Fear Of The Future: The Emotional Problem Of Catastrophic Thoughts
One of the characteristics of our species as human beings is the predisposition we show to think in the medium and long term. Thanks to our capacity for abstract thinking, we are very good at hypothesizing in a high degree of detail about what could happen given certain circumstances.
This ability allows us to solve complex problems by “experimenting” in our imagination and making predictions about the consequences of our actions, which makes it possible for us to direct part of our lives towards achieving goals months or years away. It is a phenomenon that does not occur with the majority of animal species, which are more oriented towards immediacy: the avoidance of physical danger, immediate interaction with nearby living beings, etc.
Now, every psychological skill linked to abstract thinking goes hand in hand with new ways of developing psychological problems. And the ease with which we hypothesize about the future is no exception to this: On the other side of the coin there are elements of emotional discomfort such as fear of the future..
What is fear of the future as a psychological problem?
As I have mentioned, fear of the future is one of the natural consequences of our ability to think long term and make predictions.
This is because The human mind shows a predisposition to “fill in” information gaps.that is, using the limited information we have and then processing it and drawing conclusions that go beyond what we ignore, hiding it and giving us a feeling that we know more than we really know about reality.
This bias, which consists of overestimating the information we have, does not exist by causality: it acts as a pragmatic element that leads us to make decisions and take action even when we are very far from knowing what our actions will trigger.
However, Sometimes a series of circumstances arise that leave us without the protection of that optimistic bias. about our knowledge, and our attentional focus goes from being directed at what we (believe we) know, to being oriented at what we do not know.
This is not necessarily a bad thing: sometimes, it helps us rethink our beliefs and our schemes for interpreting reality, allowing us to overcome crises or adapt to situations that are qualitatively different from what we are used to. Taking a step back and rethinking our way of thinking and making decisions can help us appreciate nuances that we would have otherwise overlooked.
But it is true that on other occasions, fear of the future goes from being a stage of adaptation to a challenge to being an obstacle that blocks us and prevents us from moving forward.
In situations of this type, we enter a vicious circle in which the discomfort caused by that fear reminds us again and again that we are missing important information, that we are forced to take certain risks and manage uncertainty. And since we find ourselves faced with the need to “overcome” these ambiguities and lack of information while feeling bad, we tend to bring to ourselves catastrophic thoughts, predictions linked to painful emotions.
Many patients who go to a psychologist suffer from a problem related to catastrophic thoughts about their future. They are unable to make decisionsand as they postpone again and again the moment of choosing an option about what they should do, the problems accumulate, so their discomfort grows.
These catastrophic thoughts associated with fear of the future Sometimes they have an obsessive component, and other times they are part of depression. In one of these cases, the person tries by all means to neutralize this fear of the future by looking for solutions that eliminate uncertainty, achieving the opposite effect to the desired one; In the other case, fear of the future is based on having adopted a very pessimistic mentality about what one is capable of and about how the world works.
Knowing how to differentiate these two types of alterations with similar characteristics is very important, since The psychological therapies to use are different depending on the origin of the problem..
For example, if the obsessive component predominates, anxiety management techniques and acceptance of a certain level of emotional discomfort will take center stage, so that the person stops feeding the vicious cycle of intrusive thoughts. And if the depressive component predominates, the person is helped to improve their self-esteem and engage in behavioral patterns through which they force themselves to move from thoughts to action: in this way, the emotional state fostered by those actions and The release of hormones associated with it will help you get out of that emotional rut.
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If you are looking for psychological therapy services, contact me. I am a psychologist specialized in Clinical Psychology applied to adults and adolescents, and I work from the cognitive-behavioral model, one of the most adaptable and effective. I offer in-person and online sessions by video call.
