It also outlines coping methods and tips for finding therapists to help with this issue.
What Anticipatory Fear Might Look Like
Anderson explained three ways that people might experience anticipatory fear.
Avoiding Prior Painful Experiences
This is a common reason why people may experience anticipatory fear.
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Some form oftraumais usually at the root of a dread response.
This is when it’s time to seek out help from alicensed therapist.
Preventative Preoccupation
Anderson callspreventative preoccupationthe reason why many people experience anticipatory fear.
This is when people begin to obsess over potential risks based on something that happened in the past.
People withgeneralized anxiety disordertend to worry excessively about, well… everything.
They spend time overthinking and over-planning to prevent something from going wrong.
Ways to Fight Anticipatory Fear
Below are some ways that can help you tackle anticipatory fear.
Research even found that mindfulness can potentially alter parts of the brain to help improve self-awareness over time.
This forces you to think about the task at hand rather than worry about the future.
Journalingcan also help you stave off thoughts that the past was much more ideal.
It’s also important to notice if your worries are impacting your actions.
Tang YY, Holzel BK, Posner MI.The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation.Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
