How do you compensate for your greatest fears?

[omnifarious]

Do you know what they are?

Discuss.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

And who is the person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death?

“There is the case of the person who has abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and craving for sensuality. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought does not occur to him, ‘O, those beloved sensual pleasures will be taken from me, and I will be taken from them!’ He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.

“Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and craving for the body. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought does not occur to him, ‘O, my beloved body will be taken from me, and I will be taken from my body!’ He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.

“Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has done what is good, has done what is skillful, has given protection to those in fear, and has not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, ‘I have done what is good, have done what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and I have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. To the extent that there is a destination for those who have done what is good, what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel, that’s where I’m headed after death.’ He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.


“Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has no doubt or perplexity, who has arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, ‘I have no doubt or perplexity. I have arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma.’ He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
“These, brahman, are four people who, subject to death, are not afraid or in terror of death.

what is fear, fear of nothing, reminded me of this quote

 

[Ex-User (9062)]

i might write a response when i am sober.

 

[ernieedwardo]

That's good i appreciate your information.

 

[Polaris]

By confronting them head-on.

Usually reveals a whole load of fluff and a tiny bit of truth.

 

[Rook]

Due to emotional detachment, I didn't have that much fear within my life.
This has recently been overturned, as my recent intake of zombie fiction has made me afraid of the dark.

This new fear is completely illogical, but I have up to now not been able to mitigate it. It grips me, and I have no escape. I have considered wandering into the night and sitting some place for a hour or so, but this radical therapy is yet to be implemented.
Has somoene else experienced a fear of the undead?

We can create a support group.

 

[Cognisant]

I fear a lack of fear.

Fear is natural, it is knowing that you have something to lose.

 

[Void]

I fear a lack of fear.

Fear is natural, it is knowing that you have something to lose.

If you know that you have nothing to lose, isn't then fear unneeded?



Apart from social anxiety due to social ignorance, I can't think of something right now that I fear.

How I combat it? Humor. A shoulder shrug. Murder.

 

[Ex-User (9062)]

How I combat it? Humor. A shoulder shrug. Murder.

Spoiler

Do you think it is a good idea to suggest this to my psychologist as a coping mechanism?

 

[Kuu]

By confronting them head-on.

Usually reveals a whole load of fluff and a tiny bit of truth.

Mostly that. At first it feels like utter recklessness. By the end it's a bit anti-climatic.


And faking till you make it.

 

[HDINTP]

I was really thinking a lot about what am I actually afraid of. Well I came to the conclusion that I am afraid of dancing. Dancing in public to be precise but I am not sure why is that...

 

[DrGregoryHouse]

Do you know what they are?

Discuss.

Yes. Compensation is through a knowledge of God's infinite love and ability to create. My greatest fear is far too "taboo" to share in public, even on this forum.

 

[Ex-User (9062)]

I was really thinking a lot about what am I actually afraid of. Well I came to the conclusion that I am afraid of dancing. Dancing in public to be precise but I am not sure why is that...

Interesting.
I have a problem with that too.

 

[Void]

My mind on drugs.

I don't do drugs anymore.

 

[alysa]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25156510
The link is on a University study on "genetic phobias." Mice were trained to fear the scent of cherry blossoms. This fear was passed on to the "grandchildren" of the initial mice. In the same way obesity mutates DNA (another study done), fear does as well. It would explain why snakes and spiders are feared almost universally.

In my case, I fear being stabbed with a variety of instruments. Being shot at close range with a nail-gun is another.

I place my fear in a box and throw it out because fear is only a frame of mind. You can control it.

 

[tvrgvryen]

I watch comedy films, listen to dance music, or socialize with a bunch of people. Basically, I do anything that would distract me or bring my spirits up. Although the uneasiness within me only temporarily gets soothed, it's better than nothing. I switch back and forth between thinking my fears are dramatic (emotional, exaggerated) and realistic (sound, rational).

