Fear of the Future: Symptoms, Causes and Consequences

Many people look at the future with some concern in order to make better decisions in the present. However, on some occasions, this concern becomes excessive, causing the sufferer great discomfort and various consequences in the different areas of their life. You can go to the point of paralyzing your life completely out of fear of suffering certain consequences or out of desperation of making a decision without knowing how that decision will turn out.

This fear of the future is related to a low tolerance for uncertainty. The fact that there is no economic or social instability means that many people suffer from this fear. That is why every day there are more people with this kind of fear. Therefore, in this PsychologyFor article, we will talk to you about the fear of the future: symptoms, causes and consequences

Symptoms of fear of the future

The symptoms of fear of the future could be divided into three types:

• Cognitive symptoms: refers to thoughts. People with fear of the future surely have thoughts like “what if I lose my job?” “What if we break up?” As we can see, they are thoughts that normally begin with “what if.” It is a catastrophic anticipation of a future.
• Physiological symptoms: These types of symptoms refer to bodily sensations. Being a type of fear, the physiological symptoms are those related to anxiety about the future. Thus, people with fear of the future may present symptoms such as sweating, hand tremors, tachycardia, hyperventilation, etc.
• Behavioral symptoms: refers to the different behaviors that the person suffering from fear has. In this case, you may end up not making decisions, apathy, not leaving your comfort zone, reviewing everything over and over again, etc.

Causes of fear of the future

Why am I afraid of the future? In the same way that the symptoms can be divided into three types, the causes of fear of the future could be divided into two large groups:

• Genetics: having a family history of some type of fear or psychological problem increases the likelihood of suffering from this type of fear. This is because there is some genetic heritability of psychological problems.
• Atmosphere: The environment in which a person has grown up can influence the development of a phobia or fear, that is, our parents have been able to teach it to us. This can occur through sending constant messages about fear of the future and uncertainty. On the other hand, if at any time you, your family or someone you know has suffered a drastic problem such as the loss of a job, an illness or any other type of instability, this can feed an aversion to the future and the future. instability.

In this article, we show you how to control negative obsessive thoughts.

Consequences of fear of the future

The consequences of fear of an uncertain future are closely related to its behavioral symptoms. If I avoid changing jobs or marrying a certain person, for fear of the consequences, I will surely end up living a life in which there is dissatisfaction on different levels. That is, there is a stagnation in the person’s life and an avoidance of exposure to the feared situation or to moments that may lead to said situation.

Furthermore, having a constant level of stress can cause, in the long term, physical health problems such as irritable bowel syndrome or heart problems. Likewise, fear of the future can lead to damage social relationships, since living with a constantly worried and stressed person can put a great burden on others. These may make the decision to distance themselves from the person with fear of the future.

Regarding the couple, furthermore, if there is this stagnation and there is no progress in the relationship like buying a house, getting married, having children because of the fear of what could happen. This can mean the end of the relationship, since the other person may perceive that their vital expectations are not being met.

We can conclude that the consequences of fear of the future are summarized in what is known as a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Having a certain fear can cause let’s self-sabotage and that we end up making that situation that we fear so much, finally end up happening. In this article, we tell you more about what self-sabotage is and how to avoid it.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Fear of the future: symptoms, causes and consequences we recommend that you enter our Cognitive Psychology category.

Bibliography

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