MoodRx Clinical Staff - Sep 16, 2024
Anticipatory anxiety: What is it and how can online therapy help?
Getting nervous in the days before an important meeting or a test is something most people can relate to. Anticipatory anxiety is a more extreme type of fear and distress. If your fears have kept you up at night, caused you to have racing thoughts or given you physical symptoms, you may have experienced anticipatory anxiety. Excessive worry can take up a lot of your time and drain your energy. With the right support, there is hope that you can learn to manage your anxiety.
Anticipatory anxiety isn’t a diagnosis in itself. You can feel anticipatory anxiety without having a diagnosable condition. However, people who experience it often may have a related condition like generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
If anticipatory anxiety is disrupting your life, you may benefit from seeing a therapist. In this blog post, we’ll define anticipatory anxiety and discuss how online therapy may be able to help.
What is anticipatory anxiety?
Anticipatory anxiety is the anxiety you feel about something that may happen or something you might encounter in the future. Often, it’s not just a fear of something but a fear of how it will make you feel. Many people who have panic attacks get anticipatory anxiety about the severe symptoms they have in certain situations. It could also be related to a phobia, social anxiety or a traumatic experience. You may feel it days, weeks or months beforehand.
What does anticipatory anxiety feel like?
Anxiety, in general, is often a fear of potential negative outcomes or a fear that comes with uncertainty about what’s going to happen. With anticipatory anxiety, there may be a specific event coming up that has you worried — for instance, giving a presentation, having a medical procedure or flying in a plane. You might feel anxiety because you know it’s a situation that will make you uncomfortable. You might specifically be worried about your performance or about something bad happening. Anticipatory anxiety can have similar symptoms to other types of anxiety, although people experience it differently.
Anticipatory anxiety can cause any of the following symptoms:
● Feelings of intense worry or dread
● Racing thoughts
● Feeling tense, restless or irritable
● Anticipating the worst
● Hypervigilance
● Sweating
● Tremors and twitches
● Pounding or racing heart and shortness of breath
● Upset stomach, diarrhea or frequent urination
● Headaches
● Fatigue and insomnia
How can a therapist help me with anticipatory anxiety?
Therapy sessions are a safe place to sort through your thoughts and feelings. Checking the facts can sometimes help, but oftentimes, our most intense fears aren’t rational. Your therapist can help you identify where your fears are coming from and mentally prepare yourself for tough situations. You might talk about what you can realistically expect, identify other things to focus on that are less upsetting or find ways to distract yourself. They can also help you find self-soothing strategies to help you get through moments of fear. In the long term, you may work on mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques.
Many people with anxiety disorders need medication to manage their symptoms. Some anxiety medications need to be taken every day, but there are some that you’d only take when you have symptoms. You’ll need to see your doctor or a psychiatrist for a prescription. Seeing a therapist can be a helpful first step — your therapist can help you determine how your anxiety is impacting your life and what coping strategies work best.
MoodRx connects you with therapists who can help you manage anticipatory anxiety
The anticipation of something that might happen can cause just as much fear as the situation itself. Anticipatory anxiety can build up as an event gets closer, or you may have anxiety about something you have to do frequently. Either way, you may benefit from seeing a therapist who has experience treating anxiety conditions.
It can take some time to find a therapist you feel comfortable with. If your anxiety is affecting your life, it’s important that you get help soon. We created MoodRx to simplify the process of finding a therapist and make it easier to find the right person to help you. All of our therapists provide their services online. This makes it easier to work therapy into your schedule, and you can plan sessions on days when you’re likely to feel a lot of anticipatory anxiety.
We give you the tools you need to monitor your mental health, match with a therapist who can help and continue to manage your symptoms. All you have to do is create your free account, take a quick assessment and schedule your 15-minute consultation. You’ll speak with a licensed clinician who can answer some of your questions and recommend a few different therapists who may be a good fit.
Ready to get started? Sign up and take your first assessment today.
