[lr4444lr]

I think this splits hairs. Yes, fear means "perceived" threat. You could be acculturated to handling venomous snakes, but that doesn't male the average modern society dweller pathologically fearful of the same snakes. Anxiety is about the distorted anticipation of a threat. E.g., the snake handler has been doing this his whole life, but after seeing his brother accidentally step on one, get bitten, and die, he starts fearing that every one of his future interactions with snakes will be so likely to entail that outcome that he refuses to touch them anymore, and can't avoid a panic attack if he's in the room with one, despite all his past skill.

[anon373839]

I was responding to a suggestion that fear occurs when the trigger is a “real” threat. But of course, the feeling is the same regardless of whether the hazard is real.

Also, since I’ve already been accused of hair-splitting, I might as well point out:

> can't avoid a panic attack

There’s no need to avoid a panic attack. In fact, trying to avoid a panic attack feeds the panic.