parties (due to its effects on social behavior) and therefore requires treatment.

Depending on the level of affectation

Depending on the level of affectation of the fear, it can be:

5. Physical fear

Physical fear is the fear of suffering painful sensations derived from a real or imaginary external stimulus.. For example, fear of the doctor.

On many occasions, physical fear is difficult to control, as it can cause us to move automatically and involuntarily to avoid what we are afraid of, "taking control of the body" for a few seconds.

6. Social fear

This type of fear occurs in response to an external stimulus that is integrated at the social level. It is characterized by situations in which the person feels that he/she may be feels that he/she may be ridiculed and thinks that he/she will be judged and ridiculed by others.. Thus, what produces fear is both the anticipation of such humiliation and the consequences that this could have in the future.

The social phobia is in the extreme of this phobia.

7. Metaphysical fear

The metaphysical fear is a fear that has an internal origin and is not nourished of empirical sources.. It can be associated with pathologies such as endogenous depression. You can learn more about this disorder in our article: "Endogenous depression: when unhappiness comes from within".

Other types of fear

These are other kinds of fear that go beyond the categorizations we have seen.

8. Fear of uncertainty

The fear of uncertainty is a fear that occurs when we have difficulty occurs when we find it difficult to visualize the future we want. It is also called fear of the unknown, and is closely related to personal development. When a person feels fear of uncertainty, he or she does not leave his or her comfort zone.

9. Fear of commitment

This type of fear occurs mainly in relationships. It refers to the feeling or emotion of fear that experienced when one's life is handed over to another person.. Sometimes it happens because the person simply does not want to give up his or her freedom, sometimes because the person has suffered in a previous love relationship and does not want to commit again.

10. Jonah Complex

The Jonah Complex is also known as fear of achieving success. It is a term that arises from humanistic psychologyin which the person feels anxiety and panic for his own self-realization or the development of his talents.

11. Fear to be discovered

A fear that is characterized because the person has done something that is considered bad or illegal and, therefore, does not want to be discovered. It is experienced by liars and individuals who have something to hide. have something to hide.

12. Fear of failure

Fear of failure is a type of fear that causes a lot of suffering and that is related to the expectations that a person has. It is also related to the opinion of others. It is experienced, above all, by perfectionist people.

• Recommended article: "Perfectionist personality: the disadvantages of perfectionism".

13. Fear of loneliness

The fear of loneliness is a fear that everyone experiences, because human beings are social beings and we need others to enjoy the emotional balance necessary to face the problems that may arise in our day to day. The fear of loneliness is also experienced by those people who are in a relationship and do not want to remain single..

14. Fear of divorce

If the fear of loneliness refers to people who are in a couple and do not want to stay alone, but there are also individuals who feel great anxiety about getting divorced. If the fear of loneliness is more related to an inherent feeling of the human being, the fear of divorce is more related to culture, to the fear of what others will think of the failure of the marriage.The fear of what others will think of the failure of the marriage.

15. Fear of death

Fear of death is a type of fear that everyone feels. It is the fear of losing one's life.When someone dies, it is understood that he or she is gone forever. People usually experience this fear occasionally or when they find themselves in a situation in which their life is in danger. In cases in which this thought is constantly in the mind of a person, it usually requires psychological assistance.

16. Phobias

A pathological fear that many people experience and that requires psychological treatment to be overcome are phobias. There are many types of phobias and they are usually also called conditioned fears.

• If you want to go deeper into the different types of phobias, you can read this article: "Types of phobias: exploring fear disorders".

Bibliographic references:

• Kim, J.H.; Ganella, D.E (2015). A Review of Preclinical Studies to Understand Fear During Adolescence. Australian Psychologist. 50(1): pp. 25 - 31.
• Ledoux, J. (2003). The emotional brain, fear, and the amygdala. Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology. 23(4-5): pp. 727 - 738.
• Lewis, M. & Haviland-Jones, J.M. (2000). Handbook of emotions. New York: The Guilford Press.