It’s a dark and stormy night, with the full moon aglow and lightning crackling in the deep blue canvas of the sky. You’re shivering on the couch, peering out from under the blanket at the TV. The jumpscares are frightening, bone-chilling even — but it’s not “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” no, it’s… THE NEWS!
With this perpetual state of doom and gloom, most of us have developed a pretty bad case of phobophobia. And unfortunately, to our buddy Franklin Roosevelt’s dismay, there is more to fear than just fear itself.
So get comfy in your coffin and grab some candy (you’re going to need a lot of it). Bubbling on the cauldron today is the psychology of fear — and, most importantly, how to face it.
Until next time, Gabrielle & Charlotte and the not-so-scaredy cats at TDL 🐈⬛
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Today’s topics 👀
🎃 Pumpkin’ to Talk About
📮 Factoring Fear into the Election Equation
🏚️ Escaping the Haunted House
DEEP DIVE
🎃 Pumpkin’ to Talk About
Sometimes, tricks feel like treats. Haunted houses, scary movies, roller coasters, you name it! The science behind recreational fear comes down to pushing boundaries for that sweet adrenaline rush, while still remaining physically and (somewhat) psychologically secure. Perhaps this is also what keeps us doomscrolling…
The horror, the horror. But generally, our brains really, really hate scary things — and yet, are biologically programmed to pick up on them. This trade-off may have helped our evolutionary ancestors outrun threats, but until the zombie apocalypse hits, it can sometimes cause us to become overly hypervigilant.
Witchful thinking. Excessive cortisol levels from fear impair our prefrontal cortex: the brain’s center for logical reasoning. This prompts the amygdalato hijack our nervous system with a flight-or-fight response. Unfortunately, this can lead us to not-so-optimal choices.
When our sensory cortex detects a threat, it prompts the prefrontal cortex to create the sensation of fear and the amygdala to trigger a behavioral response.
📮 Factoring Fear into the Election Equation
When we cast our vote, we select an ideal candidate that perfectly aligns with all of our views… right?
Not exactly. In reality, elections are a discrete choice, limiting us to a set number of options. Candidates have defined positions, and we must make trade-offs on which issues we hold most dearly.
But how can we measure which anxieties influence our choices the most? In this piece, our director Turney McKee illustrates how we can use discrete choice experiments (DCE) to paint a more accurate picture of voter preferences. Discover how much fear factors into the equation here.
VIEWPOINTS
🏚️ Escaping the Haunted House
Worrying isn't always a bad thing — but we can’t go on in a perpetual state of dread forever. The real problem is when we ignore our anxieties, which can be detrimental to our mental health and even manifest as physical symptoms. But of course, we can’t just “get over it,” so what can we do?
Even though National Face Your Fears Day already passed on October 8th, there’s no reason to wait all year to start grabbing fear by the horns.
Take skele-tiny steps. Don't force yourself to hold a tarantula or go skydiving right away. Instead, small actions like getting rid of a spider or looking down from the fifth floor are a great start. (In clinical terms, we call this exposure therapy.)
Frankenstein it. Okay, well, you can’t have a new brain, but you can take advantage of neuroplasticity. Our brains are malleable, meaning we do have some agency in rewiring what doesn’t serve us. One way to do this is through practicing mindfulness, a buzzword that actually packs an empirically-backed punch.
Coping with Crunch time. In the case of the presidential election, a lot of our anxiety is related to uncertainty and the unknown. But there are a few things we can do to feel a little more “in control” of the uncontrollable. It’s best to set boundaries, especially online, to avoid the slippery slope to political fatigue.
Know when it’s a trick. Today, when people of all ages use TikTok as a method to keep up with political issues, it’s more important than ever to challenge the rage-baity information you see and hear. Try tools like the SIFT method to help navigate articles and commentary that raise red flags.
