2023-08-05 by Khushi Goel

Why Do People Get Scared?

It's after midnight and you woke up to get a glass of water, as soon as you entered the kitchen someone grabbed you from behind. You started sweating, your heart-rate accelerated and in an attempt to free yourself, you started moving anxiously and then you turned, only to realize it was your sibling who pulled a prank on you!

You were hell-scared and now you just need a way to get back at your sibling. Does this sound familiar? It sure does!

We all get scared every now and then. And most often than not, we curse it. We don’t like being scared because it could seem that we are weak. But trust me, experiencing fear is actually not that bad. “Fear” which is scientifically referred to as the “Fight or Flight response” of the human body has so many evolutionary advantages. Like happiness and sadness, fear is also an emotion that enables humans to deal with dangerously unfavorable situations.

When a person experiences fear they experience certain physiological changes in the body. These changes prepare the person to either fight or run in uncomfortable scary situations. The blood pressure increases as the heart beats faster, the muscles are pumped with blood with oxygen, getting them ready to react. Metabolically, levels of glucose in the blood spike, providing a ready store of energy if the need for action arises. (Now you know why you run super-fast when you are scared about someone following you!)

Although fear is a frightening response - can you think why some people enjoy scary movies?

References:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/the-science-of-fright-why-we-love-to-be-scared