Fear of uncertainty is one of most common causes at the roof of anxiety disorders. Possessing an intolerance to the future unknown (and catastrophizing about potential negative outcomes) is at the heart of generalized anxiety.
It’s interesting, as you hear people talk, you may notice that in general, we speak of anxiety not necessarily as a generic label describing a broad set of experiences, but as if it’s a physical thing that is stuck to us like like a bad smell. The truth of course is that when we speak of ‘anxiety’, it is a generic label we give to a complex set of feelings, sensations, ideas, mindsets and thought processes. These present moment phenomena which we experience during ‘anxiety’ are then supported by a whole set of past experiences we have hung onto in our mind and body. Anxiety happens when our memories amplify the fear we feel in the present moment or fuels catastrophizing about the future in our imagination.
Changing the way you think about uncertainty might not lead to a total and instant improvement in your anxiety symptoms, but it is the foundation to lasting change. The following questions aren’t necessarily about making changes – they are simply an invitation to widen your perspective and make peace with an idea, belief or thought you may be getting stuck on.
1 What is the evidence that uncertainty is bad/dangerous/scary/worrying?
2 What is the evidence against this belief?
3 If there was more evidence against this belief, what would it be? Can you dig a little deeper?
4 Why have you committed to this idea/belief/conclusion that uncertainty is negative?
5 Who determines whether uncertainty is bad?
6 Have you been basing this belief on facts, or feelings?
7 Did you decide that uncertainty is bad? If yes, then can the opposite must be true – it can be good if you decide that it is good?
8 Have you been perceiving uncertainty through a ‘black and white’ lens, when really it is more ‘grey’, complex and nuanced?
9 What would happen if you experimented with perceiving uncertainty as interesting and something to be curious about?
10 What assumptions have you been making about uncertainty?
11 If you are to assume the uncertainty is quite interesting, how will this change things for you?
12 How will you remind yourself of this? (Because this is quite important)
13 How might other people interpret uncertainty?
14 How is it that uncertainty helps us grow in a way that safety and security does not?
15 In all the years you have believed uncertainty to be negative, how much excitement and growth have you missed out on?
If we’re not aware of which voice we listen to in our mind there’s a chance that we’re being led astray or are sailing off course.
16 If you could never have any excitement, growth or uncertainty ever gain for the rest of your life, how would your life be?
17 Is it possible that excitement, risk and novelty are more more than just feelings – that they are are part of our personal values system – necessary for wholeness and deep fulfillment?
18 So, what have you learned so far? Write it down in a new summary.
19 Do you think your friends and family do you think they also experience the same thoughts/worries/avoidance behaviours that you do?
20 Has this fear of uncertainty just been a habit for you – an unhelpful thinking pattern that you have solidified through repetition?
21 How do you really feel about it now? I suspect you feel a little frustrated and eager to change this pattern?
22 Do you think somebody gave you this belief, or did you conjure it up yourself?
23 Are these thoughts a likely scenario or just a worst-case scenario?
24 Can you just move on then and get on with your life by practicing courage and curiosity through repetition? Because a fear of uncertainty isn’t really serving you in any way is it?