A lot of research has been done on the working of the brain and still scientists can’t say that they fully understand the functioning of the brain.
One of the major discoveries in the field of behavior and the effect of environment on human behavior was when John B. Watson performed the infamous “Little Albert” experiment in 1920 to ingrain fear in a little child. The child was conditioned to be afraid of many things like a dog, a rabbit, and even wool.
This experiment shocked the biological world where the many scientists believed that it was the genetics that played the major role in the behavior of person. John B. Watson, even though criticized for the immoral behavior of the experiment, proved to the world that it was the environment that played a major role in the behavior. Watson proved that FEAR WAS LEARNED and not inherited.
Fortunately, no such experiment has been repeated on human beings, but studies have shown that just like Little Albert, human beings can be conditioned to be afraid of anything.
Burrhus Frederic Skinner proposed a similar theory as Watson that human behaviors can be conditioned through conditioning. And behavior can be used to modify a person’s experience of life.
Such behavior can be seen in people suffering from panic disorder or anxiety disorder. Repeated anxious behavior and fear of panic disorder will print this behavior in the psyche of the person, and it will become a habit to be constantly afraid of panic attacks or every little thing in life.
Similarly, the same process of repetition can be used to reverse this process and people can use the same process that they used to learn the habit of anxiety to unlearn the habit. That is, by repeating the process of not being afraid of panic attacks, and not being anxious.
However, for an anxiety disorder sufferer, it is next to impossible to just stop being anxious and stop dreading a panic attack. This is why they need to learn their thought process and find a way to stop the anxious thoughts and the fear of panic attack before it takes over them and triggers the fight or flight response.
This is taught in Cognitive Behavior Therapy by therapist and also in the Panic Away program.
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