anticipatory anxiety
Worrying before events
Anticipatory anxiety is worry or dread about something that hasn't happened yet and may never happen.
Unlike fear triggered by immediate danger, anticipatory anxiety builds in advance of an event—a job interview, a medical procedure, a difficult conversation.
The anxiety often proves worse than the actual experience: My anticipatory anxiety about the flight was far more intense than the flight itself.
The term appears frequently in clinical contexts but has broad everyday application.
- nervousnessState of anxious unease
- catastrophizingImagining worst-case outcomes
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
- worryTroubled mental state
worst case scenario · public speaking · unease · mental rehearsal · what-if · rumination · exposure therapy · heart palpitations · knot in stomach · foreboding · hypervigilance · sweating · cold sweats · muscle tension · nail biting · fearfulness · fight or flight · dry mouth
- Anxietynervousness, panic, worry, dread, uneasiness
- defense mechanismsdenial, projection, repression, suppression, displacement
- panic attackspanic attack, panic, heart palpitations, palpitations, racing heart
- social fearssocial phobia, fear of judgment, fear of rejection, fear of embarrassment, shyness
anticipatory anxietylooking forward to
Eagerly awaiting something pleasant
anticipatory anxietypeace of mind
State without anxiety
mindfulness · equanimity · serenity · calm · tranquility