Creating ones own fear?

Hello Everyone,

Firstly I would like to say that I DO believe in the paranormal, I also believe in UFO's to an extent and I know that theres alot more to life than it seems.

I want to talk about fear, but more specifically the creation of fear within oneself. You all know what I'm talking about - you watch a horror film and go to sleep, maybe you have a bad dream and wake up but for a split second you truly believe something "isn't right" so to speak.

As a psychological experiment I have proved this (at least to myself) and have been camping with a group of people in the middle of the night, I have "suggested" I could see someone in the trees, result: mass panic.

How or where should I say do we draw the line between actual fear and imagined fear? Where do we draw the line between actual experiences and imagined experiences?

There is a very fine line between the two, every single person on this site has at one time or another scared themself.

Is it that some people have a pre-disposition to scaring themselves or is it that some people are naturally more aware of the things that go on around them?

Your thoughts...

Fear is an interesting topic. There are so many levels of fear, ways to achieve each level.
There is a safe fun fear. The type you might experience going through a haunted house. You know you are really safe, but suspend your disbelief long enough to ‘enjoy’ the experience of fear. Your fight or flight instincts kick in to a small degree, and at the end of the tour you laugh about how scared you were. Some people crave and enjoy that feeling.
There is that fear people have before doing something…extreme. Jumping out of planes, base jumping ect…People know there is a real thing to be afraid of, but overcome it to reach a rush point of adrenaline. Some people feel that they are conquering their fears.
Real fear, when something out of your control happens that is truly dangerous. A near miss of a car, a crime being perpetrated on you like a mugging or other violence.
Phobias. Which, can be something real, but amplified and given power beyond the rational. It can boarder paranoia.
I think to some degree we like to be scared from time to time. So, we suspend out disbelief to allow ourselves to think someone might be in the trees. Sometimes, I think it is a mix of wanting to be scared, and being truly afraid due in part to some subconscious phobia the person might have.
I think you have to look at individual people on a case by case basis to truly understand why someone gets scared over things. For instance, you take a needle in the hands of a trained professional to draw blood and deliver medicine and some people freak out. Is that real or imagined? Well, when you consider that really the chance of harm happening is minimum it seems imagined. It is completely REAL to the person experiencing the fear. Spiders can be a REAL thing to be afraid of, some have poison and the like, but even common house spiders can evoke a fight or flight in some people. Some people are afraid of flying, there is real danger there, but is also considered safer than travel on an American highway.
I think the key to understanding fear, is not blanketing everyone with one concept of fear, but understanding on a person-by-person basis. I don’t know.