Real or perceived - whose call is it?

MJ: Is fear real or imagined? How is this analyzed? When I could not say my name out loud because (my fear was) my abuser would hear me from three hours away and appear out of thin air to know where I was…that was a very real fear that kept me from speaking, yet not rational. What was I experiencing?

Percell: In my field, the technical term for Irrational Fear is Phobia. Again, it is important to understand that there is a difference between fear and being afraid. In common language, we typically do not make that distinction, but when dealing with it, one must. Fear (the unknown of) is the opposite emotion of Love (the attraction to). In your stated situation, neither of these things existed. What you were experiencing was the affects of your own negative thoughts of bad or hurtful things in your life; not the reality of your abuser hearing you and appearing out of the blue. The fix at that point was within, but, as happens with most of us, you were probably too consumed with the external rather than internal.