Fear of the future can arise in many people. For some, it appears from time to time, under the influence of any situations, it is not pronounced. In other individuals, this fear can take on an irrational form. He does not allow you to relax, becomes intrusive, poisons life. Why is there such fear at all? And what can you do with it?
As in the situation of many other fears - especially when it comes to something pathological or “on the brink” - purely individual moments can be the basis. Much depends on the character of the person himself, on his views on life, upbringing, environment, his success, and so on. However, psychologists isolate several key points from the variety of reasons for fear of the future.
Where does fear of the future come from?
Often, anxiety and anxiety before future events arise in a person due to his personal experience. In this case, negative experience. Turning back, a person remembers his failures, mistakes, concentrates on the negative aspect of life. Or he lives exclusively in the past, savoring bad events from day to day, inventing how he would act now, what decision he would make. This inevitably creates an irrational fear of the future. A person is afraid of repetition of any events and situations, is afraid of not being able to cope with something, and so on.
Pathologically and obsessive fear, which over time, under "favorable" conditions, can turn into a full-fledged phobic or anxiety disorder, as a rule, is characteristic of people who do not have any purpose in life. They don’t understand how they want to live, I don’t know why, why and for what they move forward. Such individuals usually "go with the flow" and wait for what will happen next. In addition, fear of the future in this version is often reinforced by a lack of faith in oneself, in one's own strengths, low self-esteem, fear of taking risks, additional fear of stress, changes, critical / crisis situations.
It should be noted that fear of future events (which, by the way, is not a fact that will happen) is typical for people who cannot bring themselves to leave their comfort zone. Individuals who are weak, driven, "lost", afraid of independence and responsibility usually purposefully avoid any changes. They stop developing, the idea of movement and bringing something new into life seems wild to them. The danger lies in the fact that such people are not always aware of this.
Another reason why fear of the future develops is direct uncertainty. There is nothing more frightening for the common man than a closed door, behind which it is not clear what is hiding or who is hiding. You can make plans, fantasize and dream, come up with ways for self-development or achieving something, but you can hardly be one hundred percent sure that everything will turn out as it seems. The fear of the unknown is, in essence, the fear of the future. And often a person winds himself up on his own, thickens the colors, brings himself to a nervous state, constantly pondering this topic, forgetting about the power of thought.
This type of fear is indeed an extremely common manifestation. It does not always take a pathological form, but this is also not uncommon. Feeling that anxiety, anxiety are beginning to dominate, you should not start the situation. When you cannot cope on your own, it will be useful to get advice from a specialist.
What will help reduce fear of future events
Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely get rid of this kind of fear in one day. It will take a lot of work, especially if the fear has already acquired a pathological character, has become a source of constant obsessive thoughts and images. However, it is still possible to gradually reduce anxiety and fearfulness.
Dealing with your fear of things to come:
- you need to stop devaluing yourself, your strengths and capabilities;
- it is important to learn to perceive even negative experiences directly as an experience; and you should not exaggerate some undesirable events in life, you should not add emotional coloring to them, thereby making them stronger and feeding inner fear;
- one should not run from fear and deny it, from this he will only become more powerful; there is nothing shameful in being afraid in order to be anxious about your future;
- it is worth gradually, day after day, to start bringing something new into your life; it is important to at least try to get out of the existing comfort zone, while not allowing yourself to independently increase your inner anxiety;
- in order to somehow get rid of the fear of the future, it is worth trying to instill new habits in yourself, this will be another step towards change and towards the exit from the mentioned comfort zone;
- you can fight this fear with creativity; for example, art therapy is a very common option for correcting a state in the presence of irrational fears, increased anxiety, and so on;
- you should not avoid frightening situations, and you also need to instill in yourself the habit of taking risks; of course, the risk should not be any dangerous, here, as in other cases, you should start small, move in small steps forward;
- it is important to work on your self-esteem and self-worth; you should try to eradicate the habit of scolding yourself for mistakes, constantly criticizing yourself, comparing yourself with other people, and so on; there is no point in being afraid to make a mistake; a person cannot be perfect in everything, he is not a machine to cope with any business always in the best way; this thought should be constantly kept in mind.
In addition, there are many psychological exercises, techniques, techniques that are aimed at eradicating anxiety and various internal fears, including the very fear of the future. Therefore, having taken up the issue seriously, it will not be superfluous to read psychological literature or even go to the appropriate thematic training.
