Why do people scream when they are afraid?

 Of all the sounds humans make, nothing attracts our attention as much as screaming. So why do people scream uncontrollably?

Screaming is a release of fear

The first reaction to fright is often to scream. When a person feels fear, he or she will secrete adrenaline faster, so there is a rapid heartbeat, breathlessness, and so on. The person will then scream in order to release the excessive stress brought to the body due to excessive adrenaline secretion. This is an instinctive behavior. It serves to increase stress and can quickly maintain the stability of the body's environment in an emergency situation.

Screaming is the result of evolution

The behavior of screaming can be traced back to the time when our ancestors lived together with other primate ancestors. For them, screaming was a key social survival skill. Screaming plays a particularly important role in monkey groups. According to experts, monkeys' screams can convey a variety of messages, with different pitches and volumes representing different levels of urgency. For example, African long-tailed monkeys have evolved a series of distinctive screams that not only warn their companions but also indicate which natural enemies are nearby. From an evolutionary perspective, it is easy to see why a fearful scream is the most likely to attract attention, as it clearly signals imminent danger. Thus, our ancestors may have been very good at making screams and at distinguishing between the screams of others. Scientists believe that humans scream because the sound of a terrifying scream is an evolutionary positive behavior that warns of impending danger. Over the long history of evolution, people who cannot easily distinguish between different types of screams may not be able to respond appropriately in life-or-death situations, and in the long run, they disappear from the human population. Those who are good at screaming and can hear the "meaning" of the scream can safely survive the crisis. Scientists believe that the primitive people who do not love to scream are extinct, and that modern people are the descendants of the primitive people who love to scream.

Why does screaming create a sense of fear?

Scream is one of the essential elements of horror films, every time people hear a scream, they will instantly feel a few more points of terror around them, why is the scream so powerful?

A scientific study shows that the reason why the scream is so scary is because of the high roughness of the scream. The higher the roughness of the sound, the easier it is for the amygdala of the brain to capture the sound, and the amygdala is the area of the brain responsible for feeling fear and danger. Such sounds are rarely heard in normal life, so once you hear such sounds, the brain will activate the "alarm". It is because humans have evolved over the centuries to tacitly consider screams as "alarm" and "cry for help" type of sound, screams have been given a very strong emotion, so every time you hear a scream, people will be more fearful.

Why do women scream more than men?

Women are more likely to express their emotions through their voices. Psychologists have done comparative experiments on the fear of men and women in the same environment, and the results show that the fear of men and women is the same, but women prefer to scream to express their emotions, what is the reason for this? Data show that the number of men talking is only 1/3 of women, women are more willing to use words to express their emotions. This is due to the sensitivity of women. For women, when they encounter difficulties, they communicate with their friends to relieve stress. In addition, society is more tolerant of women, so when faced with a situation, men will choose to suppress their emotions, while women will choose to scream or yell. This is when couples fight, women's emotions will change with the attitude of men. They will accumulate all the unhappiness and negative emotions and finally burst out screaming at once.

Screaming is an expression of emotion, but also can become their own umbrella, the appropriate scream can relieve stress. Human genetics dictate that women are weaker, so when in danger they need to scream to find male protection and use high-decibel sounds to scare off enemies.