Survival's Instinct
"Fear is an emotion indispensable for survival." ~Hannah Ardent.
Spencer knew monsters aren't real.
At 4 years old he already knew that his fear of the dark is irrational; every time he checked, every time he turned up the light, there was nothing there.
It didn't make him feel any better.
His mother told him it was okay to be scared. His father told him he needed to get over it, "Because it's a weakness" he said.
When his classmates found out – and as a result the entire school – they came up with a plan to "make his fear go away" and put it to action.
He didn't come back to school for 4 weeks and always carried a flashlight with extra batteries ever since.
By the time he joined the FBI he learned how to hide his feelings in public. His mother told him his 'survival's instinct' shouldn't be hiding his emotions, but he couldn't bring himself to open up to other people like he did with his fear of the dark.
Because now Spencer knows monsters are real.
He just didn't know how literal this statement is.