Fear Is a Liar.
Your brain's ancient survival system was built for a world that no longer exists. It still fires every day — at emails, silence, uncertainty, other people's success. This book shows you exactly how it works, why it lies, and how to stop letting it run your life.
About The Book
After thirty years of medicine, Dr. Glassman noticed the same pattern in nearly every patient: the fear driving their behavior had almost nothing to do with the actual danger in their lives. Their brains were reacting to a modern world using outdated circuitry designed for protection from predators and famine — and it was quietly running everything: their health decisions, their relationships, their sense of worth.
Fear Is a Liar names that system — the Automatic Brain — and traces its influence across every domain of daily life. Then it goes further. It introduces the other voice: the Mind, the steady, reflective part of you that fear cannot reach. Together, the two parts of this book give you a framework for understanding why fear lies, and what becomes possible when it no longer runs your choices.
What You’ll Learn
-
Why the same brain circuit that once protected your ancestors now fires at a delayed text or a sideways glance
-
How the Automatic Brain disguises itself as wisdom, caution, and even love — while quietly driving avoidance, control, and conflict
-
Why calm and clarity aren't personality traits — they're skills, and they can be learned
-
How to distinguish real danger from a fear reflex in real time, before it drives your behavior
-
What the Mind actually is — and how it communicates through clarity, resonance, and trust when fear stops drowning it out
-
Why this framework bridges neuroscience and the divine — and why both matter for lasting change
What Early Readers Are Saying
"Comparable to The Power of Now and The Untethered Soul – but more practical."
Stuart G., 66
"I use this every day now – especially in situations where I used to overreact."
Miriam S., 38
"The clarity around the Automatic Brain made me see my own reactions instantly."
Jonathan H., 67
"A holistic, mind-body-soul approach that uncovers root causes – not just symptoms."
Lisa D., 57
"The book has a great flow. It’s clear,
engaging, and a winner."
Elizabeth L., 72
The Core
Idea
Two voices. One choice.
The Automatic Brain (AB)
Primitive, reactive, survival-driven
-
Treats possibility as probability
-
Drives anxiety, control, conflict, and insecurity
-
Operates instantly and without context
Much of what goes wrong in our lives happens when we listen to fear.
But there is another voice.
The Mind
Reflective, steady, fair.
-
Distinguishes danger from discomfort.
-
Aligns with clarity, trust, and perspective.
-
Responds rather than reacts.
Part II:
The Mind
What restores clarity, peace, and trust
-
The Mind Revealed
-
Coincidence and the Bigger Picture
-
Integrity, Courage, Forgiveness
-
Trust and Love
Part I:
The Automatic Brain
Why fear feels real—even when it isn’t
-
The One-Up Danger
-
The Brain That Cried Wolf
-
The Fear Cycle
-
The Illusion of Control
-
Fake News by Your Brain
About
Dr. Charles F. Glassman
Charles F. Glassman, MD, is a physician and author who has spent more than three decades observing how fear shapes behavior, health, and identity—often without people realizing it. Through medicine, long-term patient relationships, and broader systems-level work, he began to notice a consistent pattern: much of what people experience as anxiety, control, or self-sabotage is driven by a primitive survival reflex rather than true danger.
One of the first physicians in the United States to establish a concierge medical practice, Dr. Glassman now consults in longevity research and writes and speaks under the CoachMD platform.
For Media
For more than thirty years, Dr. Charles F. Glassman has explored a question at the center of modern anxiety: why ordinary circumstances can feel threatening even when no real danger is present. Fear Is a Liar distills insights from medicine, human behavior, and long-term clinical observation into a clear framework for understanding fear—and for moving beyond reflexive reactions toward clarity and trust.
Additional background, context, and editorial information are available below.
Join the Reader List
Receive two opening chapters from Fear Is a Liar before the book is released. These chapters introduce the core framework—why fear often arises when nothing is actually wrong—and how understanding that mechanism begins to loosen its hold.
Readers on this list may also receive occasional notes as the work evolves and additional resources become available.
