To fear is natural to human but what is it to fear? For the body, fear is the perceiveption of something frightening and so there are shifts in the nervous system resulting in heart rate, blood pressure, stomach acid changes. A turning stomach, goose bumps and a racing heart are signs of fear so anyone who's felt it can say they've been afraid. For the matter, goose bumps are actually the result of a fear-caused reflex which make one's hair at the back of the neck stand.
A critical question is why does all this happen to the body? The answer to this lie in the mind. A person perceives a situation and labels it as something to be feared and this is done consciously or unconsciously. Consider it a survival mechanism where the mind orders the body to get ready. This is described by Scherbatikh and Nozdrachev in their article The Psychology and Physiology of Fear: Initially, one's sympathetic nervous system activates, mobilizing the available energy in the body and restructuring the work of all bodily organs, preparing for physical activity. This causes sudden increase in heartbeat, enlarged pupils, slows down excretion of acids and fluids (saliva) and other symptoms. At the same time, the endocrine system produces an influx of adrenalin, which narrows veins supplying the skin with blood, and in general acting similarly to sympathetic nervous system, dubbing its functions. The mind has assessed the situation, the body is ready and all that's needed is a decision: to face the fear or run like the wind.
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