How to be a less Horrible Human: 12 Facts about Fear

“Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.”

— Ralph Waldo Emmerson

I leaned over the ambulance cart and with a confidence I did not feel, I said, “Hello, I’m Dr. Black and I’m going to take care of you.”

The situation was bad. The patient had arrived in the Emergency Room after an accident on his first day learning to snowboard. The patient was in shock: white, cold, sweaty and scared.

I was scared too. My breath short and shallow, body tingling, vision narrowed to just what was in front of me. I was experiencing the classic fight-or-flight response. This response had served my caveman ancestors well in the dangerous environment where they evolved, but the sensation running through my body was threatening to overwhelm me and make me ineffective. And this young man desperately needed me to be effective.

The problem with fear is that it is a primitive instinct. Fear was a necessary survival drive for our Paleolithic ancestors. They faced ever present threats from saber-toothed tigers, poisonous snakes, injuries in a time before hospitals, and starvation. Lack of reasonable fear in the face of these hazards did not lead to a long life.