Like Roots Of A Dandelion, So Are The Phobias Of Our Lives: Why Fearful Experiences Are So Memorable
By Madi Alaspa
I was about three years old, as my mom tells it, when I was romping through my grandparents’ back yard. As my bare, chunky toes curled their way through the grass, I suddenly fell to the ground in pain. I began wailing, gesturing to the dandelion in fear. And on the bottom of my foot: a bee sting. Now, three-year-old me had no way of knowing that it was not the dandelion that stung me and amidst my panicked screams, there was no way for my mother to reason with me. Eventually, though, she realized it may have been in her best interest to at least try for I began to show signs of a phobia when in the presence of these harmless weeds. Even today, twenty years later, I still get queasy and anxious when I am near them and can be reduced to full-fledged panic if one unexpectedly touches me—even seeing the photo below makes ne nauseous. I have no recollection of the event, and until my mother explained this to me, I never understood why I am so afraid of dandelions. Why did this singular experience have such a profound impact on my life? Why do any of us have strange phobias? While I have always understood the conditioning that occurred which led to this deep-seated fear of mine, after reading Dr. Julia Shaw’s best-selling novel The Memory Illusion, I learned more about why the moments in which phobias are formed are so influential.
Let’s start with this: How do fears and phobias form? According to the Mayo Clinic website, specific phobias can result from negative experiences, genes and environment (such as a parent having a phobia), or brain function. There are other factors that play into the severity of the fear as well, including age, temperament, and the degree of trauma and fear during the event. The most common of these, and the one that led to my fear of dandelions, is that of a traumatic negative experience at a young age. Now that explains the origins of phobias, but if you’re anything like I am this simple explanation won’t suffice. What, neurologically speaking, causes these inconvenient fears to stick with us?
One major explanation for memory formation can be seen from a biological standpoint. Even if we don’t remember remembering something, our synapses and neurons adjust and grow in response to information we take in. We make subconscious associations through synaptogenesis, a process by which connections between brain cells are formed. “Every time we have an experience, we can potentially form a memory of it, a memory that exists in the brain as a network of neurons.” Shaw states in The Memory Illusion. So, in essence, memories follow a map in the brain, physically existing as a distinct set of brain cell connections and firing patterns. Research has shown that being emotionally aroused while also being under a certain degree of stress can enhance memory formation, which is why many of us remember fearful situations so well. The increased amounts of cortisol (your stress hormone) encourage the formation of connections in the brain. You’d think these impactful experiences would denote profound memories of them, but this isn’t always the case. There are many people out there who can’t seem to pinpoint where or when, though, their phobias started. Why might this be?
When we are young, our brains are built for making neuron connections as a means of survival—we learn so much in our early years about how to exist as human beings. Between the ages of two and three years old there are more connections between neurons in the human brain than there are at any other age! Eventually, the brain weeds out the connections and memories that are unnecessary—but not fearful experiences. Think of it this way: most of us don’t distinctly remember learning that very hot surfaces can cause pain or injury, but it is something we likely learned early in our lives. Our brains are so adaptive because our ancestors needed to learn quickly to survive in a world of uncertainty. If our brains could not adapt to retain such important survival information, such as frightening or painful experiences, we as a species would not be as successful as we are today. This is why phobias are often rooted in childhood experiences. I had a single bad encounter with what I thought was a dandelion, and although I personally do not remember it, my neurons do!
Uncertainty, it seems, is the scariest thing of all. How does one move past something physically engrained in our minds? In many phobia treatment therapies understanding oneself and the roots of the fears is among the first step to overcoming them. Perhaps understanding the biological mechanisms behind the formation of these fears can bring peace of mind to those struggling to sort out their phobias.
References
Abercrombie, H. C., Speck, N. S., & Monticelli, R. M. (2006). Endogenous cortisol elevations are related to memory facilitation only in individuals who are emotionally aroused. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31(2), 187-196.
Shaw, J. (2016). The Memory Illusion. London, England: Random House.
Specific phobias. (2016, October 19). Retrieved June 8, 2020, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/specific-phobias/symptoms-causes/syc-20355156