Frightening question: Can you literally be scared to death?
Can fear actually kill you? An AsapScience video shows that while the risk for most people is very low, intense fear can kill under the right circumstances.
Being scared is a natural response to things that are frightening or can legitimately hurt you, but can being scared actually kill you? A new video from AsapScience explores.
In the video, AsapScience says that yes, you actually can be scared to death, but the chances depend on how healthy your heart is. When you experience fear, the natural fight or flight response kicks in, triggering the release of of adrenaline. This influx of the stress hormone makes your heart beat faster to pump more blood and oxygen to your muscles and increase your likelihood of quickly escaping the thing that's making you afraid.
In most cases, the level of adrenaline isn't high enough to be dangerous, but something that is super scary can kick adrenaline production into overdrive. If the adrenaline response is too great for too long, your heart might not be able to keep up, causing tissue damage or, worse, a heart that stops beating altogether.
But before you panic and never ever leave your house again, remember that the chances of being scared to death are extremely low, especially for those with healthy functioning hearts. And those with extreme anxieties and phobias can reduce their risk by training themselves to think differently about what scares them.
Learn more about how the adrenaline response works and the havoc fear wreaks on your body by watching the video at the top of this post. And then do some meditation or yoga or whatever helps you stay relaxed.