Anticipatory anxiety
Anticipatory anxiety is fear or worry about a possible future event. It can arise before a specific situation or around uncertain threats.
Intolerance of uncertainty: A tendency to find uncertain situations distressing and difficult to tolerate. Uncertainty about what will happen can intensify worry before an event.
Cognitive behavioral therapy: A structured psychotherapy that addresses links among thoughts, emotions, and behavior. It can test predictions about feared events and reduce avoidance.
Acute stress reaction: A short-term response to an intensely stressful or traumatic event. It follows an experienced event, whereas anticipatory anxiety concerns a possible future one.
Procrastination: The voluntary delay of an intended task despite expecting that the delay may cause problems. Anxiety about a task or its outcome can encourage postponement.
Catastrophizing: A thinking pattern that overestimates the likelihood or impact of negative outcomes. Imagining the worst can make a future possibility feel imminent and severe.
Exposure therapy: A behavioral treatment that involves planned contact with feared situations or cues. Repeated approach can weaken expectations that anticipation or exposure is intolerable.
Post-traumatic stress disorder: A disorder that can develop after exposure to trauma and involve intrusive memories, avoidance, and heightened arousal. Its distress is often tied to reminders of past trauma, though future danger may also be feared.
Insomnia: Persistent difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or obtaining restorative sleep despite adequate opportunity. Worry about upcoming events can make it harder to settle at bedtime.
Threat appraisal: The process of judging whether a situation poses danger and how serious that danger is. Anticipatory anxiety depends partly on how a possible event is appraised.
Social anxiety disorder: A disorder marked by persistent fear of scrutiny or negative evaluation in social situations. Anticipatory worry often centers on upcoming conversations, performances, or gatherings.