Why are we so afraid of the unknown?

Humans tend to be frightened by new situations no matter how brave we are since the fear of the unknown is universal and for a very good reason.

If you are afraid of the unknown, we tell you that you are not alone because everything happens according to experts in psychology and human behavior.

Why do we fear strangers?

It is normal and healthy to have fears since they are emotional responses of the brain to different situations that could cause us problems, thus avoiding exposing us to what can be dangerous.

The human brain draws on past experiences when confronted with something new and thus knowing how to operate, when it is a matter of unknown, it is impossible to find clues that serve for what generates that feeling of fear and anxiety.

According to an article published in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders, fear is the main emotion of the human being and, the unknown is the fundamental fear. Our ancestors were always exposed to possible dangers and although they knew what to do before what they already knew, venturing freely into the unknown could prove fatal.

Fear of the unknown was an evolutionary tool that continues to be useful to us today, being a conscious and unconscious response to the absence of information. That feeling of anxiety and fear prevents us from doing something dangerous without knowing how to face it.

The unknown attacks the basic human instincts, an example is the fear of the dark that avoids entering a place where you can not be alert with one of our most important senses making people more vulnerable to real dangers.

Although fear of the unknown is important, if that fear is transformed into an anxiety that paralyzes the individual becomes a problem, because if you do not expose yourself to a new experience you will not be able to create a memory in your brain that will teach how to cope with similar situations, as explained by Dr. Isaac M. Marks of the Institute of Psychiatry in London.

Once we dare to face an unknown experience and that causes us that fear so important to be cautious, the brain stores what is learned and saves it to combine it later with other memories.

A person who is too anxious or who is stressed by the possibility of having to face the unknown will be caught in his fear. If a situation only generates negative emotions will be impossible to overcome, so it is so important to learn to adapt to what terrifies us or stress.

The fear of the unknown is a basic human response that protects people from the times of our ancestors, avoiding that we act impulsively and dangerously, but as all fear must be controlled in order to function and not be caught in anxiety.