Can you be scared to death?
Most of us have experienced the rush of a big scare - the racing heart, sweating palms and fast breathing. But could these symptoms really --BOO!!!! Scare ya? It’s a full body experience, and it can even feel dangerous at times, but could you really be scared to death? Science suggests that today’s most commons fears stem from the things that most frequently killed our ancestors. Animal phobias like arachnophobia, natural environment phobias like the fear of heights, situational phobias like claustrophobia and blood-injection-injury phobias like the fear of needles are the four most common categories today. And these make sense as most have been relatively consistent threats throughout our evolution. As a result, the genes preparing us to instinctively avoid them became more common, while genes that did not faded away. Chances are, if you have one of these fears, you may have inherited it from your parents. Of course, day-to-day learning also helps shape your personal fears. At the end of the day, it’s not the actual threat, but instead your perception of the threat that controls the amount of fear you will feel. So could it kill you? The short answer is yes. Not to scare you...of course! The chances of being scared to death depend greatly on how healthy your heart is. When you’re scared, your Fight or Flight response is trigger and adrenaline is released, making the heart beat quicker to pump more blood and oxygen to your muscles. As a result you become temporarily stronger and faster. But something really scary can kick this into overdrive. Too much and your heart simply can’t keep up, which could damage heart tissue and even stop it from beating all together. Hundreds of athletes have experienced a fatal rush of adrenaline as a result of simulated threats during intense competition. And you’re no safer in the stands - studies found the number of heart attacks during World Cup Soccer matches more than doubled in countries and cities where the home team was eliminated. So should you lock yourself away in a closet to avoid all these fears? The truth is, while scientists don’t know exactly who is most vulnerable, we do know that the incidence is extremely low for people with healthy functioning hearts. More food for thought is thought itself. It turns out that training ourselves to think differently about fears can actually reduce the amount of adrenaline they produce. But that’s not always easy - and some people have some pretty crazy fears.