 

[Brontosaurie]

death & rejection

not sure how i compensate

 

[Pizzabeak]

by convincing myself i have a semi larger than average genitalia?
if i'm aware of the fact i possess a tiny one, by driving a large truck or flaunting other material goods (also applicable if it turns out i'm not creative enough to manifest gifts from within)

 

[Hawkeye]

I once accepted a challenge from my cousin to swim out to a buoy. He went first and returned quite easily. Now I'm not the most competent of swimmers, but this buoy challenge seemed do-able.

It took what felt like an age to get there and I was surprised how much energy I needed to use. I remember grabbing the buoy to catch my breath and following the chain down into what looked like an abyss... That freaked me out for some reason as I kept thinking that some large creature was about to rise from the blackness and devour me.

After this, only then did I look back to the shore... Little did I know that whilst I swam there, the tide had been coming in. My journey back was double what it was on the way there. I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it back.

Ironically, the only thing that kept me going was the thought of be eaten by a hungry sea monster. ^^

I have never attempted to repeat the experience.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

I ignore them. Fear of the future destroys the peace of the present.

 

[kvothe27]

Lots of exercise beforehand, drugs, escapism, etc. It depends on what fear I have to deal with.

 

[The Void]

After fearing every moment, every possibility and every messed up scenarios, in the past for more than 15 years, my unconscious mind got pissed and shut down fear mechanism.
Though I do not fear anymore, I still follow my impulses that leads me to the way of self preservation and all, though in the end, nothing will be preserved, but so what?

 

[PhoenixRising]

I've been afraid of many things. Most of them I didn't even recognize as something I feared until I dug deeper into questioning my own thoughts. I think the thing I feared most was human connection and the kind of hurt it could cause. I found though, after coming to understand why I was afraid and realizing the causal nature of human interaction, the fear I felt was replaced by a great love for others and a deep desire to understand them.

Compensation seems to be a dysfunctional attempt of the psyche to find a healthy balance. Seeing this, I attempt to dissolve my fears by coming to understand them. Approaching things from a more neutral perspective helps to make sense of them without the effects of fight or flight muddling up fact and fiction.

 

[Ninety-Fourth]

During my teenage years, my answer to constantly having to live in fear (and the existential despair that resulted from that situation) was to methodically delude myself to believe in a nice, cozy, completely non-religious afterlife of my own devising.
As questionable as that coping mechanism was, I think it's a net positive influence on my life: now that I've fully and succesfully deluded myself, it gives me exceptional mental stability at the small, small cost of compromising my integrity as an empiricist. That's a pretty sweet deal compared to other ways of dealing with fear, like substance abuse or emotional suppression.

The main downside of that approach is that I am incapable of using fear of death as motivation, though I frankly can't see any appeal in the idea of doing something purely because you fear the alternative.

My greatest and pretty much only persistent fear right now is being incapacitated in such a way that I will have no way to end my life. It would really, really suck to have a low quality of life and no way to increase it.
I address that fear by not doing anything that could lead to me being incapacitated in such a way. Which, for better or worse, includes suicide.

 

[QuickTwist]

I would say that some of you do not know what it means to fear for ones life.

Speaking as someone who has paranoid delusions, I admit that the end is not pretty. Everyone and I mean everyone has fears though they may not know it yet.

Honestly fear is like pain; it is an indication of danger and has to be dealt with.

For the longest time I was scared for my life. Weather or not that fear was valid is of no consequence. The fact that I was afraid made me do something about the situation. Whether rational or not I had to act. This cause me to think very fast about my future and whether it would last.

It is true that confronting your fears does something to the mind. It allows you to take a step back and evaluate the situation as it is actually occurring. Once you know that fear is something natural its not that hard to be courageous in the face of danger.

 

[Socks]

I have something obscure called Carpophobia, which is the fear of wrists. Even my own wrists I hate, and seeing them makes me feel sick. I've yet to find an effective way of dealing with it other than not looking. As pathetic as it sounds, that's probably one of my greatest fears.

 

[shoeless]

i compensate for my fears by clinging to comfort. and forcing myself to remember that everything will pass with time.

 

[ernieedwardo]

That's good i appreciate your information.

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