My dictionary of Psychology defines fear as "one of the primitive, violent and usually crippling emotions marked by extensive bodily changes and by behaviour of the flight or concealment character."

We are all subject to fear at times and circumstances of stress. Fear alerts us tu the need for action or protection of some kind. As a lad I lived in an earthquake area. Fear of being hurt, taught us very quickly to get away from brick chimneys during a ground tremor. We had seen them crash on roofs.

There are thousands of different fears, some are use ful to us for our protection. Others are very debilitating and have a devastating effect on our enjoyment of life. When panic fear occurs, our heart beat increases, our pupils dilate, blood is directed from internal organs to muscles, our breathing quickens, we may suffer trembling and what is known as 'jelly legs', giddiness, difficulty in swallowing or feelings of collapse. Powerful emotions have powerful body effects Fear, by its character, causes us to run away rather than face the problem. Instead of looking at it and analysing it, we are inclined to feel fear nebulously. If instead we could approach the object of our fear and understand what is happening, we may relax and tin-ally lose the panic reeling.

A woman is asleep in a house by herself. She wakes up at a sound in the direction of the window. She lies quietly for a time but the noise comes again. Her heart begins to pound, she imagines she can hear an in' cruder, she can almost feel his presence, she is ready to scream. If she could switch on the light and observe that no one was in the room and that the noise was coming from the window moving in the wind which had sprung up since she went to sleep perhaps she could gradually calm down and rest. It takes courage to look at our fears-

For our purposes I have divided this chapter into three categories — Rational temporary fear of hurt or survival; Residual fear of loss or survival; Fear of a fear.

Rational Temporary Fear of Hurt of Survival.

I had joined a couple of other boys of my own age in raiding an orchard. We had sneaked as quietly as possible through the fence and had climbed the fruit trees- Our hearts were pounding, we were very alert. Every snap of a twig brought instant fear of being heard. We grabbed the fruit with little regard to quality. A few whispers and we sneaked back under the fence and ran half a mile before stopping. Our fear was rational temporary fear of being caught.

I was driving a car downhill when the brakes failed. Instantly I was fully alert and ready for evasive action. Again this is a rational temporary fear of survival. Such fear becomes our friend and helps to protect us from harm. We could not do without it.

Residual Fear of Survival or Loss.

Each time we experience these fears a little remains with us. In time and by repetition we accumulate increased sensitivity to them. These are the fears which live with us and cast a shadow over our lives. They just do not go away easily. I am not going to say that they

are all irrational but certainly most of them are. They cover all facets of life's experience and include fear of doom, fear of disapproval, of disease, germs, spirits, hunger, falling, fear of love, discomfort, punishment, sex, other people, and even fear of freedom.

Some of the most difficult and persistent fears are of a religious nature. Elsewhere I have told you about my narrow religious training. I had been taught that Christ would come back to earth to take all those who were 'saved' to Heaven. The Bible said that Christ would come as a thief in the night and all those who were His would be caught up to meet Him in the air and so be forever with Him. All chose who were not 'saved' would be left behind. As a seven or eight-year-old, I was scared rigid that my parents would be taken and one morning I would wake up to find that Christ had taken them and I would be left behind to fend for myself. I was so frightened that I was waking up at night, listening with pounding heart for the slightest noise which would indicate that they were still there- I even developed the habit of creeping to their bedroom door to listen for their breathing. One night I got caught, "What do you want?" "I want to be 'saved' "- So my delighted father got up out of a warm bed and did as he was taught, he read the Bible to me and got me to pray.

It was years before I could claim myself back from that commitment- I can still feel angry that they should frighten me by a doctrine I now regard as utter rubbish. Such commitment due to fear is dishonest and false. I did not really want religion, I wanted a child's right to protection while I was growing up, and that was all. It is cruel to frighten children with ideas over which they have no counter control.

Perhaps one of the most persistent fears is that of disapproval. What will others think of us if we do this or that. the neighbours, grandmother, our friends or society. Many of us play act to win approval a great deal of the time. We go beyond normal social reciprocation and actually fear disapproval. We have made other peoples' opinion of us more important than our own evaluation of ourselves. Deep down we are not sure of ourselves. We are afraid of not being thought well of. Our dignity is at stake. If we try to ignore these irrational fears they follow us like a shadow.

My personal experience in dealing with irrational fear is clear. As I was able to accept myself as a person of worth in my own right and grow up emotionally I gained inner strength. It was then that irrational fears faded and disappeared. As I came to accept myself as I am, without measurement by other people's standards, I started to relax and live positively, to expand and enjoy life for its own value.

I am not immune to error. Occasionally I say things which are misunderstood, sometimes I make gross misjudgments which I come to regret. These do not change the real me or rob me of the enjoyment of life. They are merely passing annoyances which reaffirm my attitude of facing and living life to my personal standards of dignity- Just as good health permeates all facets of life, giving vitality to action and immunity to ills, so the acceptance of ourselves as persons of worth permeates all facets of our emotional life and reduces irrational fear.

Fear of a Fear.

This is a panic fear accompanied by body reactions described earlier. One of the most debilitating fears, it comes in two parts — first fear and then secondary fear. The first: fear could be a rational passing fear such as the experience of driving over a high bridge in a strong wind. Thereafter the person may build up a second fear- He finds himself expecting, waiting and fearing a repetition of the original fear. In this way he becomes over sensitive to the fear associated with driving over a bridge. If the sufferer can look at the fear he will learn two important facts: (a) that they are indeed two separate fears parading as one, and (b) he has become oversensitised by the secondary fear.

A little girl is taken with her older brother and sister to see a film. The 'goodies' are fleeing in a carriage. The 'baddies' are on horses intending to catch and kill them- The music thunders on as excitement: builds for another celluloid confrontation. There is violence and a threat of violence. The little girl is too young to differentiate between fantasy and fact. She cannot turn it all off like a switch. She cannot stop the show or control it, she has no other way of escape left to her, so she panics. Over twenty years later, now a mature woman, she is looking at another film; she knows it is only celluloid fantasy. Again there is a chariot race and violence and blood and death and thundering music- Again panic fear grips her like a vice and she has to rush outside. Going home on the underground train the same helpless panic feelings came up again. She feels out of control.

This is a similar panic to that experienced by the person driving over the bridge. It is violent and devastating. Dr. Claire Weekes has written a hook "Agoraphobia" which deals solely with this kind of fear.

She advises;

(I) Face it — do not run away.
(2) Accept it- do not fight-
(3) Float - do not tense.
(4) Let time pass — do not be impatient.

I recommend this book to persons suffering from a fear of a fear. It is possible to deal with this distressing problem on an intellectual level.