What causes irrational fears?

Answer 1

First you need to define what a fear is, then what is an irrational fear (also referred to as a phobia).

"Fear is a basic emotional sensation and response system ("feeling") initiated by an aversion to some perceived risk or threat."

"A phobia (from the Greek φόβος "fear"), is a strong, persistent fear of situations, objects, activities, or persons. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject. When the fear is beyond one's control, or if the fear is interfering with daily life, then a diagnosis under one of the anxiety disorders can be made."

Basically, phobias can result from avoidance of something that appears to be a threat, even when it is not. There are natural fears of falling and pain, but when the fear becomes disproportional to the threat the stimuli could give, the fear become irrational.

Spiders are a common fear of people, and some people have phobias about spiders. The irrational fear of spiders could be caused by a perceived threat that any spider could kill you and so anytime you see any spider, you fear a bite that could kill you. Most spiders, in the real world, are not deadly. But to a phobic of spiders, the real knowledge about them may not thwart the phobia.

Answer 2

Some are caused by bad experiences the memory or response to are triggered by some trivial resemblance in something experienced later.

Some are due to a strong attraction to the thing feared, the strength of which frightens the person, who then puts the fear on the thing. (Sex is a common one for this. When you are taught that sex is evil, but experience sexual feelings, you repress them, and the conflict leads to fear of sex.)

Those are two that spring to mind. There could easily be many, many more.

Assuming there's one and only one cause for a complex phenomenon, never a good idea.

Answer 3

I believe that irrational fears are the direct result of irrational thoughts.

Answer 4

There are different things for different people. Sometimes it can be stress other times it is from the distant past, something back in childhood. Then there are times when something dark can be coming up from the psyche that needs to be addressed.

Whatever the reason, going to a counselor and talking about it really helps.

Answer 5

Irrational fears are caused by not confronting rational fears. Fear of spiders vs. fear of death.....fear of confrontation vs. fear of violence

Answer 6

Worry .