Oct 31, 2018 3 min read

MONONGAHELA – “What are you afraid of?” Dr. Daniel McClure Neff asked a group at Monongahela Area Library.

The answers ranged from fire to water and from loneliness to sharks. Neff’s fear? Water, even though he knows he can safely stand in water that’s 4 feet deep, Neff said he can’t help but be afraid.

A self-proclaimed “fear junkie,” the South Park psychologist hosted a Monday night presentation in time for Halloween. “The Psychology of Fear” explored why and how the fear response is different for different people.

Being afraid of something evokes a biochemical and emotional reaction, Neff said.

The former is an increased heart and respiration rate, heightened adrenaline levels and sweating. The latter runs the gamut from avoidance to enjoyment.

“Some people enjoy it,” Neff said, which is why some people like horror movies or horror novels, enjoying the adrenaline rush from something on the screen or words on the page creating that fear reaction when there’s no rational reason to be scared.

Neff said those who produce horror entertainment can cause that reaction by both knowing what makes people scared and knowing how to present that fear.

He added there are five categories of fear that include:

• Extinction, the fear of death or ceasing to exist that includes fears of the dark, heights, fatal diseases and panic.
• Mutilation or bodily invasion.
• Loss of autonomy, which includes being restricted from a disability or illness, paralyzed or trapped or not being in control.
• Separation, abandonment or rejection, which includes fear not being wanted or valued or respected and being expelled from a group.
• Humiliation, shame or worthlessness, the fear of criticism, loss of belief of one’s worth where public speaking comes into play along with bullying or self-blame.

Neff said everyone has experienced some of those fears in their lives and can have more than one at the same time.

Hollywood uses those fear-inducing scenarios to create imagery that’s either overtly gruesome or subtle enough for your mind to fill in the gaps. Movies also use sounds like a creepy song or jump scares to trigger a fear response, or they make characters relatable so that the viewer empathizes and puts themselves into the situations the character is facing.

Neff also played clips from movies like “Scream,” “Day of the Dead” and “Saw 2” to shows what fear category the filmmakers used to evoke a reaction.

“How do you find that entertaining,” one woman in the audience asked Neff after he described a scene from the horror film “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”.

“I enjoy the fear response, the adrenaline and being afraid,” he said. “I guess I’m a fear junkie.”