Breathing exercises cope extreme face get over harm panic phobia

1. The best way to _____ a fear is to put yourself in the situation that makes you afraid.
2. It's important to control your feelings when you have to _____ a fear.
3. _____ can help to keep you calm. They relax you and allow you to focus.
4. When people see someone _____ they react in a worried and stressed way as well.
5. People who can't _____ with and manage their fears need to seek help.
6. Fear is normal, but a _____ is more serious and can change your life.
7. A lot of people are scared of things that are safe and cannot _____ us.
8. My fear of flying is very _____. I avoid traveling because it is so bad.
B Before you read
Look at these situations. What fear might each one cause?
1. Being bitten by an animal as a child
2. Being embarrassed in front of a lot of people
3. Getting lost in a large place such as a mall
This might make you afraid of...
C Global reading
1. Underline the topic sentence in each paragraph of Fears, learning, coping.
2. Use the topic sentences to identify the main idea of each paragraph.
Fears, learning, coping
1. Many people have a fear of things like snakes, spiders, heights, water, and small
spaces. If the time when we did not live in houses, but in nature, we faced many more
situations to protect ourselves from things that might injure or harm us, such as a bite
from a poisonous snake or we developed a response to dangers from animals. Because
of this, we have almost dangerous. For example, not all fears are something we
encounter from birth. You may react by developing a fear of trouble in water or had a
drown, dog, of course, you see someone in water. Or, if a parent has a fear of heights,
it is quite common for their children to also develop a fear of heights. The cause of
this is not genetic. We are not born with this fear because of our parents, it is because
children have learned behavior and attitudes from their parents.
2. One important thing to consider is the difference between what we call a fear and what
we consider a phobia. While almost everyone has a fear of something, it is only
classified as a phobia by psychologists if it is so serious it causes you problems in your
daily life. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America claims that 19 million
Americans (around 6% of the population) have certain phobias, such as crossing
bridges or traveling through tunnels. Another 15 million (around 5%) have a social
phobia such as public speaking. Unfortunately, those who have one phobia are likely
to have others too.
 3. Because many fears are learned during our lives, we just have to learn different ways
of coping and adjust our attitudes to the things we are afraid of. If they confront the
fear in small ways, they might learn to control how people react to the situation and
not panic. It can not stop the fear completely, but it will probably help to reduce fears.
They have experienced for a long time by using a variety of practices better and to
focus on other issues. Many people manage to cope better and use breathing exercises
and imagine themselves in a happy place. Others use people do different ways of
coping. Some people cope by thinking about the proof. If you're scared of being in a
broken elevator and just running out of air, think of sharks, but they have happened to
kill five people a year, it is believed you are more likely to be killed by a snack
vending machine falling on top of you.
4. One of the most extreme ways of dealing with a fear is to face your fears directly. As a
child, Alain Robert was afraid of heights, but he dealt with the fear when the building
to get in. Since then, he has climbed some of the world's tallest landmarks including
Chicago's Sears Tower and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Facing your fears might make
you achieve things you never thought were possible.
D Close reading
You do not need to know every word in a paragraph to understand the general meaning. You
can also use the words you do know, sentences before and after the word, and the main ideas
of the paragraph to help you work out the meaning of new words.
1. Find the following words in Fears, learning, coping. Use the context of the paragraphs
to help you choose the correct definition for each word.
1. genetic (paragraph 2) _____
2. classified (paragraph 2) _____
3. confront (paragraph 4) _____
4. practices (paragraph 4) _____
5. proof (paragraph 5) _____
6. landmarks (paragraph 6) _____
a. to face or deal with a problem
b. an activity or way of doing something
c. things we are born with because of our parents
d. a famous building or sight
e. information or evidence that shows that something is definitely true or exists
f. to put people or things into groups
2. Answer the questions using no more than three words from the text.
1. What fear might you develop if you see someone almost drown?
2. What do children learn about fears from their parents?
3. What kind of phobia do 15 million Americans have?
 4. What won't happen if you control your fear?
5. What kills more people than sharks every year?
E Critical thinking
Answer the questions in groups.
1. What behaviors and attitudes do you think children learn about fear?
2. Do you think people can change our attitudes to fears if we want to? Why / why not?
As far as I'm concerned, phobias can be learned because ... I definitely feel that
phobias can be unlearned because ...
