How Fear Impacts Your Health

Impacts Memory

The body floods the amygdala region of our brains with hormones when we are afraid. This impacts memory by storing the moments when our perceptions became more acute in high-resolution. These memories will burn into our souls as thoughts that have paramount importance over any others and may haunt us. These may be perceived simply as red flags in our subconscious minds that make us feel a certain looming sense of dread regarding individuals associated with these fears. This reactive irrational fear-based thinking is the force behind PTSD and can lead to long-term memory formation problems and damage to the function of the hippocampus. The memories incurred from the mechanism dubbed the 'amygdala hijack' are always perceived as negative, as a warning to avoid similar situations in the future, and possibly explaining why first impressions are so important.

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