Every person at least once in his life, but experienced fear - there are no absolutely fearless among us. However, there are also people who feel anxiety all the time. They are afraid of black cats and incurable diseases, bosses and their own wife, sea travel and the unknown … There are individual fears, there are collective ones, and it is hardly an exaggeration to say that collective fears are an indicator of the mental health of a nation. And also - frightened people are very easy to manage!
So what is fear?
First of all, let's define the concepts. What is fear? What are the fears? This is what the science of psychology tells us about it: “Fear is an internal state conditioned by real or perceived disaster. This is a negatively colored emotional process associated with a sense of danger. Irrational fears not controlled by a person, stably arising in relation to similar phenomena regardless of the degree of threat, are called phobias."
We all know that fear is an unpleasant thing, but - here's a paradox - fear, it turns out, is needed in order to activate the forces of the body and be saved!
They are numerous
The fears are so numerous that dealing with them is difficult. Psychologists distinguish three main types: real, neurotic and fear of conscience, but according to Freud there are even more of them. There is also such a classification of fears: biological, social and existential. The latter are associated with the very essence of man and are characteristic of all people. Based on this classification, we can say that, for example, fear of fire belongs to the first category, fear of public speaking - to the second, and fear of death - to the third. At the same time, in the social sphere, people may be afraid of novelty and disorder, or, conversely, fear the need to follow rigidly established requirements.
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There is even a fear of oneself, and today we can not even talk about the fear of mysterious and mysterious phenomena.
Money will not fail
Students studying in the specialty "public relations" in one of the universities of a typical city in Central Russia conducted a survey of the townspeople. More than 200 people between the ages of 15 and 86 were asked just one question: "What are you most afraid of in 2010?" The possible number of answers is from one to ten, in addition, the respondents were asked to rank them (systematize according to the degree of importance). As a result, it turned out that among young people under 19 years old, fear of losing loved ones is in the first place. More than half of the respondents are afraid of such a collision in life. Perhaps this speaks of the infantilism of our youth - well, she cannot live without mom and dad, because the state does not provide her with the possibility of independent earnings! But most likely, our children just really love us, and they are not at all so indifferent,as we used to think of them. In second place among young cowards - fear of natural disasters. Yes … one has only to turn on the television, and we understand that they are somewhat right …
20-29-year-olds are most afraid of the impossibility of finding a job. The second place is shared by two fears at once: to lose health and to lose their loved ones, and the cataclysms have moved to the fourth place in importance. However, several people from those who have approached their 30-year mark are afraid of the end of the world, and one wise guy wrote that he was very frightened by the planet Nibiru, which supposedly should collide with the Earth!
And now we saw the fear of illness in the first place! These, of course, are those who have changed their fourth decade. They are afraid of financial problems and tormented by the fear of dismissal. Someone - oddly enough, living far from the water - for some reason is afraid of floods (apparently, this is how the local media act on them), others were afraid of fires and seemed to be looking into the water: it’s like everything around it was on fire!
At 40-55 years old, fear for children comes first. Then - the fear of losing our job, the same fear of illness and … problems with the car (accident, breakdown) - that's how our Russian car service raised us.
In old age (60-86 years), people either do not fear anything at all, or they are afraid of a lack of money, a rise in prices, and only after that they feel fear for their children and grandchildren. Although, logically, it should be the other way around. After all, money is only money, but … for our pensioners, the material component is still more important. Money won't let you down, unlike young people …
What are the phobias
If we list all the fears from the questionnaires of N residents, then publication will require several pages of our newspaper. Here you have both the fear of not passing the session, and of flying out of the institute, and the fear of pregnancy (and for young men - of a girlfriend's pregnancy!), The fear of being drafted into the army, before the war with Georgia (as well as atomic, world, civil) … People they are afraid of a worsening climate, curtailment of political freedoms, street fights, a volcanic eruption (we have it, in the center of Russia!), immorality of youth, baldness and global warming. Many girls, it turns out, are afraid of losing one gold earring. And two, apparently not? Unhappy people of both sexes are in awe of divorce, trial and the fact that … Lenin will be taken out of the Mausoleum. Some young men are afraid of the "feminine in themselves", but also of the fact that they cannot provide for their families.
Many have phobic fears. People are afraid of sharp objects (oxyophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), confined spaces (claustrophobia), heights (gypsophobia), strangers (xenophobia), diseases (pathophobia), and so on. And only one of the respondents wrote that he was afraid of punishment from above for sins. That is, our people practically do not feel the fear of God!
The eyes are big
Without a doubt, the more fear we get, the higher our level of anxiety, especially if we are not painfully smart. Fear, as they say, has large eyes. But smart people, especially the rich, also have something to fear, because they have something to lose. Here phobias are expressed in them in the most bizarre way. So, after the birth of her son, Jodie Foster turned her home in Beverly Hills into a kind of atomic bomb shelter with television cameras tracking everything around. Sharon Stone stocked up on a huge amount of weapons. Michelle Pfeiffer doesn’t part with a Magnum pistol to shoot, if it is! Michael Douglas has installed alarms at home and does not appear anywhere without bodyguards. DiCaprio began to do the same - a whole staff of security guards are watching over his person and property. You will say that it is "there", but … in the already known city N,for example, a certain businessman built an underground shelter next to his mansion from everything and everyone, starting with the atomic war and ending with the invasion of aliens and the fall of the same planet Nibiru to Earth. Without a doubt, others may follow his example. By the way, many have already purchased weapons (as much as five units per person!).
So what do we hope for?
But for what: for a miracle! It turns out that several years ago a sociological survey was conducted in France, during which respondents - just like in city N - were asked only one question: "Do you believe in miracles?"
It turned out that 35% of the French believe in miracles. The researchers really didn't like it. They say that faith in a miracle testifies to the infantilism of the nation, the inability and unwillingness to work, because if you work the way you should, act morally and, moreover, are still patient, then you will achieve your goal without any miracles.
A similar survey in city N showed that not 35, but 45% believe in miracles! This means that, fearing war, fire, floods, "feminine in itself", the planet Nibiru, the asteroid Apophis, the disappearance of oil, the intrigues of aliens and the lack of money, a good half of our people hope for a miracle. Well … God help them.
Vyacheslav Shpakovsky. "Secrets of the XX century" No. 37 2010