Fear and Worry - What does worry do to us?

"When envy, hate, and fear are habitual," say Dr. Alexis Carrel, "they are capable of starting genuine diseases". Medical science is of the view that diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, gastric ulcers, skin diseases and asthma are aggravated, if not actually brought about, by anxiety and worry. Thought can generate organic disorders as we tend to attract what we expect in life. Doctors find that their patients tend to heal in accordance with their own expectations, rather than healing as the prognosis would suggest. Businessmen who do not know how to cope with worry and stress situations often die young. Those who remain calm and maintain their inner peace in spite of the external turmoil of worldly life are insulated from nervous and organic disorders.

Experience has shown that a good deal of physical and mental ill-health can be traced to worry. worry dries up the blood sooner than age. While it is true that some degree of fear, worry and anxiety is natural and may even be necessary for self-preservation, when is is not under control, constant fear and prolonged worry will only wreak havoc on the human organism. These factors all contribute to the weakening of our normal bodily functions.

According to medical opinion, in the treatment of most functional disorders, close attention has to be paid to the mental condition of the patient. Psychiatrists have recognized that worries do not solve problems but instead only aggravate them and these in turn will cause one's physical and mental ruin. In addition, a person who is perpetually worried creates an unhealthy atmosphere at home, in the office and in society in general. Through irrational actions resulting from personal worry and anxiety, a person upset the peace and happiness of those around them.

Just as worry is capable of causing harm to oneself and others, so also is fear. Persistent fear keeps a person in a state of perpetual mental tension and anguish. Fear progressively erodes life and debases the mind. Fear is potent pessimistic force which darken the future. If someone harbors any kind of fear, his or her way of thinking will be affected. This unwholesome mental state is capable of eroding personality and making one landlord to a ghost.

So great a hold has fear upon us that it has rightly been described as humanity's arch-enemy. Fear has become a fixed mental state amongst millions of people. To live in continued dread, cringing, and haunted by the fear of devils, spooks, gods and goddesses is the common lot of humanity wallowing in ignorance.

Fear can even turn to panic in cases of unexpected cries when there are no preparation for meeting the threat. While a certain amount of fear may be considered normal or even necessary for survival, if it is allowed to grow unchecked it will turn to panic which is an intense irrational fear. Panic can lead to all kinds of disastrous results not only to oneself but to those around. The way to prevent panic is to prepare oneself beforehand, by studying how the mind works, how too intense a concern with the self leads to irrational behavior.

I am not affected by the death of my wife. Chuang Tzu was a Chinese philosopher. When his wife died, he sat outside the hut beating a drum and singing a song. His friends who saw this were shocked and asked if he was not affected by her death. Chuang Tzu replied:"Actually, I accepted her fate because now she is free from the painful business of living. She has just undergone another transformation."


By K. Sri Dhammananda