Why Waiting Is So Damn Stressful
How to cope with anticipatory anxiety
After the election, many of us found ourselves gripped by a new, specific type of stress: anticipatory anxiety. As the name suggests, it’s a kind of anxiety that’s triggered by an event or experience that has yet to happen. For instance, you may have experienced anticipatory anxiety with regard to upcoming doctors’ appointments or job interviews. The phenomenon known colloquially as cold feet could be seen as anticipatory anxiety before a wedding ceremony.
And you may be feeling it, at this very moment, about the transition of presidential power. What happens now?
The uncomfortable unknown
Anticipatory anxiety makes very specific demands of us: Namely, we must tolerate ambiguity, which is something our brains don’t like very much. We are anxious for the event — the peaceful transition to a new presidential administration — and we are anxious about the effects of the event, which we can’t yet discern. Some of us are also concerned about what may happen between now and then.
These situational unknowns come with personal ones, too. Many of us are anxious about how we will feel once the unknowns are answered. We’re worried about how our lives might change in the aftermath.
