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THE “FEAR VIRUS”

 By Sid Heal

“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” – Edmund Burke

Fear: that pervasive feeling of impending danger. It begins quietly, unnoticed at first, just a slight feeling of uneasiness. Gradually it builds into anxiety, a sense of foreboding. You may not have recognized it, but now you feel it.

Time passes and it builds. After a while, you feel the first pangs which you can positively identify as fear. You deny it. You’re just upset. You think, “Maybe I’m coming down with something,” or “I’m just tired.” Concentration is difficult and your mind wanders aimlessly.

You look at your partner. Is he scared, too? His eyes are wide and the fear grows. Now, it is breeding, for, you see, fear is contagious! It spreads from one to the other, building faster and faster as if some strange virus has spawned. Now, look at your partner’s eyes. He’s got it, too! You can see it in his glistening wide eyes. Where will it stop?

Care and Treatment for the Fear Virus Infection

Fear is “a reaction to a recognized threat, characterized by a feeling of disagreeable tension and an impulse to escape the danger.” It is a natural, understandable reaction to a recognized or perceived threat. Fear can be stimulating and constructive, but, if allowed to go unchecked, it can lead to panic and hysteria. 

Fear can not be conquered, but it can be controlled. Tactical situations are some of the most stressful circumstances a young police officer will ever experience. It is a breeding ground for the “fear virus.” But, like a virus, it can be controlled and in any life threatening situation, it is the strong, confident leader who has the greatest impact.

The police officer who wishes to succeed in tactical situations needs to recognize fear for what it is – an emotion – nothing more, nothing less. Like anger, love, hate or sadness, it occurs whether you want it to or not. But, of all the emotions, fear is the most debilitating. It robs units of leadership and cohesiveness. When the fear virus is most contagious, it is called hysteria. In this form, it spreads unchecked, running rampant through the ranks causing chaos, each person infecting another.

The strong leader has the most profound impact in controlling this virus. More influential than the most skilled medical doctor, a stout leader has the ability to provide a preventative treatment program more effective than the strongest antibiotic. Here are a few of them:

• Fatigue: Fatigue, like fear, has the ability to rob a normally healthy person of his (or her) ability to reason. This lowers the resistance to fear and provides a foothold. Leaders who recognize this ensure their troops are rested and as relaxed as possible when situations which generate fear are likely to be encountered.

• Physical Conditioning: A person who is confident of his (or her) physical abilities is more self-assured than one who has doubts. Because they have a better mental attitude, it makes them less vulnerable and more resistant. A person in poor physical condition is inviting an infection of the fear virus.

• Recognize It: By admitting that it is a normal human emotion, one which everyone on Earth has experienced at some time or another, you remove the mystery. For you see, the fear virus thrives on the unknown. What isn’t known encourages speculation and humans are prone to presume the worst. The most common carrier of the fear virus is a beast called the “rumor monger.” The rumor monger spreads the fear virus and makes it even more difficult to treat by mutating it.

• Set the Example: Leaders who are described in personnel evaluations with adjectives like stalwart, reliable, assured, self-confident, bold, dauntless, resolute, and steady project this image and feeling to their troops. It is almost impossible for the fear virus to survive in this environment. It will come and go faster than a summer cold.

• Camaraderie: One of the strongest inhibitors of the fear virus is the feeling of brotherhood police officers have for one another. The fear of letting your partner down is much stronger than the fear one experiences from the unknown. The strong leader should always encourage this bond.

• Training: Training removes much of the unknown by instilling self-confidence. When a person is confident of his (or her) abilities and those of his (or her) partner, they are less apt to doubt. Doubt is the first symptom of the unknown. 

• Duty: “A man who permits his honor to be taken permits his life to be taken.” The officer with a sense of purpose who believes in a cause is all but immune to the fear virus. Such a person resolutely follows what he believes to be right – even when afraid. Any leader worthy of the name insures that his (or her) troops understand what it is they are fighting for. 

No one is immune to the fear virus, but, like the common cold, there are some who seem to catch it less often and suffer less from its effects when they do catch it. These are the people who have recognized it for what it is and have prepared for it. Everyone catches the fear virus at one time or another – like the common cold. But, not everyone catches the flu or pneumonia, nor should we allow our troops to catch their “fear virus” counterparts – panic and hysteria. Like a cold, the fear virus is a nuisance, but, like the flu and pneumonia, panic and hysteria can be deadly!

About the Author: Sid Heal has been in law enforcement for more than 27 years and is currently a captain with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, assigned as the commanding officer of the Special Operations Bureau. He is also a CWO-5 in the Reserve of the USMC, with nearly 34 years of service and three combat tours. This article was originally written as partial fulfillment of the Marine Corps’ War Fighting Skills Course.