Reading 2
A Vocabulary Preview
1. Match the words in bold with the correct definitions.
 calm (adj) - g. not affected by strong emotions
 defense (n) - c. to keep someone or something safe from harm, injury, damage, or loss
 energy (n) - a. the power and enthusiasm for wanting to do something
 escape (v) - d. to get away from something, especially danger
 hormone (n) - h. a chemical made in plants, people, and animals that controls how we
feel and act
 protect (v) - c. to keep someone or something safe from harm, injury, damage, or loss
 reaction (n) - e. the way you feel or behave because of something that happens
 scared (adj) - b. frightened or worried
2. Complete the sentences with words from Exercise 1 in the correct form.
3. The fear gave them the energy to move quickly.
4. It's natural to try to escape and run away from danger.
5. When some animals are scared, they stop moving until the danger has passed.
6. The biologist is studying the hormones and chemicals that make us feel worried.
7. Animals try to protect their young in a dangerous situation.
8. She has a very serious phobia to flying that makes her feel sick. It's a bad phobia.
9. He rushed to his friend's defense when she was in danger.
10. It is important to remain calm when you speak in front of a lot of people, but it is
difficult.
11. Describe how you feel and your reactions in each of these situations.
 Facing a dangerous animal: I would feel scared and try to escape or defend myself.
  Giving a presentation: I might feel nervous or anxious, but I would try to stay calm
and focus on my presentation.
 Being trapped in an elevator: I would feel scared and trapped, and I would try to find a
way to get help.
B Before you read
Discuss these questions with a partner.
1. What fears do your friends and family have?
2. What reactions do they have to their fears?
1 Most people connect fear with negative feelings, but it can actually be very positive as well.
Fear is natural and something we are born with. We have always needed it to keep us safe
from danger. If we face a dangerous situation, we can find abilities that we often do not know
we have.
2 In the past, humans faced danger every day so they learned to respond to it straight away to
stay alive. This natural reaction can also be seen in many animals. Take cuttlefish, an animal
in the same family as a squid and octopus. These creatures have an amazing ability to change
color and shape. They use this to both fight and escape. With the help of their bright colors,
they make other fish slower and easier to catch. Their color also helps them to hide in their
environment. Another fish, the electric eel, uses its electric shock to catch food and for self-
defense, as an action to protect itself from others. Humans might not have such unusual
responses but they do still have a fight or flight instinct, which is the body’s natural way of
keeping us safe by either facing the danger or getting away from it as quickly as possible.
3 Our bodies react in a number of different ways when we are in a dangerous situation. For
example, our reactions often become faster, we become stronger and have more energy. Under
pressure we become nervous and some simple skills such as putting a key in a door often
become worse. However, physical abilities such as running and jumping tend to improve. If
an angry dog chases you, you will probably run away from it faster. In a normal situation we
often only use 65% of our strength, but studies have shown that this can increase to as much
as 85% in more dangerous situations.
4 So how does our body create such a reaction? Fear is a natural reaction in the brain to an
external stressful or dangerous situation and is the body’s internal way of trying to stay calm.
Hormones are released that cause our heart to beat faster and our breathing to become quicker.
This response is known as the fight or flight response and it makes it difficult to remain calm.
Instead, you might run away or fight the situation that scared you. The fight or flight response
is a very quick reaction that happens before you are aware of it. The brain reacts a little more
slowly. When the brain processes the situation it can decide, based on experience, if there is
no danger. The first increase of energy then stops and you feel calmer again.
5 In biology, the brain causes the body to release over 30 different hormones, such as
adrenaline, a chemical that gives you more energy when frightened, excited, or angry, to help
keep us safe. These hormones cause a range of reactions. Some senses such as our eyes
change to let more light in. Other parts of the body become tense because of the adrenaline
and glucose, a sugar produced in the body. More blood is sent to our muscles and organs, for
example, the heart and other parts of the body that do specific jobs to keep us alive. We often
feel cold and connect fear with being cold because our bodies are keeping us and our organs
safe, instead of keeping us warm. It is also why we feel tired when we recover from a shock.
Fear is designed to protect us.
