Anxiety Treatment NYC: Are You Living With Anticipatory Anxiety?
“Anticipatory anxiety creates an illusion of control, and in life, the key is not to control everything, but to recognize what you can and what you can’t control and to live accordingly.”
– Life Unlocked: 7 Revolutionary Lessons to Overcome Fear
Anxiety happens. People experience fear and distress. We worry. It’s normal.
Yet, for some, anxiety stubbornly settles into their brains and bodies and stays too long. It gets stuck inside instead of dissolving away when the danger fades. Unhelpfully and unproductively, realistic thoughts can succumb to imagination, rumination, and worst-case scenarios.
For many people, anxiety is anticipatory in nature. In other words, worries and fears are focused on what could happen or what might go wrong.
If you are prone to this type of fear, your work, relationships, and daily functioning may be compromised or challenged. It may be difficult for you to remain present and engaged with others. Your partner, loved ones, and co-workers may feel frustrated, controlled, or overwhelmed by your preoccupation with potential problems, negative outcomes, or impending doom.
You aren’t alone in this. Some of your fears are even understandable. However, you deserve more than a life focused on fear. Recognizing the types of worries that are getting in your way and facing them are key. Knowledgeable support, diligence, and self-compassion are important keys to experiencing relief, resolving your anxiety, and finding your way forward with confidence.
Anxiety Treatment NYC: Is Anticipatory Anxiety a Disorder?
This type of anxiety is not a disorder in and of itself. It is, however, a symptom. Anticipatory anxiety is the type of fear that commonly fuels diagnosable and well-known anxiety conditions. Such disorders include Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), certain phobias, social anxiety, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). If you are prone to anticipatory anxiety, you may feel distressed for hours, days, weeks, or months before a deadline, gathering, or other events.
A helpful part of identifying whether anticipatory anxiety is an issue for you is recognizing the way you worry. Some common worries consume a lot of time and energy for those focused on the future. Consider the following fears that feed anticipatory anxiety, do they ring true for you?
Anxiety Treatment NYC: Common Causes of Anticipatory Anxiety
Worries about the future are often stoked by a fear of one or more of the following:
1. Being Unsafe or Unprotected
Are you often worried that you won’t be able to defend yourself or protect your family and property? Fearing that you will eventually be at the mercy of something or someone terrible can be difficult to live with, especially if the anxiety continues unchecked. Hypervigilance and the desire to control your surroundings may interfere with healthy decision-making and the quality of your relationships.
2. Not Having Enough or Losing It All
Do you ruminate heavily on the potential perils linked to work and money? If so, your life may be stressful as you aim to prevent material discomfort or career/ economic failure. Ruminating on upsetting possibilities of losing your job, income or savings can be especially frightening. You might find yourself saving or working compulsively or trying to control the financial choices of others in your life. Over time, this can be exhausting and compromise your physical or mental health and relationships considerably.
3. Being Humiliated, Ostracized, or Rejected
Do you fear that people are poised to gossip about you or waiting to point out your weaknesses? Self-doubt and insecurity can take the form of worry. This is the tough emotional stuff that can stoke social anxiety. Thus, you may fear the fallout of any risk, opportunity, or leaving your comfort zone in any way. As a result, you may find yourself missing out on new relationships, career advancement, and more.
4. Never Being Loved or Not Being Loved Authentically
Worrying that you will never find love or be loved for who you are is not unusual. However, if those anticipatory worries take root, they may drive you toward problematic or unproductive behavior like social avoidance, isolation, or undermining self-talk. You may need support in heading off loneliness and self-esteem issues that could foster deeper anxiety.
5. Physically Falling Apart
After our collective COVID-19 experience, health anxiety is no stranger to many of us. However, some people experience a deep fear of aging, possible injury or disease, and eventual death. If you struggle this way, this fear can be a real obstacle to planning for the future or trying novel experiences like travel or recreational activities.
Please understand that these fears are common but they do not have to control you or your choices. You can overcome them and contain them. You can challenge your thoughts and accept reality without fear or catastrophizing. Learning to assess things realistically and put anxiety in its place is a skill you can learn.
Anxiety Treatment NYC: How Therapy Can Help
What is the next step? Reach out to a therapist who understands the connection between your fear of the future and your mental health. You deserve to move forward confidently and capably. There is no shame in seeking support. Anxiety treatment can help you feel safer, understand your triggers, and calm your fears. You can take back control of your moods and emotions with a trustworthy guide.
Learn more about our Anxiety Treatment counseling services for help.
The Relationship Suite
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