Can Fear Kill You?

Yes, fear really can kill you. On June 28, 1962, 85-year-old Mary Mullen was found dead on the sofa of her apartment on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston. She was the second of thirteen women who were killed by Albert DeSalvo, the man dubbed “The Boston Stranger,” except that unlike the other victims, she had not been sexually assaulted, strangled, or stabbed. Albert confessed that she had simply died in his arms when he grabbed her. Remarkably, her death certificate confirms this; her death is attributed to a heart attack. Mary Mullen had died of fright, and she was not the only one.

As you can imagine, the entire city was gripped with fear. Body after body of single women, strangled with their own nylon stockings, in their own homes, were being discovered by law enforcement with no viable suspect in sight. The police and media issued warnings to women to refrain from admitting strangers into their homes. Carole Frank’s book, The Boston Strangler, tells the story of a housewife who was expecting a friend one night. When she answered the door, she found herself face to face with a male stranger, not the friend she was expecting. Seized by terror, she died instantly of a heart attack. But, alas, the stranger at her door was simply an encyclopedia salesman.

As with the women, there are cases of acute fear where the body overreacts, the heart over-races, and your fear literally kills you. However, what is more likely is that you are living with chronic fear. Your anxiety over your job, your partner, and the ticking clock of your life has soaked into your bones and raised your stress threshold to the point that your fight-flight-freeze (FFF) response is constantly triggered. Your heartrate is constantly elevated, your blood pressure is continuously high, your immune system is consistently compromised. You are a sitting duck for the next illness, you are constantly tired, and your short fuse is sabotaging your relationships. You have likely reduced your own life expectancy.

Fear can kill you. Period. That’s why, before you learn swimming skills and techniques, you need to learn the Five Firm Foundations For Freedom From Fear. The course teaches you how to avoid panic and learn to enjoy yourself in water. Sign up here.