Fear of the future in psychology is a depressing feeling that one fine day in life everything may not go “according to plan.” Each person is the scriptwriter of his own destiny. He plans events, outlines the trajectory of his behavior in a given situation. But in life, as in chess, it is impossible to foresee all possible combinations. At some point, events may get out of control.
Having failed once, many people give up. Their will is constrained by a paralyzing fear of getting burned again. Like a snail sensing danger, they retreat into their shell, where they remain anxious and confused.
Not only negative experiences of the past can poison a person’s life. The feeling of instability and uncertainty about the future also undermine his strength. As a result, a person’s energy is wasted on empty worries, and his self-development is put an end to.
This is the truly destructive effect of fear of the future. In psychology, it is associated with thanatophobia - the fear of death. Moreover, it is not the death itself that is scary, but the awareness of how much needs to be accomplished in the short time that a person has.
Fear of the future - causes of futurophobia
There is ongoing debate among psychologists about the root cause of the occurrence and development of this disorder. It is believed that futurophobia has its roots in early childhood. The risk factor is especially great in conservative families, where any innovation encounters a wall of mistrust and suspicion. The child adopts a pattern of behavior that threatens to subsequently result in fear of tomorrow.
A phobia of the future can take hold of a person during periods of social and personal upheaval. Apocalyptic forecasts make their contribution. Suffice it to recall the panic fever on the eve of December 2012 due to the prediction of the Mayan tribe. Age-related crises, accompanied by a painful search for oneself, can also undermine confidence in the future.
Among the main “triggers” for the development of a phobia of tomorrow are the following:
- economic: the prospect of changing or losing a job, fear of unforeseen expenses;
- socio-political: escalation of tension in society, the threat of armed confrontation, the danger of famine, disease, military conflict, the end of the world;
- individual: dramatic changes in personal life, for example marriage, birth of a child, divorce, moving, departure of loved ones or relatives.
How to curb fear of the future and feel the zest for life again
Fear of the future forces many people to go to boring jobs for decades, to obey bosses whom they despise, to perform meaningless or boring duties under pressure, to be content with meager pennies as a salary... Fear of the future turns some of us into inveterate retrogrades who experience persistent hostility to everything new and non-trivial and to the depths of their souls they hate those who take it upon themselves to be different from ordinary people... Psychologist, candidate of psychological sciences Ilya told the portal www.interfax.by about why we are afraid of the future and whether it is possible to overcome this fear Latypov (Khabarovsk, Russia).
I think, therefore I experience fear and trepidation before the future...
“Fear of the future is one of the manifestations of the basic, fundamental experience of anxiety, from which no conscious person is free. This basic (or “existential”) anxiety is associated with uncertainty and the unknown. No one can give a 100% forecast of events even for tomorrow, let alone what will happen in a month or a year. The future has both “worrying” characteristics: it is uncertain and unknown. It cannot be predicted or guaranteed. We can only plan the future (that is, have certain expectations that something will turn out exactly this way and not otherwise), but not predetermine. The only thing that will come true 100% is that someday we will all die. At the same time, it is unknown when, where and how - not a very optimistic picture, right?
Therefore, no special mechanisms are required for the emergence of fear of the future - to one degree or another, it is inherent in all people. Another thing is that someone has learned to avoid anxiety with the help of various psychological defenses, but for some they do not “work,” explains psychologist Ilya Latypov and continues: “To be more precise, people are afraid not of the future itself, but of what what might happen in the future. Those. in stable societies there will be less fear of the future (and more “confidence in the future”), in unstable societies there will be much more. Agree, it would be strange to be afraid of the future if you are sure that it is cloudless and only good things await you ahead.
Most often, fear of the future manifests itself in the following situations:
- drastic changes in life;
- general instability, unpredictability of government policy;
- loss of familiar surroundings (death of loved ones, loss of property, etc.).”
