What to do to combat anticipatory anxiety?

Some key ideas on how to deal with anticipatory anxiety, a common form of distress.

Anticipatory anxiety is a phenomenon that underlies many forms of psychological distress. It is not only part of the growth mechanisms of anxiety disorders (i.e. mental disturbances that are so severe that they require professional treatment).

In the following we will see several advices to diminish the anticipatory anxiety and that it does not become a problem that reinforces itself.

What is anticipatory anxiety?

Let's start with the basics: defining the term "anticipatory anxiety". It is a significant increase in our levels of anxiety, due to our fear to suffer in a future fear to suffer in the future from situations that pose a danger to our health.even if there is nothing in the here and now that is a threat.

People who experience this are perfectly capable of seeing that there is nothing in the present situation capable of posing a danger, and even that nothing they can do in the next few seconds will greatly improve their options for what they fear will occur later, but nevertheless they enter a state of high arousal and alertness, as if the consequences of making a wrong move could inflict great discomfort.

On the other hand, anticipatory anxiety is related to anxiety sensitivity. This factor, which as far as is known probably depends in large part on genetics but also on the patterns of interaction with the environment that we have learned and internalized, consists of our tendency to interpret uncomfortable stimuli and forms of discomfort in general as something that poses a danger, which will precipitate an abrupt rise in our anxiety levels.

Thus, those who have a high sensitivity to anxiety are in a vulnerable situation, because there are many more events capable of causing them to suffer anxiogenic disturbances. Being aware of this personal trait increases the expectation of unexpected peaks of stress and distress, feeding anticipatory anxiety. A situation of self-fulfilling prophecy is thus created.

How to combat anticipatory anxiety

Follow these key ideas to better manage anticipatory anxiety in your day-to-day life.

1. Sleep and eat well

It may not seem like it, but maintaining a good state of physical health significantly reduces our vulnerability to anxiety.. The quality of sleep is especially important, as relatively small decreases in the number of hours slept have been shown to greatly increase the likelihood of developing mood and anxiety-related disturbances.

Set sleep schedules for each day of the week and respect them, and try to maintain a balanced diet that provides you with all the nutrients you need, no more and no less.

2. Do not try to fight against anticipation

When it comes to combating anticipatory anxiety, something paradoxical happens; trying to actively counteract this psychological tendency only gives it more strength, makes it more likely that this combination of stress and distress will cause us to suffer again..

As its name suggests, anticipatory anxiety is related to the inferences we make about what will happen, which means that trying to combat it by using arguments to convince ourselves that nothing will happen is not usually a good idea, at least if it is the only measure we take to prevent the distress from affecting us. Thinking about it too much will only feed anxiety, and all our efforts to reason will be built up. all our efforts to reason will be built on the flawed ground of intense psychological discomfort..

3. Respect breaks

Even if we are preparing for something very important, such as a final exam, rest periods must be given the importance they deserve; not doing so will make us perform worse.Failure to do so will make us perform worse, as well as generate more discomfort. If we do not abuse a passive attitude, resting is not wasting time, it is investing it in being in better conditions.

Therefore, it is recommended that you create periods of rest for your day to day. When the anticipatory anxiety arrives, force yourself to dedicate the next few minutes to calm down and feel good again, and nothing else. To do this, get away from what you were doing and rest somewhere comfortable where you enjoy some privacy and calm.

4. Practice controlled breathing exercises

Many times, the anxiety is maintained mainly due to the difficulties to oxygenate itself or produced by the muscular tension itself. That is why controlling your breathing to be able to breathe in slowly and deeply several times helps to get out of this vicious circle of anticipatory anxiety.

5. Go to a psychologist

Finally, you may need to attend some sessions of psychological psychological intervention sessions so that a professional can supervise your case in a personalized way.. It has been proven that there are several therapeutic strategies capable of helping those who suffer from anxiety on a regular basis to manage it, and that the beneficial effects of these interventions are long lasting.

If you are interested in having professional support in this aspect or any other that has to do with the regulation of emotions and stress, you can see my contact details by clicking on this link.

Bibliographic references:

• Gu, R., Huang, Y.X., Luo, Y.J. (2010). Anxiety and feedback negativity. Psychophysiology. 47 (5): 961 - 967.
• Hovenkamp-Hermelink, J.H.M., et al. (2019). Anxiety sensitivity, its stability and longitudinal association with severity of anxiety symptoms. Scientific Reports, 9, 4314.
• Taylor, S., et al. (2007). Robust dimensions of anxiety sensitivity: Development and initial validation of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3. Psychological Assessment, 19, pp. 176 - 188.