San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec

San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec




San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec

New drug could prevent the emotion of fear

By Paige Nordeen, Staff Columnist

Fear. You can identify the feeling whenever you come close to hitting the car ahead of you, when you know you forgot to turn off the oven in your apartment or when you sense a stranger following you. The feeling is commonplace and we all experience it at various levels of intensity.

Ask yourself: Does this feeling restrict our abilities to experience life at its fullest, or does it protect us from encountering extremely dangerous situations? I favor the latter.

Recently, two researchers, Roger Clem and Richard Huganir, developed a study at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine that focused on the part of the human brain that causes fear. According to npr.org, the researchers examined the change of proteins in the brains of mice after enduring shock and sound manipulation. Once the mice could draw a connection between hearing a particular sound to a feeling of shock, an abnormal protein developed in that memory area of their brains. Yet, after scientists could remove the protein, mice no longer reacted to the sound wave, producing absolutely no signs of fear.

Clem and Huganir realized this fearless change could possibly be manufactured for permanence. Where does that leave us? Apparently, the amygdala — an area in the brain responsible for emotions — is heavily connected to our memory system. Clem and Huganir, along with other institutions and researchers, speculate the conceivable creation of a drug that when administered shortly after a traumatic incident could permanently disconnect the person with feelings of fear.

Would this fear pill be beneficial to the human race? Absolutely not. Our brains — along with feelings of fear and pain — are there for a reason. Manipulating their meticulous designs would impair our innate instincts to be wary of dangerous situations. I imagine myself walking along a very high and extremely steep cliff. My stomach flips, my body temperature rises and I become queasy within moments. I back down. Why would I be tiptoeing the edge of death in the first place? My fear instincts have saved my life and I am thankful for them. If I was in a bank during a robbery and bullets were being fired in the building, I would hide behind whatever I could, thankful that I did not previously ingest a drug to block my better judgment.

On a larger scale, if the drug were to become readily available after a hop, skip and a jump to the doctor’s office, I could foresee a colossal predicament. Does prescription abuse ring any bells? I would run for the hills if I knew people all around me were jacked up on fear pills — undaunted and audacious — ready for anything. Young adults might find themselves facing a moral quandary; rather than shouting, “Let’s get wasted,” the new fad would be, “Let’s get fearless.” These hypothetical situations could result in a dangerous reality if the protein from our fear emotions were blocked.

On a serious note, I could understand the benefits for individuals dealing with hyper-phobias and post traumatic stress disorder; however, I believe the cons outweigh the pros. Science is constantly evolving and society continues to eat it up, literally. Have anxiety? There is a pill for that. Overweight? Take a diet pill. Can’t concentrate? Consume some Adderall. Now we’re seriously considering ways to dilute or remove natural feelings of fear. There was a time when people would naturally deal with various emotions rather than altering the brain chemistry to avoid them altogether. Fear keeps us in check. We know our boundaries as humans, and modifying our state of mind ultimately puts our ability to make informed and logical decisions at risk. With the invention of a fear pill, plunging down Niagara Falls in a barrel might make a comeback.

—Paige Nordeen is a media studies senior.

—The views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec.

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San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913
New drug could prevent the emotion of fear