This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. – March 3, 1933 Inaugural Address, Franklin D. Roosevelt

Keep Calm and Carry On.
Poster produced by the British Ministry of Information, 1939

Above are two of my favorite quotes that personally help me as I, like many Americans, listen to all the grim news about our economy.  Both of these speak to the fact that fear can be a very destructive force.  In fact, FDR was a great psychologist; he just didn’t know it.

Our brains are primed and ready to protect us in the face of danger.  When we are facing danger, the brain, through powerful chemicals, produces all kinds of physical changes in our bodies to prepare us for “fight or flight.”  These chemicals released by our brains can produce changes in our body in less than half a second!  Evolution did an excellent job.  Think about it; primitive human beings didn’t have time to reason things out if they thought they saw, for example, a saber tooth tiger in the shadows ready to pounce.  Once the danger passed, either through successful flight from danger, or, perhaps in the case of a tiger jumping on you, fight, our brains should stop producing these chemicals allowing our bodies to relax.

The problem is today the dangers we think we face are much less immediate and life threatening.  In fact, as I once heard a woman at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting state very eloquently, 90% of everything we fear is simply a waste of time.  Most of what we fear is not the immediate danger of any sort but rather what we imagine COULD happen, those images and thoughts in our heads.  Our brain doesn’t know the difference.  Whether we imagine it or hear it daily in the news, all our brain understands is DANGER.  This is where evolution has not caught up.  Our brains continue to react as if the tiger is about to pounce and the result is a continuous release of chemicals in our body to prepare us for fight or flight.  The continuous release of these chemicals from our brain is simply bad for our body over time: weakened immune system, insomnia, mood disorders, substance abuse, etc.  The result is what is commonly referred to as stress.

So FDR had it right long before the psychological research: fear is in itself a very damaging and destructive force on our brains and bodies.  I offer you following steps to combat the fear:

1. Silence the Alarm in your brain.  Remember, most of what we fear comes from thoughts and images in our head about what MIGHT happen.  Try to be aware of the stuff going through your head.  Instead, stay in the present.  Turn off the TV with its steady stream of bad news.  (Research studies in fact have shown that those who watch fewer hours of television are less anxious!)
2. Take action.  Physical activity and exercise.  Get together with your supports, your friends, family, and talk about your fears.  Avoid the impulse to withdraw. Don’t get paralyzed.
3. Develop a spiritual program.  Again, research demonstrates over and over that those who have a spiritual program cope much more effectively during stressful times.  This does not mean you have to believe in God or attend church.  To get in touch with one’s spiritual side means finding the answers to the fundamental questions of why we exist and what is the purpose of our life.
4. Above all, keep calm and carry on.

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