“Why am I afraid almost every day?” “What makes me afraid of the most everyday situations?” These kinds of ideas are part of the worries of many people who, without knowing very well why it happens, notice that fear is an emotion that constantly wears down their quality of life, even in apparently harmless situations.

Along the following lines we will see what is the nature of fear of everything and what we can do to combat this feeling.

Why am I always afraid?

Emotions exist because they fulfil a function, and although sometimes the disadvantages they present outweigh the advantages, these situations are the exception, not the rule.

Fear, in particular, is one of the most powerful emotions we have. Whether we like it or not, its existence conditions our lives , sometimes for the better (it helps us avoid danger) and sometimes for the worse (it helps us find excuses for not making an effort to improve).

However, there are extreme cases in which this psychological factor becomes everything an obstacle with which we sabotage ourselves over and over again when we set out to leave our comfort zone and start something new that will do us good. Going to talk to a person we like, starting a university career, going to the gym, going to the dentist…

On these occasions a strong feeling of frustration appears and a thought from which we cannot escape: “why am I afraid and not facing my fears?
Among the main causes, we find the following.

1. Trauma

The emotional imprint left on us by the traumas makes us direct our attention towards everything that can hypothetically lead us to live that experience (or a similar one) again. This is why many people with traumas have a great facility to enter a state of hypervigilance from which it is complete to come out.

2. Lack of self-esteem

The lack of self-confidence contributes to the person expressing fear for many things, since he or she does not feel prepared to face some areas of life . In particular, those involving personal relationships are typically a source of fears and insecurities.

3. Mistreatment and abuse situations

In some cases, fear is rooted in a relational problem that by definition goes beyond the individual.

****When the attacks are suffered by another person or a group of persons, the state of hypervigilance appears as a protection mechanism, although at the cost of psychological well-being. Of course, this does not mean that the person who suffers it is to blame for this; quite the contrary.

4. Genetic propensity

We must not forget that the genetic factor also counts. This does not mean that having a certain DNA structure predestines us to be constantly afraid, but it does mean that some sets of genes make us more likely to develop persistent fears.

Signs of living in fear

Some of the typical characteristics of these people are as follows. All of them are similar to those that appear in most phobias , in which there is a specific stimulus that triggers anxiety crises.

1. Fear from the first hours

By the beginning of the day, they’re already thinking about having to go through something that scares them.

2. Feeling physical discomfort of all kinds

Living in constant fear generates a physical wear and tear that accumulates day after day: muscle tension, bad sleeping and eating habits , etc.

3. Avoidance of normal situations

Many people tend to be exposed to everyday contexts at the prospect of things going wrong and something appearing that could damage them.

What can be done to combat this anxiety?

When it comes to taking action against this discomfort and solving the psychological causes of this fear, you can follow these steps.

1. Practice breathing exercises

Controlling your breathing helps “tame” the emotional state you are in. Therefore, adopting the habit of doing controlled breathing exercises can help a lot .

2. Expose your fears little by little

Start with situations that are a little scary, and then go on to others that make you more fearful, following an upward curve of difficulty. In this way you will learn through your experience that there are not so many reasons to feel that way in any minimally anxious situation.

3. See the psychologist

This option should also not be ruled out if no significant progress is made with the previous ones. Fortunately, the power of psychotherapy in offering help to people with fears and anxiety problems is very high, and it has been shown to be effective through the use of various techniques performed under professional supervision.

Bibliographic references:

  • Hofmann, S.G., Dibartolo, P.M. (2010). “Introduction: Toward an Understanding of Social Anxiety Disorder”. Social Anxiety. pp. xix-xxvi.
  • American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.