if carefully regulated. Too much disables. off a cliff, of deficient fear, so their disorders, the "hypophobias," still await of anxiety is an example of the benefit-cost tradeoffs that of selective compromises" (Alexander 1975). of diminishing returns applies to anxiety, as to so much else. A of further fear starts to rise above the incremental of erring on the side of caution are usually less Regulation of Anxiety by Cues of Danger : Too little anxiety leads to behavior that makes us more likely to fall attacked by a wild beast, hurt by other humans, or to act in ways that lead to social exclusion. People with too little anxiety do not come to psychiatrists complaining formal description. than those of risk taking, it is no wonder that anxiety disorders are frequent. Different environments select for different degrees of fear. On long-iso- lated islands, without predators many species lost their tendency to flee, fight, or hide. When humans arrived and brought in predators, the tame indigenous species were often killed off rapidly. The point is captured in the phrase "Dead It would be grossly inefficient to become anxious only after actual pain or loss. Instead, the nervous system has been shaped so that anxiety arises in response cues that denote potential threats. Most of the dangers an individual is likely to encounter have already been survived by its forebears. Individuals who recognized and responded to a hint of such threats lived longer and had more

doi:10.4324/9780203825266-74

Chapter

if carefully regulated. Too much disables. off a cliff, of deficient fear, so their disorders, the "hypophobias," still await of anxiety is an example of the benefit-cost tradeoffs that of selective compromises" (Alexander 1975). of diminishing returns applies to anxiety, as to so much else. A of further fear starts to rise above the incremental of erring on the side of caution are usually less Regulation of Anxiety by Cues of Danger

Chapter

Too little anxiety leads to behavior that makes us more likely to fall attacked by a wild beast, hurt by other humans, or to act in ways that lead to social exclusion. People with too little anxiety do not come to psychiatrists complaining formal description. than those of risk taking, it is no wonder that anxiety disorders are frequent. Different environments select for different degrees of fear. On long-iso- lated islands, without predators many species lost their tendency to flee, fight, or hide. When humans arrived and brought in predators, the tame indigenous species were often killed off rapidly. The point is captured in the phrase "Dead It would be grossly inefficient to become anxious only after actual pain or loss. Instead, the nervous system has been shaped so that anxiety arises in response cues that denote potential threats. Most of the dangers an individual is likely to encounter have already been survived by its forebears. Individuals who recognized and responded to a hint of such threats lived longer and had more

ABSTRACT

254 L M. Marks and R. M. Nesse