There are different types of fear. Often fear is very useful because it protects us from dangerous reckless actions. But other forms of fear are unjustified, serve no purpose, and can really ruin your life. For example, the unreal fear of harmless spiders, or extreme stage fright when performing in front of a full house, while we fully control our role. There are medications that can suppress such senseless fears.

You have fear and anxiety

There are different forms of fear. Some have a protective function. If you are threatened with a weapon in a dark alley, or you are confronted with domestic violence, it is good for your health if you flee from the (life) dangerous situation because of fear. It is also useful that we have a manageable fear of going out in public, because this will help us better prepare for a speech, theater role or other performance in front of a packed audience. And if you have a fear of driving due to stress and therefore do not dare to drive a car, this will prevent unsafe traffic situations. It is useful that you have a fear of going far into the sea, so that you cannot drown. Fear of the dentist is fear of pain and is actually explainable, although not necessary.

Inexplicable fear

There are many forms of irritable anxiety that serve no purpose, but can really spoil your daily life. The list of such forms of unfounded fear and panic is long. Just think about:

• fear of flying,
• fear of spiders,
• extreme fear of thunder,
• fear of heights,
• not daring to leave your house (street fear),
• scared in the elevator
• fear of contamination,
• agoraphobia,
• fear of knots,
• claustrophobia,
• fear of asking a girl.

Fear because of bad experience

If you have experienced or witnessed terrible things, you can always remain afraid of them. It is understandable that you will no longer board a plane if you have experienced an emergency landing or disaster. And if you’ve spent a night in a stuck elevator, you’ll always take the stairs afterwards. Or you have been the victim of a natural disaster, robbery or assault.Especially if during such a traumatic event the fear of death was accompanied by a feeling of powerlessness, the victim can be burdened with unpleasant unjustified fears for a long time. This is then referred to as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). In such a disorder, the smallest signal (screaming, shouting, a bang) can trigger intense memories of the trauma, with the associated feeling of terror.

Research

People with post-traumatic stress disorder or a phobia suffer greatly from their anxiety attacks. A normal life is often no longer possible for them. Science is conducting a lot of research into the brain’s alarm system and is looking for more effective methods to free people from their unreal fears of death. Certain forms of psychotherapy do help, but they are often not sufficient and also take a lot of time and effort. An effective medicine could solve a lot of misery.

Propranolol

Propranolol is a drug that does not erase the memory of unpleasant experiences, but it does suppress the associated feelings of anxiety. Such learned fears can often be erased with the drug propranolol. This is a beta blocker with which a lot of experience has already been gained. How does that work? Our memory remembers facts (the man with the gun in the dark alley) and the emotion that accompanies it, i.e. the fear of death. Normally, through processing, the memory of both becomes weaker over time. But if processing fails, the memory of both the event and the associated fear becomes increasingly stronger.

Separate facts from emotion

It has to do with the fact that memories can change after being retrieved if they are stored again. They can then be stored both strengthened and weakened. This happens through a chemical process in our brains. This restorage can be positively influenced by the drug propranolol. So it works as follows:Memories consist of facts and associated emotions.

• They are saved again every time.
• If all goes well, they will slowly weaken.
• If things go wrong, they become stronger (anxiety disorders arise).
• Something goes wrong in protein synthesis in the brain.
• Propranolol affects protein synthesis.
• The memory is stripped of emotion.
• Memory then no longer evokes fear.

Propanol against severe stress

Propranolol is also used for severe exam anxiety and stage fright. Almost everyone experiences healthy tension just before an exam or during a (solo) performance in front of an audience. Our heart then starts beating faster and clearly palpable. We sweat extra and our hands may shake. Such tension is very common and necessary for optimal performance. But with extreme tension (anxiety), good performance is actually hindered, and in that case propranolol can be the reassuring solution. The blood pressure lowering drug Propranolol ensures that the heart rate slows down and also prevents shaking and trembling. It works after about an hour and lasts for six to eight hours. Propranolol is available via doctor’s prescription.