Does Fear Affect the Immune System?
How Does Fear Affect the Immune System?
Fear and stress weaken your immune system, yes they do. How do fear and stress weaken the immune system?
We should first talk about how fear works, and the physiological and/or psychological aspects of fear. Why do we have fear? What is fear for–what is its function?
Why Do We Have Fear–What Is Fear For?
What is the purpose of fear–the function of fear? We all know that, in essence, the purpose of fear is to warn us of danger. It is a pretty handy mechanism we have built into us which is designed to ultimately keep us from harm and even preserve our survival.
Although fear can be useful, chronic fear will wreak havoc on our health, beginning with weakening our immune system.
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What Part of the Brain is Responsible for Fear / Anxiety?
Contrary to a quite common belief, the amygdala is not the “fear centre” of the brain. The amygdala is a crucial part of the circuit which allows the brain to detect and deal with outside threats, but is not necessary for us to experience “fear.” And besides that, the amygdala has so many other functions than just processing fear.
There are actually chemical secretions that occur throughout the brain in response to danger. And in the body, hormones such as adrenalin and cortisol are secreted, which prepare components of the body to be poised to defend against the perceived threat.
In the article linked to above, the author/doctor has deduced that “…the feeling of ‘fear’ results when the outcome of these various processes (attention, perception, memory, arousal) coalesce in consciousness and compel one to feel ‘fear’…there is no fear center out of which effuses the feeling of being afraid. “Fear” is, in my view, better thought of as a cognitively assembled conscious experience that is related to threat processing, but that should not be confused with the non-conscious processes that detect and control responses to threats”.
For the brainiacs reading this, there you have that.
There are many processes that happen when a threat becomes present. And fear should not be thought of as something that exists inside of us. However, a person can become very prone to being always on the lookout for dangers that do not exist. This is chronic fear, or what we might call the fear of fear.
The Fear of Fear Itself
People these days are fearing all the wrong things! It is the fear-mongers themselves who should be feared. Better yet, avoided and ignored! It is this type of fear that will ultimately destroy us! If you are walking around in constant fear, then you are listening to the wrong voices. And you are allowing yourself to be a victim of the fear of fear itself!
I am not suggesting that there is not a whole lot to be concerned about, as far as what is imminent for our world. But it is absolutely imperative that we recognize, through questioning and research, what the facts are, and learn to distinguish between actual danger and the things that are designed just to paralyze us with fear. But we first need to be willing to consider that there might be an ordination to control you, via constant fear of things that will only distract you from those things which are actually happening!
This itself sounds like I am trying to make you fearful, and I realise that for many people, thinking about this is as scary as anything they can imagine. It is, and this is understandable. But this is a useful fear, and me considering you not considering what I am saying is, to me, a whole lot scarier.
We need to know what fears are to be feared, and which ones are not. If we don’t, we will be ruled by it, and it will destroy us. We were not meant to live in a constant state of fear. We should not be okay with this culture of fear imposed upon us!
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How to Be Free of False Fears
Fear mongering through propaganda has made victims of the better portion of the world’s population. And it will ultimately kill the people who have allowed it control over them. I think you will see what I mean if you ponder that.
The only way to avoid these false fears dominating you is to be willing to look at a bigger and darker scenario as a probability. Assume that it is. And from there, you won’t have to dig very deep to find the evidence to support the fact that most of these fears are unfounded, and imposed upon you, falsely. If you are wondering what I am talking about, don’t hesitate to ask me in the comments section at the bottom of this page.
To be free of false or irrational fears, we have to be willing to see them as such. Even if it is scarier than the false fears. I strongly believe (and know it, first hand) that faith (or even hope) is the strongest antidote to fear. And courage is faith’s legs. It is not something anyone “lacks” (even if they have little faith). It is something you take, which is why they say, “Take courage”!
No person has a certain measure of courage on tap, within them. It is a choice. I’m not entirely sure who coined the saying, but I love it: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but knowing that something is more important than your fear”. The most courageous people know this.
Back to Faith…
I feel obliged to say that if your faith is in governments or prescribed drugs (or people who administer them like they were going out of style), you are HOOPED.
Hooped (adj): 1: to be in a very tight spot, of which there is seemingly no conceivable way out; 2: to be up a certain creek without a rowing implement; See also: “screwed”, “defeated”, “#inaseriouspickle”…
Gia explains it quite well:
Well, thanks for your patience! Let’s tackle the main question you probably came here to have answered, “Does fear weaken the immune system, and if so, how?”
Is that technically one question, or two…?
How Does Fear Affect the Immune System, Already?
The physical effects of chronic stress
The physical effects of chronic stress / fear can be ravaging on the body.
Fear ‘weakens’ the immune system by impairing lymphocyte function (white blood cells whose function is to fight viruses). Constant fear and stress make you much more vulnerable to infectious diseases and tumors (tissues that grow too fast). There are many things that cause our bodies to have a low lymphocyte count, but fear and stress can cause some serious impairment of these white blood cells.
Conclusion
The links above will expound on how fear affects the immune system, but I hope I have given you a good foundation for learning how to deal with fear, and hopefully even leave it like a psychopathic boyfriend!
Maybe in the near future I will write about the effects of fear / stress on the brain, since I wasn’t able to get to that here, I just realised.
Have you noticed that you spend a whole lot more time in fear than you used to?
Do you feel consumed or paralyzed by it?
Think about the last time you decided that something was more important than fear, and “took” courage.
How did that feel?
I’m going to leave you with that.
Thanks a lot for hangin’ in there with me!
Craig
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Hi, Ashley. Thanks for your thoughts. I concur with all of what you say, and I think breaking people is the aim. I think people (especially kids) who have a narrow perspective on life and what is going on are far less resilient and are being traumatized. The so-called “people” behind all of this are utterly vile and entirely evil. But they are also fools. None of them are going to get away with anything, and they won’t escape judgment, as they seem to think they will. In the meantime they are the only pandemic I see, and the people whom they can’t ensnare with their fear and lies are the ones willing and able to see them for what they are and see through it all and know that the truth will always win. But the awake among us will need to stand together and never stop pushing back. It is just a flimsy house of cards, in reality.
What a great and timely article.
With every news program spreading unwarranted fear about coronavirus, it becomes increasingly important everyday to separate ourselves from the information long enough to analyze whether or not our fear is actually warranted.
Even then a tradeoff is make in the minds of those of us enlightened enough to make this analysis in the first place.
As you eloquently explain, fear is detrimental to our health.
In the rase case, for example a deadly fight or flight scenario, fear is a necessary evil. I guess the trick is to leave the fear behind once the situation is over.
I assume those people with an inability make this seperation after a fear-inducing event, may end up with PTSD or other ailments. Curious whether you agree and, if so, do you think we will be seeing a large amount of post-pandemic PTSD ?
Thanks for an interesting read.
As far as the fear and stress, I recommend faith, which enables one to see a bigger picture and to know that the truth always wins.
Health-wise, my favorite things are chlor1ne diox1de, black seed oil and garlic.
Fear and stress are certainly not to be desired. It is true, many in the world today are living in a state of fear. The government’s of the day are pushing people and they fear complete control. They fear losing their own identity. Mandatory compliance sounds to me to be utter control and people have come to fear the loss of jobs and businesses. I have been told that there are many health products that will not only help us to strengthen our immune system to any virus, but will also help us to deal with all this stress being placed upon us today. Do you have any recommendations?