The Negative Impact of Fear “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt Fear has a negative impact on humans because it impacts ethical decision making, makes it difficult to regulate emotions, and causes mental distress. It is one of the things that holds us back and can do more harm than good. Now, on the other hand, one could argue that fear cues us to danger and allows us to make better decisions because it helps us keep ourselves safe. Which is partly true, but sometimes our brain doesn’t interpret those cues right. This is where the concept of fight, flight, freeze, and fawn comes into play. These are all different responses to the emotions of fear that are there to protect you. Fight causes someone to get …show more content…
Some things that may cause unnecessary fear are mental illnesses like anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. This is bad for the person’s overall health and can lead to long-term consequences. An example of this from the novel is when Salama lost Layla. She was so afraid of being alone, of facing her emotions and grieving the only person she had left, that her brain created an imaginary version of Layla to help her cope through her loss. When she figured out that Layla was fake, it caused her extreme emotional distress. Another representation of this is Khawf. He is the literal embodiment of fear. He showed Salama the worst case scenario and caused her a lot of distress and hardship. He did help her at times, but still, all she wanted was for him to leave her alone. Salama was also left with severe trauma after the war that resulted in nightmares and anxiety. She stayed in that constant state of dread and fear, even when she was out of danger. This is something that she would likely have to work through and struggle with for the rest of her life and definitely had a negative impact on