THE CONTROL OF FEAR.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5371, 7 January 1929, Page 2

THE CONTROL OF FEAR.

PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT AFBIAID. THUNDER AND HOWLING DOGS. It is a very interesting, and for the laity useful, new “Encyclopaedia of Psychology” a number of experts deal, in a modqrp manner with the practii cal aspects of man’s inner, life. There are forty articles altogether, and, we were interested to notice that five of thqm are devoted to fear, says Professor J. Arthur Thomson in “John O’ London’s Weekly.” ■What have the wise men of to-day to tell ua about this very oldrfashioned emotion ? Is it to be cultured or conquered ? Can we do without it • FEAR AS A DESTROYER. Dr. Henry Knight Millejr is all but wholly against fear, which he regards as a hereditary anachronism fostered by parents, teachers, preachers, and legislators. It is a paralysing, destructive, pathological manis festation —only useful when burnt bairn's, dread the fire; and then it is not fear, but an intelligent apprehension of consequences. He offers the reader .twelve shafts with which to kill this enemy of the mind, the large number, suggesting that fear dies hard. Pursue health, shift the attention, cultivate; opposite rationalise your, fears i n the open, get a proper perspective, cultivate optimism, talk only cheer- , fulnqss, forget yourself a while, sug-4 ges.t victory to yourself, repeat that the kingdom of heaven is, within you. If we can do even half thesq things we need not be afraid of fear. Our second guide is Miss, Fanny Lee, who has a good word to say for fear., it is a wholesome emotional accompaniment of the self-preserva-tion instinct, of the sefisje of danger. There is safety in fear, especially Whep man, able; to look forward, anfi ticipates risks and in his fearlessness l takes due precautions. But care must be taken not to waste energy op useless fears, like the misjeducatqd child’s fear of a black slug, or. the ; nervous lady’s fear of a mouse, or the grown man’s fear of a ghost. A RECURRENT NIGHTMARE. There is good reason for being afraid of our. “repressed” fears’; it is much healthier to be afraid! of a bull. A violent terror, even if more or les 3 , unreasonable, such, as that occasioned by a few seconds’ experience of a narrow passage in a cave, or of a backcurrent tugging us out to sea, may take; such a grip of us. that it becomes exaggerated into a morbid claustroi phobia, or fear, of closed spacey or a morbid horror of bathing, We are in agreement with the author of this article in her. recognition of the positive value of fear, and in hep* reasons for being mor.e than a little afraid of fear- It is obvious, of ■course, that all fear is no.t the same fear. “The fear of the Lord” yvhich is, the Beginning of Wisdom,” is very different from fear of thunder, and both are vep-y different from the fear of seeming to be afraid. But the primary fact is that a sense of danger, or an anticipation ctf the painful and the disagreeable, aavakens the emotion most of us know as fear. And this emotion may be awakenejd by a dog howling by night as well as by a mad one running amuck by -day. “DONT’S” FOR PARENTS. Dr, Alan F. Grimbly argues convincingly that fear is normal, vital, and essential for the maintenance of human life. It is the alarm signal that warns as of impending flanger. “It is perfectly normal and healthy to be afraid, but fqar, mu'Sjt be controlled.” Cowardice is uncontrolled f®ar, and there is always a danger of morbid feans ; yet it is wise to be afraid of an actual lion in the path or, an actual microbe in the milk. Fear of coming to a decision, fear of thq future, fear of the unknown, fear of rare diseases, and so on, are familiar, illustrations of fear that has got out of hand. Fear must be icontrolled by character. Dr. Grimbly emphasises two minor points of some importance, that children should be encouraged to take; the ordinary risks of life fearlessly, and that nothing is miore harmful to a child than to witness fear in an adult. If we must be fearful, let it be in private, like moulting lobsters. Our fourth adviser is Professor F. A. Cavenagih, who regards fear as one of the greatest handicaps in life. Fears inhibit ma n and greatly lessen his. effectiveness. They must b® fougj»ft against. No doubt there is inborn setf-preseervative fear, quite useful in its way ; but there are furtive individual fears which should be got rid of, becau.se they are hindrances and unreasonable. We are afraid of a mysterious tapping—perhaps only the amatory death-watch beetle; of the dark— a fe.ar put into our heads by an ignorant hutse ; or thunder —which ( a child should be to admire ; of some entirely imaginary disease or of some vastly improbable failure in life. In all such cases we should bring the fear into the open and take a good look: at it. “The golden rule is to. get as much of our life as possible into, consciousness.” i The habit of mental honesty will free us from many of the fears thatwe should be afraid of. NEED FOR COURAGE. The fifth expert, Mr L. C. Robertson, draws a contrast between instinctive fear and acquired fear. Animals have more of the former, menmore of the latter, but both have bo,th. so far as fear is the emotional accompaniment of some apprehended ' real danger, it may be bf sei vice ; but excessive fear is harmful. It over-stimulates the ductless glands and depresses, the mind. It must be brought under the domination of our" judgment, for clear, thinking casts out’ fear. It will also be weakened by every refusal to allow it more than a • little bodily expression. Tha mote the ehila screams the more timid it„becomes. “The only radical way known of dealing with fear is by the deliberate and systematic cultivation of attitudes of mind tending to weaken the ’ impulse.” To conquer, our fears let us be courageous