Fear Management

Powerful, necessary, and often paralysing emotion. Doctors manage fear (in themselves and in their patients) to prevent it from taking control of their lives. Learn to manage fear like a surgeon!

What is fear?

Fear is a learned emotion¹, stemming from interactions with our environment rather than being innately programmed into us at birth. We acquire fears through direct experiences, such as a painful encounter with a hot stove, being bitten by a wasp or a dog, indirectly witnessing others' fearful reactions, watching those reactions on TV, reading about them in books, or hearing stories about dangerous situations.

This learning process is reinforced by the brain's ability to associate certain stimuli with danger, prompting an automated “fear response” aimed at avoiding or mitigating real or imagined threats.

While basic body responses have a genetic component, the specific triggers and intensities of our fears are largely shaped by learning from our surroundings.

Because fear is learned, it can also be unlearned.

Can you retrain your brain and overcome fear?

Yes. Fear can be eliminated with logical thinking.

People often believe that they are not courageous or brave enough. They believe there exists a special trait that you need to be born with to overcome your fears.

Nothing can be further from the truth. You already have everything you need to deal with ANY fears in your life.

Surgeons are often assumed to be courageous. And like most assumptions, this one is also incorrect.

Think about it: Courage and bravery are not the traits commonly sought in surgeons! No patient has ever asked to be operated on by the “most courageous surgeon” or to be put to sleep by the “bravest anaesthesiologist”!

So why do many surgeons appear to be courageous? Because in order to be effective you need to learn to be courageous. You need to be willing to make difficult decisions, in split-second, often without full context. You need to be comfortable with your failures, and be willing to live with their consequences. You must be brave to bring the bad news to a grieving family.

How do surgeons combat fear?

By memorising the following equation: