For this issue, I’m taking a different tack than my previous articles. As I have traveled through all 48 states of the USA over the past 18 months, I have observed a great amount of fear on the land. I must confess that I don’t have regular Television programming, so I am not bombarded daily with the inordinate amount of fear programming that is constantly aimed at the public.
As I watched one of the mainstream or “legacy” channels, one day at a restaurant, I was amazed at the overt nature of the programming being displayed. It became clear to me why I was seeing so much fear on people’s faces.
A presentation by Dr. Mary Moller noted some very significant effects of acute and chronic fear states “on overall, physical, emotional, environmental, and spiritual health. The potential effects of chronic fear on overall health include:
Immune system dysfunction
Endocrine system dysfunction
Autonomic nervous system alterations
Sleep/wake cycle disruption
Eating disorders
Alterations in HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal)
The potential effects of chronic fear on physical health include headaches turning into migraines, muscle aches turning into fibromyalgia, body aches turning into chronic pain, and difficulty breathing turning into asthma, said Moller.”
https://www.ajmc.com/view/the-effects-of-chronic-fear-on-a-persons-health
Isn’t it interesting that immune dysfunction is at the top of the list! At a time when the world is needing good functioning immune systems, the people who seem to be in charge are pumping out fear laden information that almost seems to be designed to hamper the immune systems when we need to deal with the disease being called a “pandemic.” I would be called a “conspiracy theorist” if I said there was a plan for this, but I digress.
In another study, it was shown that “as some parts of your brain are revving up, others are shutting down. When the amygdala senses fear, the cerebral cortex (area of the brain that harnesses reasoning and judgment) becomes impaired — so now it’s difficult to make good decisions or think clearly. As a result, you might scream and throw your hands up when approached by an actor in a haunted house, unable to rationalize that the threat is not real.”
https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/emotional-health/5-things-you-never-knew-about-fear
This is why I have chosen the title for this article – “Fear is a Mind Killer.” In the movie and book “Dune”, young Paul, who is being tested, has to put his hand in a box that makes it feel like it is burning up; and he keeps telling himself that fear is the mind killer so that he will not let his feelings overcome his reasoning power.
As I look around today, I see so much fear being displayed and at the same time, so little reasoning power being exercised. I wonder how many would be able to pass the test of young Paul.
Finally, I am including this link to a video titled “Fear and Social Control” - https://www.dropbox.com/s/8slk5g5cj7g0yj0/Fear%20and%20Social%20Control.mp4?dl=0
I have placed into my Dropbox files so that it will not be censored by the “fact checkers!” I highly recommend you view this video as it explains so much of what we are seeing all around us today.
So, what is the antidote to fear? How can we live our lives without letting fear have this negative influence over our health – mind, body, environment, and spirit?
There is a word in the Hebrew language – Shalom – that really expresses what I would like to portray here. The literal meaning of the word is “the power that destroys the authority that tries to bring chaos into our lives.” In English, it is translated as “Peace” and that is close but seems a bit shallow compared to the Hebrew understanding. When people walk around and flash the “V” sign and say, “peace brother/ sister”, somehow it seems that we are not quite capturing the full understanding of ridding the chaos from our lives.