Fear of the future cannot be conquered - only controlled
“It is impossible to get rid of existential anxiety: it is a direct consequence of a person’s awareness of both his mortality and the unpredictability of the future. However, people use a number of methods to reduce their anxiety levels. All these methods ultimately come down to control - only this allows you to reduce uncertainty and relatively protect yourself from unpredictability, says psychologist Ilya Latypov and lists the most common options for taming fear of the future:
1. Appeal to fortune telling. This is one of the oldest ways to get rid of fear. It consists of creating in a person the feeling that he knows exactly what will happen and will be able to prepare to avoid danger or choose the most correct course of action.
2. Faith in a savior. In “bad” times, people begin to believe that someone has taken (or can take) the burden of decision-making and cares about their future. When a person appears who gives firm guarantees and knows exactly “how it should be done,” then faith in him greatly reduces the level of anxiety and at the same time infantilizes those who believe, making them “children.”
3. Careful planning and control of actions (time management, life management, etc.). When a person has the thought that he has foreseen everything, then in his consciousness the level of unpredictability of the world around him decreases. Alas, the confidence “I’m ready for anything!” – this is also an illusion. In addition, the desire to prepare for a meeting with any danger often leads to the fact that a person is unable to live in the present - he is constantly in the future and because of this risks losing his taste for life. Russian psychologist V. Druzhinin called this lifestyle “eternal preparation for life”: a person studies all the time, accumulates certain benefits, but does not use them, because “what if something terrible happens?”
4. A combination of planning and realizing that planning has its limitations. In this case, a person realizes that he cannot foresee and control everything, so he makes plans, but accepts the fact that they may be violated. This is the acceptance of one's own basic anxiety, which is sometimes called "tolerance of uncertainty."
5. Investing in your own development and health. A person spends energy not on trying to influence the world around him, but on developing his own ability to respond to the challenges of this world. In this case, the fear of the future becomes less intense due to the confidence that the person himself has enough resources (knowledge, skills, health, etc.) to cope with most of life’s challenges. This position is also based on tolerance of uncertainty.”
Become the master of your fear so that life sparkles with new colors
For readers of www.interfax.by who doubt whether they are ready to make some effort to learn to keep their fear of the future on a short leash, psychologist Ilya Latypov recommends taking note of the following facts: “The higher the level of tolerance for uncertainty, the more the likelihood that a person can take risks and get involved in adventures, change his lifestyle or profession, have more liberal views, will be open to new things. Freedom and independence are of high value to him. There are many successful businessmen among people who are tolerant of uncertainty.
Low tolerance for uncertainty is characterized by conservatism, a tendency to use proven, albeit ineffective methods, and aversion to the new. Such people extremely value stability and predictability and prefer to work in government agencies with their guarantees.”
Interviewed by Irina Bareyko
How to live without fear for the future
First of all, you need to learn one banal truth: problems are an integral companion of every person. Life will constantly throw a spoke in our wheels - that’s its habit. Reflecting these blows is the essence of full-fledged personal development, which is abhorrent to static. It should be remembered: if we are still alive, it means that we somehow had enough strength to cope with the challenges of fate up to this moment.
Do you want to overcome your fear of tomorrow? Toughen up! It is known that insects bite only people with poor physical fitness - sagging skin contributes to this. The strong blood flow in the body of a trained person will catch the small pest in a vice from which it will no longer be able to escape.
Are you afraid of the prospect of illness? Get plenty of exercise and eat a balanced diet. If you suffer from bad habits, find the strength to give them up once and for all. Hardening tactics and a healthy lifestyle should be used by anyone who wants to say goodbye to the ghost of futurophobia.
Are you afraid of losing your favorite job? Start mastering in-demand professions, constantly increasing your level of competence. Learn to manage your household more economically, and monitor the rational organization of your life. Recommendations from famous psychologists will help you cope effectively with psychological stress.
How can we live without fear for the future if this fear is constantly fueled by the media? If possible, limit access to your consciousness of news that generates panic. Tune in to the positive, choose for your evening viewing not mindless comedies, but films in which heroes overcome life's obstacles. In a word, do not give in in the face of difficulties, but master the art of fending off their challenges.
