Psychiatrist
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Anxiety of Anticipation
It is pretty much universal that the anxiety of anticipation always exceeds the anxiety of the action. The degree of anxiety will never, in reality, be based on what actually will happen.
Anticipation is based on thoughts of situations that are not real, not there or have not happened. These thoughts can be classified as fantasies. You should understand that human beings are incapable of fantasizing intermediately, you always fantasize to the maximum, whether it is maximum positive or maximum negative. Rarely will what you anticipate ever be an accurate reflection of what the outcome will be. The outcome usually will be less than the maximum worst or maximum best.
For example: You may not do as poorly as you expected to on the test. You may not have as enjoyable a time as imagined on your vacation. Your doctor tells you that "the test result were positive but more testing will be required." Immediately you have negative thoughts of cancer, treatments, decisions of your personal life and impending death. You are fantasizing to the maximum negative.
Never do you first anticipate the positive of the lump being just a lump with no other effects or treatment required, nor do you fantasize of it being a benign cyst. This would be the intermediate negative. Again, anticipation of not knowing the outcome of a situation will always bring anxiety.
Understanding this concept should help you to see a doctor as soon as possible if you suspect something is wrong. Whatever the doctor finds will not cause as much anxiety as fantasizing about the problem. Address a difficult situation quickly rather than waiting and anticipating the outcome.
If you find a lottery ticket lying on the street your mind will immediately focus on the fantasy of being a winner. Never will you think of being a $5.00 winner but instead you will picture yourselves on the cruise ship counting your millions. You will fantasize to the maximum positive.
All human beings have the anxiety of anticipation and it rarely approximates the anxiety of the action.
