Human beings are notable for their highly developed neo-cortex, which is the part of the brain that allows us to think, discuss, plan, and do the things that are typically human. It is immensely powerful but conscious thought is rather slow so in emergencies it can be overridden by simpler but quicker parts of the brain linked up to the amygdala. If they spot a potential danger, they can press the 'emergency button' without having to wait for the conscious mind to agree. If a lion or mugger jumped out at you in the street, you would not want to be standing there wondering what to do. You would be very grateful for a huge boost of adrenaline to get you away as quickly as possible.

Why Are They Sometimes Inappropriate?

Imagine an evolutionary ancestor of ours walking alongside a jungle. There is a rustle in the undergrowth and a tiger leaps out at him. He (or she) would undoubtedly experience a huge (and very useful) fight or flight response. His amygdala would record that experience as a potential danger so if by any chance he managed to escape, he could be ready in advance next time. To increase his chance of surviving in future, the next time he heard a rustle in the undergrowth, the amygdala would trigger off the emergency response just in case, even if there was nothing there. It has picked out an aspect of the experience as a cue to trigger a pre-emptive response.

This means people can have phobias of anything. All that is required for someone to be in a highly anxious state and unconsciously link it to an object or experience. Robert Graves the WW1 poet was using a telephone when a bomb went off. He then had a phobia of telephones. When people have acquired a dental phobias it is usually either because they have had a bad experience with a dentist in the past or have heard about one (real or imagined) from a friend or family member. Children pick up if their parents have any phobias, which is why they sometimes run in families and someone can develop one without having actually had a bad experience themselves.

What To Do?

The key to curing a phobia is to allow the person to re-experience the trigger while in a relaxed state. The brain then transfers the trigger from the category of 'dangerous things' to normal narrative memory. Phobias can be cured quickly, painlessly, and with great success within a couple of hours using a technique called the Fast Phobia Cure, which enables the patient to experience the previously feared situation in a pleasantly relaxed state.

The Triggering of a Fight or Flight Response

1. Input enters through one of the senses, in this case eyes.

2. The signal is passed through the thalamus, which relays all signals to both the specialised visual cortex for details processing and the amygdala to check for danger.

3. The amygdala processes the input much more quickly than the visual cortex and can trigger off a flight or flight response very quickly if necessary. The detailed processing from the visual cortex arrives later and can sometimes call a 'false alarm' like, for example, when what look like an animal or human being on the road turns out to be just a plastic bag.

Also sometimes relevant>> Emotional Thinking