If you have a pack of cigarettes in your pocket: how to stop worrying about the future
According to psychologists Daniel Gilbert and Timothy Wilson, authors of seminal research on future perception, thinking about the future triggers emotional reactions in people that help them make decisions. Gilbert and Wilson called this process prospection.
According to them, the most common mistake we make when thinking about the future is overestimating impact.
Overestimation of impact is the tendency to exaggerate the intensity of the impact of certain future events on us. “We think that if we win the lottery, we will be endlessly happy, and if our loved one leaves us, we will be endlessly unhappy,” says Wilson. “The first event will certainly make us happier than the second, but we overestimate the impact of both on our lives in the long term.”
Trying to predict the future is useless: even if we have a more or less idea of what will happen, we still cannot say with certainty how we will react to it.
“We're thicker-skinned and better at coping with adversity than we think,” Wilson says. “At the same time, we get used to good things pretty quickly. Joyful events soon lose their charm.”
Despite the unreliability of our forecasts, the desire to look into the future has a positive side. Clinical psychologist Ryan Howes says thinking about potential problems helps us keep ourselves safe: “When we get behind the wheel, we wear a seat belt. When we go out, we wear a mask so we don’t get infected with the coronavirus,” says Howes.
But Howes cautions that sometimes prudence turns into obsession and causes a person to worry so much about future events that they cannot adequately prepare for them.
A simple example: if worrying about failing an upcoming presentation at work forces you to start preparing for it in advance, then everything is fine; but if your anxiety keeps you up at night and you end up showing up to your presentation exhausted, that's a problem.
Sahar Motakef, a cognitive behavioral therapist in Los Angeles, calls the cognitive distortion caused by excessive worry about the future "guessing the tea leaves."
“As a psychological defense mechanism, we often resort to negative thinking that has nothing to do with reality,” says Motakef. “We think that in order to prepare for experiencing a bad event, we have to replay the negative scenario in our heads over and over again.”
But in fact, thinking about possible traumatic events does not strengthen us, but only worsens our condition in the present moment.
“If an expected event does occur, pre-thinking about it does not help relieve pain, but only increases its duration,” says Motakef.
A 2013 study of the effects of fear on humans supports the assertion that anticipation of a painful event causes more suffering than the event itself. Participants in the experiment were given a choice: receive a strong electric shock immediately or a weaker shock 15 minutes later. 70% of subjects chose the first option to avoid painful waiting.
In the case of thinking about the end of the coronavirus pandemic, "worrying about the future leads to the belief that we have the power to change the situation," says psychiatrist Gregory Scott Brown.
If you're tempted to join the ranks of prophets, financial speculators or sports analysts in these troubling times, Howes and Brown advise focusing on external circumstances and specific steps that could affect the future. What does this look like in practice? Call your local MP, organize your workplace, volunteer, or simply help a friend who is struggling right now.
How to overcome fear of the future
An interesting parable about ways to overcome various phobias was once posted on one of the foreign forums. It told the story of a lion who feared the crow of a cock more than anything in the world. Having learned about this, the elephant burst out laughing: “How can you be afraid of this?” At the same moment, a mosquito began to circle around the elephant. “Oh no,” the six-ton giant exclaimed in fear, “if he flies into my ear, that will be the end!” Now it was the lion's turn to laugh.
We are frightened by uncertainty and the unknown. Visualizing your fears often helps you get rid of them. You can proceed according to the following algorithm:
1. Take a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. Try to draw or describe your phobia in words. Pull her out from the depths of your subconscious, meet her eyes.
2. Think about what means you have to overcome the onset of this event. If nothing depends on you, then there is no point in being afraid of it.
3. Sketch out a draft of the consequences in your mind. Ask yourself what will happen next. You may come to the conclusion that your fear is a colossus with feet of clay. Remember: whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger.
Conclusion
How to overcome fear of the future? Yes, just remember that you live here and now. There is only the present, which is entirely in your power. At any moment you can turn your life 180 degrees.
But such a radical turn is not always a panacea for all problems. The future is scary, but as B. Russell said, overcoming fear, a person gains wisdom.
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