Introduction
Emotions are essential elements that serve as responses to internal as well as external stimuli as expressed by human beings. Some of them present resisters acting as barriers to forward progress. Such emotions as fear, loss of control and uncertainties are negative emotions that are experienced by a person under different circumstances. In their extreme cases, they may become severe hindrances to a person's initiatives.
Fear
According to Jimenez (2003), fear is an important emotion which serves as a survival mechanism, generating the right behavioral responses for an organism to run away from danger or develop defense mechanisms as a way of protection. People express fear differently according to their personalities, social as well as cultural backgrounds which determine their responses to various stimuli.
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Fear comes about as a result of the perception of danger. It leads to changes in the metabolism of the organism, affecting the functioning of body organs and culminates in behavioral changes. These alterations in behavior may include hiding or freezing in response. For human beings, fear is expressed as a response to a particular stimulus that triggers the nervous system. It may relate to something that is occurring at present or is expected to happen at a later time in future, which poses a threat to the person’s life. When a person perceives danger, they may either confront the situation or run away from it. This response is referred to as the fight-or-flight response. When a person experiences more severe cases of fear, they may demonstrate freeze responses known as paralysis (Jimenez, 2003).
Jimenez (2003) adds that fear happens through the learning process of cognition. It can be rational or irrational depending on the stimuli that arouse it. For example, it is normal for a person to fear a wild animal as it may threaten their lives. This is a rational fear. In some cases, however, some people may develop the fear for things that do not pose any threat to them, such as the fear of certain plants. In such cases, this is an irrational type of fear.
Loss of control
According to Garson (2014), loss of control is the inability to demonstrate conscious restraints to impulses as well as behaviors due to overwhelming emotions. People express it in various ways including screaming, fighting, trembling, uncontrollable weeping among others. Extreme fear may also cause people to behave in specific ways that demonstrate loss of control. This may happen in catastrophic occurrences such as earthquakes, flood, etc.
Garson (2014) explains that when people have lost control of their situations, they may later respond by taking extreme ends of the continuum. Some people may feel that they did not do enough to prevent an adverse event from happening, without realizing that they cannot control the world around them. These people will thus try to gain a greater understanding of the past events and figure out the role that they played, thinking that if they try hard enough, they can prevent such occurrences.
On the other end, some people may lose hope and think that they have utterly no control over what happens to them and their emotions. They will sit back and do nothing to make things better. These are two extremes. It is not possible for a person to have complete control over their surroundings and emotions, nor is it likely that a person does not have any control over what happens around them or to their feelings. Taking the middle ground will help one to know that there are things that they can control and those that are beyond their control and thus, make the necessary measures to be in control (Garson, 2014).
Uncertainty
Liu (2015) explains that uncertainty is a state of emotion that occurs when one lacks the necessary knowledge to determine with clarity regarding particular element. Due to this limited knowledge, the person is not able to perceive the present state or the future outcomes of a situation. As such, it has the element of risk which leads to insecurity as the person does not know what to expect. The best that a person can do to minimize the risks of uncertainty is to predict the future events by reference to what has already happened.
Uncertainty occurs in different environments as well as under different states of mind. It happens in partially observable and stochastic settings. When a person is ignorant or indolent of something, he faces it. It is a critical concept in science, receiving considerable attention in different fields such as philosophy, statistics, and economics among others. In this respect, it is measured as a variable, to aid in predicting future events to minimize risks (Liu, 2005).
Liu (2005) concurs that, when a person is uncertain about a particular thing, they do not know which direction to undertake regarding their decisions. One makes an informed judgment after accessing all the relevant information concerning a specific element. However, when there is scanty information, it is not possible for the person to make a rational judgment. As such, the person may resort to guesswork and hope that the outcome will be desirable. He will, therefore, be psychologically disturbed as to whether he made the right decision or not.
Conclusion
Fear, loss of control and uncertainties are some of the resisters that may prevent a person from taking various progressive initiatives. Fear is an essential emotional response as it prepares the body to undertake protective measures. However, in extreme cases, it may result in counter productivity. Loss of control may lead a person to attempt to control the world, which is not possible, or may make them develop a negative attitude and stop to care about what happens to them or around them. Uncertainty makes it difficult for people to decide on the right course of action to undertake.
References
Garson, D. (2014). Loss of Control (5 th ed.). Dena Garson
Jimenez, L. (2003). Conquer fear! Stop defeating yourself--end self-sabotage: a unique blend
of psychology and theology to change your beliefs--and thus your results (6 th ed.). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Liu, B. (2015). Uncertainty Theory (6 th ed.). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer
