We all know what fear is . We have experienced it on countless occasions: that sense of helplessness and vulnerability when we perceive a dangerous situation, that "getting upset" when we are facing a threat or when we remember what we have been through and been about to suffer.
Fear is a necessary , primary emotion that warns us of the dangers . It is related to anxiety and manifests itself in all animals, including humans.
But there is a woman, of whom we have recently known, who does not know him and has never experienced it; He does not know, literally, what fear is.
Courage or disorder?
Sigmund Freud defined, from psychology, real fear and neurotic fear ; the real exists as there is a correspondence between emotion and threat, and the neurotic occurs when the intensity of fear has no relation with danger.
No doubt in our lives we have felt all kinds of fear: to lose someone, to darkness, to failure, to ghosts, to suffer ... rational or irrational fears
For this woman, whom we will call SM, there is none. It has not been trained by the CIA, nor by MI6 nor by the Mossad . She is a woman of average intelligence, with three children, in their forties, who simply can not experience fear. In fact, he can not even explain the concept .
Since childhood, she suffers from a disorder called " Urbach-Wiethe disease ". This disorder afflicts around 350 people worldwide and consists of a strange mutation of chromosome 1 . In the case of our wife, and in the case of 10 other people who suffer from it , this genetic condition has made parts of her brain harden and atrophy, like her amygdala .
The amygdala, our guardian
It is the size of an almond and is part of what is known as deep brain , where the most basic emotions such as rage, survival instinct or fear; it is in the depth of the temporal lobes and is an indispensable part of the limbic system, as it processes our emotional reactions.
The amygdala is the one who warns us to run when seeing a danger, who sends the order to the brain to shoot the adrenaline and prepare us for action, who tells us to close our eyes when watching a horror movie, like The Exorcist .
When we do not have our guardian taking care of us many things can happen to us.
SM, for example, her husband brutally beat her; He was the target of three robberies, one with a knife and the other two at gunpoint; he has taken terrible financial decisions and lost important sums of money, and he never felt afraid.
His memory and language and perception skills are good but he is unable to prevent danger. And you know what? It also does not recognize the facial expressions of fear in others.
Let's talk about science
For approximately 20 years it has been under the medical microscope, and for the last 6 years under the care of the neuropsychologist Justin Feinstein , of the Technological Institute of California, who has insistently tried, in vain, to frighten her. He tried to make her watch marathons of horror movies, and nothing. He even took her to a pet store, but they had to intervene because he tried to caress tarantulas and snakes.
Fear has to do with caution and she shows no signs of having it.
Experts study your case and the relationship of the amygdala with traumas. SM also does not show signs of emotional problems because of everything he has experienced, which makes experts think of a possible treatment for those suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome (like war veterans, who feel repeated panic attacks ).
It may seem appealing not to be afraid of anything, but to survive it is necessary. And as the saying goes: "to be brave is to overcome fear." Recklessness is often paid dearly.
