How Does Anticipatory Anxiety Condition Us?

Anticipatory anxiety is a process that we carry out at the mental level, through which we imagine the worst that can happen in the face of a certain situation causing us stress or worry. For example,  before going for a job interview, you can imagine that you will be asked embarrassing questions that you will not be able to answer,  that the words will not come out of your mouth and that you will end up being rejected. as a candidate for the position.

One of the immediate consequences of this type of anxiety is that we stop focusing on the present, projecting dark clouds onto our future that we cannot remove precisely because we are unable to act in this future. . Anticipation is linked to catastrophic thoughts about the future. It is as if we live in near and constant danger and need to protect ourselves from possible future threats.

Negative thoughts fuel anticipatory anxiety

Even if we don’t want to, sometimes negative thoughts dominate our mind and cause us to feel anxious. When what we think makes us feel bad, we are talking about biased thinking or cognitive distortions. These types of thoughts make us see the world through a biased view of reality, as if we are wearing dark glasses that cloud our sunny days.

Imagine that you are in front of an audience and you have to give a talk. In the case of anticipatory anxiety,  we see catastrophic thoughts of the type “I will not be able to do it”, “I will forget everything”, “everyone will find me ridiculous”,  which will prevent you from thinking clearly about the during situations that we perceive to be threatening. If we repeat these kinds of thoughts often, they may eventually come true, through what psychologists call self-fulfilling prophecy.

Self-fulfilling prophecy generates a negative expectation that gradually shapes our behavior, until what we envisioned comes true. If we think we are going to get stuck in giving a presentation, it is possible that the circumstances are organizing for this situation to come true and confirm our negative prediction.

Anticipatory anxiety tries to predict the future and empire

Anxiety helps us mobilize our body in the face of a possible threat or real danger. Therefore, it is not inherently bad; on the contrary, it gives us information about possible imminent dangers. On the other hand,  anticipatory anxiety tries to predict the consequences of a future event,  tries to prevent a danger that has not yet happened, something that can serve us and protect us on certain occasions but which, in other words, other times, will complicate our way.

For example, if you imagine that you could be in a car accident, chances are the first thing you do when you get into a vehicle is to buckle up. This type of response can protect you in case you have an accident. Good, but not  all anticipatory anxiety answers help. If we continue with the situation in the example, if, because of your fear of having an accident, you stay at home and do not take the car, the anxiety will increase and will not be resolved.

Some symptoms that can manifest in the body when we suffer from anticipatory anxiety are: dizziness, tachycardia, sweating, chest pain, trembling voice, among others. On the other hand, we may have the feeling that our emotions are overflowing, or have a feeling of loss of control over the situation. These symptoms occur because of a lack of tolerance for what we cannot control; in other words,  we often find it difficult to deal with uncertainty and feel that we cannot control everything that is happening around us. 

Some keys to reducing your anticipatory anxiety

To overcome anticipatory anxiety, very often, psychological intervention will be necessary. Other times, it will have to be supplemented by pharmacological intervention. Some keys can be: stop thinking, focus on your breathing, practice mindfulness, play sports, train yourself to live in situations that scare you. We will study these points one by one.

Put a stop to your negative thoughts

Imagine that you can talk to your negative thoughts and tell them that you don’t want them to bother you anymore. Tell them that is enough, that you will listen to them later, and that at this point you would rather focus on more important matters. If we push our thoughts away, our emotions will no longer be so affected and we will be able to feel more confident.

This habit of putting off thinking about a specific idea works best when we set a day and time for that thought. In other words, it’s not about pushing it back indefinitely.

Practice the situations that scare you

If you gradually expose yourself to what scares you, your anxiety will gradually decrease. The solution is not to avoid what scares you, but to face small challenges that can push you to overcome your deepest fears. For example, if you are afraid of flying, a first step might be to pick someone up from the airport and see how planes take off and land.

Develop the art of living in the present

Anxiety happens because there is too much of a future in your life. Therefore, if you train yourself to live in the present, you can be more peaceful. Practices like mindfulness or meditation can help you overcome your anticipatory anxiety. For example, if you fix your attention on your breathing a few minutes before your presentation, your negative thoughts may disappear or, at the very least, be reduced.

Do some type of exercise that makes you feel good

Exercise can help you put your anxiety behind you once and for all. You will pay attention to your more physical dimension, to your body, but not only: you will also help your mental health. To transform the practice of an exercise into a routine, it is important to introduce it gradually. If you overdo it, you will only manage to get a good amount of injury and not put it on your diary for a long time.

If we use the energy of anticipatory anxiety as a drive to improve and learn more about ourselves, we will succeed in extracting its positive part. We can learn to face her and display a healthy degree of skepticism about what she is predicting to us. For that, we will have to  learn to play down and see that the worst that can happen to us is just a probability. The rest of life is spent here and now, right in front of our eyes, and we have the opportunity to use it to grow as people.

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