6 Although we might not face as many physical dangers today as we did in the past, fear still
helps to keep us safe. It stops us from doing stupid things, like walking out into a busy road or
not being careful on a high building. It limits the risks that we are willing to take. However,
these limits may also take away some opportunities in our lives. One common fear is a fear of
failure. Many people are not willing to take risks because they are too scared of failing. This
fear can lead to people not taking good chances. The risk of making a mistake is minimized,
but it also means people are less likely to try new things and may achieve less. This desire to
avoid failure can make people act differently to when they feel more confident.
7 While fear may make people work slowly, and even limit opportunities in life, it can also
make us better at certain things. People who experience fear often are usually better at making
decisions as they understand the risk more quickly. If people always only see the positives in
things, they may not pay attention to negative information they receive. As a result, this can
make them poor decision makers.
8 When we combine anxiety and fear with training, the results can be even more positive. If
we are well-trained and prepared, we can react to stressful situations in a normal and calm
way. Fear and adrenaline from the fight or flight instinct make you quick to respond to things
while training means you know what to do. This is why emergency professionals train for a
wide range of situations and can remain calm when most of us would panic. Fear can be used
to your advantage as long as you plan ahead and do your research.
C Global reading
Skim each paragraph in Fight or flight and identify in which paragraph you could find the
information to answer these questions.
1. What is the body naturally trying to do when we feel fear?
2. What things can fear stop us doing today?
3. Which animal changes color to keep it safe?
4. What can fear make us better at?
5. What happens to our reactions when we are in danger?
6. How can training help us deal with situations many fear?
7. How do biology and hormones affect our eyes when we are in danger?
D Close reading
1. Read the text and answer the questions in C Global reading.
While it is often possible to use the context of a paragraph to find the meaning of new words,
sometimes unusual words are defined in the text. This is often true if the words are very
specific and unlikely to be known, for example with scientific vocabulary. There might be full
definitions where the meaning of the word is explained, e.g.
 When an animal is scared, it will try to escape, get away from something.
Or the new words can be defined using examples:
  In an emergency it is important to have a calm reaction, like speaking softly to
someone who is hurt.
2. Work with a partner. Student A find the definitions for 1-3. Student B find the
definitions for 4-6.
1. self-defense
2. fight or flight instinct
3. physical abilities
4. adrenaline
5. glucose
6. organs
3. Try to explain the meaning of the words in Exercise 2 to your partner.
E Critical thinking
1. Fight or flight claims that fear can stop us from taking risks. Do you think avoiding
risk is a good or bad thing?
2. Do you agree that fear stops people from achieving what they want to? What examples
can you think of?
Vocabulary and Preposition Collocations
Many words commonly collocate (are used together) with another word. Collocations are
sometimes different in other languages. For accuracy in English, it is important to learn which
words go together.
1. Read the sentences and choose the correct preposition to complete each collocation in
bold.
1. To get good grades, you need to pay attention and focus on / focus to your work.
2. I'm really worried because the teacher is going to comment on / comment for our
work today. I don't like getting feedback.
3. I have a few fears, but I really suffer from / suffer out a fear of small spaces.
4. It took me a while to recover from / recover out the shock, but I feel fine now.
5. My normal response to danger is to run away from / run away to the situation.
6. It's natural to try to protect others from / protect others to danger.
7. I got over my fear of spiders with the help of friends / family.
8. One way to stay calm is to breathe in and out / breathe up and down.
2. Complete the advice below with collocations from Exercise 1.
1. Try to think about and _____ a happy place or experience. It will keep you calm.
2. If you _____ a phobia, speak to your doctor.
3. If you don’t like a situation, you should _____ and go somewhere else.
 4. With the help of _____ it is possible to get over any fear.
5. Try to _____ for five seconds and _____ for five seconds to feel more relaxed.
6. Don’t _____ other people’s fears in a negative way. It won’t help them.
7. It’s not always a good idea to try to _____ their fear. Sometimes they need to face their
fear.
8. It can take time to _____ feeling scared. Allow plenty of time to calm down.
3. Look at these situations. Discuss with a partner the best advice to help with these.
1. Finding a large spider in the bath
2. Being stuck in a broken elevator
3. Being outside in a storm