15 Symptoms of Fear

What are you most fearful of?

This question can be challenging, uncomfortable, and confronting, and most people prefer to avoid it.

However, you might be surprised to learn that most people unconsciously arrange their whole lives to avoid experiencing their fears. The result? They live defensively and risk-averse, keeping themselves small, trapped, and robbed of their potential.

Why is that? We've been conditioned to believe our fears, to be afraid of them, and to avoid admitting them, as if acknowledging fear means there's something wrong or bad about us.

The fears that remain unconscious have the most power and influence over our lives. Even though we can’t see the fear directly, we can see its effects in our lives as behaviors and patterns that are signposts to what is hidden within us.

Below is a list of 15 ways fear can manifest in our lives, I call these symptoms of fear.

1. Anxiety: Persistent worry about future events or uncertainties.
2. Avoidance: Steering clear of situations, people, or places that trigger fear.
3. Procrastination: Delaying tasks due to fear of failure or criticism.
4. Perfectionism: Striving for flawlessness to avoid judgment or rejection.
5. Self-Doubt: Questioning one's abilities and decisions.
6. Overthinking: Obsessively analyzing situations to prevent potential problems.
7. Social Withdrawal: Isolating oneself to avoid social interactions and embarrassment.
8. Irritability: Reacting with anger or frustration as a defense mechanism.
9. Lack of Confidence: Hesitating to take risks or try new things.
10. Control Issues: Trying to micromanage situations and people to reduce unpredictability.
11. Pessimism: Expecting the worst to protect oneself from disappointment.
12. Indecisiveness: Struggling to make decisions for fear of making the wrong choice.
13. Perceived Failure: Viewing oneself as a failure due to unmet expectations.
14. Hypervigilance: Constantly being on alert for potential dangers or threats.
15. Physical Symptoms: Experiencing headaches, stomach issues, or fatigue related to stress.

Do any seem familiar?

If you can relate to any of these symptoms, I feel it’s important to have compassion for yourself, it doesn’t mean you are bad, wrong or not capable. It just means you are human, experiencing the full range of our experience. The trouble begins when we start to label and judge ourselves for these symptoms, or we try to suppress, repress and deny them. As Carl Jung said, “What you resist, persists”.

It’s important to know that these are just the symptoms of fear not the root cause. While there are many symptoms of fear, they all boil down to a smaller list of 10 core fears. Symptoms are easier to spot than core fears, as they are what we feel in our daily life.

If we focus on only managing symptoms and not addressing the root cause, symptoms tend to keep resurfacing.

Stay Courageous

Dean Arcan