What Causes Fear? Discovering Your Fear Triggers

Almost everyone has something that causes them to be at least a little fearful. What causes fear differs greatly from person to person. A little anxiety is normal, but for some people, fears become so overwhelming that they begin to develop anxiety disorders. These disorders have a huge negative impact on a person’s life.

The trouble begins when you start putting all your attention on what causes fear for you. When you start obsessing about your fears and worries you may begin to experience panic or anxiety attacks. When this happens it is important to seek help before life becomes unbearable. You can get treatment from a counselor or psychotherapist, or you may want to try some self help techniques and natural remedies first. Whatever treatment you get, it is important to address and overcome what causes fear for you.

What are Common Causes of Fear?

For people who have social anxiety or social phobia, being in social situations is what causes fear for them. These people tend to avoid being in crowds or going to parties because they fear being embarrassed or think other people are judging them. The causes of social anxiety might be a past traumatic event that occurred in a public place, or an issue of mistrust that developed from an early age. Some experience social anxiety in very specific circumstances, for example giving a speech in public.

What causes fear for others can be a particular animal or insect. Snakes, rats, spiders and cockroaches are commonly feared animals. This might be due to a traumatic experience in the past with that type of animal, or it may simply be caused by unfamiliarity with that animal. What causes fear of animals may also be (often untrue) stories of a specific animal carrying diseases.

Being shut in small spaces such as elevators is what causes fear for some people. This is called claustrophobia. These people fear that they have no means of escape from such spaces and feel they are not getting enough air to breathe. At the other extreme, some people fear wide open spaces. This kind of fear or phobia is called agoraphobia. Both of these specific phobias likely originated from a bad experience in the past.

Financial pressure is what causes fear for a lot of people. Worrying about not being able to pay the bills or provide enough food for the family is common in our society. What is most distressing is that, unlike many other types of fear that have no rational basis, financial fear is all too often based on reality.

The world can be a scary place at times and there are many potential fear triggers out there. If your fears are becoming overwhelming it is very important to pinpoint just what causes fear for you. Then you can start to look for ways of facing and overcoming those fears before they develop into a debilitating phobia or anxiety disorder.