yes, therapy helps!
Fear of the unknown: how to avoid being paralyzed

Fear of the unknown: how to avoid being paralyzed

February 29, 2024

Fear is one of the most basic emotions related to the human being. Associated with the instinct of survival, for centuries it has accompanied man to warn him of the dangers of the world around him. It is a primary emotion that derives from the natural aversion to threat, and all animals possess it.

But what happens when instinctive dangers such as being devoured by a lion disappear in a developed society? Today we explain what is fear of the unknown , and how to avoid that it affects us negatively.

Fear invents its own dangers to keep working

Most of the fears we have in our society are neurotic fears , that is, fears based on mental constructions and not on real threats. Afraid of what might happen, and not because of what is really happening.


Not in vain do people spend most of our lives suffering for things that will never happen to us.

Neurotic fear continually alerts us and makes us live beyond limits, depriving us of the enrichments that the unknown can provide us.

And it is that most of the people have an unjustified fear of what we do not know . We advance events and avoid new situations that we believe we will not be able to manage or solve.

Why does fear of the unknown appear?

This fear is for the most part learned. The child, when he begins to walk, has the instinct to explore and continually perform different tasks to discover the world around him.


And that's where adults, with a desire to protect you, inoculate you with an infinity of fears that will surely accompany you during a large part of your life. "Do not talk to strangers", "do not open the door to strangers", "do not go up there you will fall", "do not let go of my hand or you will lose", "do not get away from being kidnapped" and a long etcetera of prohibitions that make the explorer child become a child afraid of the world , which will reduce its area of ​​interaction until it reaches the adult stage where its comfort zone will be consolidated.

Safe or comfort zone

There has been much talk in recent years about the "comfort zone", defined as that vital area known to the person, which does not always have to be comfortable, but that is predictable and allows the brain to function on autopilot within it . I say it is not comfortable because the comfort zone for someone can be a toxic relationship, a boring and poorly paid job or a sedentary life.


It is very likely that people show discomfort within this area, and yet do not dare to leave it.

Why do not people leave their safe area?

For lack of confidence in their own abilities. Some people do not see themselves with enough resources to face unknown situations, so they prefer to stay in the "safe", in the foreseeable, in that place they are able to manage or control.

As they learned as children, it is better to avoid the unknown "for what may happen".

So, why is it advisable to leave the comfort zone?

It is the only way to acquire new knowledge and skills . Doing different things or going to new places is likely to make you uncomfortable at first. Like when you throw yourself into the pool for the first time to learn to swim. However, it is the only place where new things happen. It is the way to expand the world and self-fulfill.

How to start to leave towards the learning area?

Experience "Do something every day that scares you". It is advisable to stop living in the world of thought and move to the world of action, which is where things really happen.

It is not about losing fear, but about doing things despite the same . Do not let fear take over the decisions, without losing sight of the fact that the comfort zone is a state of mind, and not real ground.

"Everything you want in life is outside your comfort zone"

How To Overcome Fear And Anxiety In 30 Seconds (February 2024).


Similar Articles