{"id":123378,"date":"2021-08-10T11:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T10:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?p=123378"},"modified":"2023-03-13T13:24:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T13:24:32","slug":"living-with-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/living-with-uncertainty.htm","title":{"rendered":"Living with Uncertainty – How to Manage in Unstable Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"livingby Andrea M. Darcy<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Between the pandemic and climate change threats, <\/strong>we all experienced living with uncertainty. It can definitely feel destabilising, and rates of\u00a0 <\/span>anxiety and depression have been skyrocketing.<\/span><\/p>\n

How can we better navigate unstable times?<\/em><\/p>\n

Our brains on uncertainty <\/span><\/h2>\n

A research study<\/a> had participants play a computer game with<\/strong>\u00a0rocks that might or might not have snakes under them. If they turned over a rock with a snake, they received a painful electric shock.<\/span>When participants were given no clues at all and uncertainty was highest, their physiological stress level measurements<\/a> peaked. Things like a racing heart and sweaty palms were actually lower when the participants had hints when the snakes and shocks were coming.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The conclusion was that us humans really do not like uncertainty. Our brains even prefer knowing something bad is going to happen<\/a> to not knowing what will happen.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How to handle living with uncertainty<\/h2>\n

Which feeds into the first step to navigating uncertainty. <\/span><\/p>\n

1. Learn the fine art of acceptance.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Sometimes we need to just accept that tough things will happen,<\/strong> as inevitably as good things will.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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If we resign ourselves to challenges instead of trying to avoid them, our brain can actually be less stressed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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photo by Dieter de Vroomen<\/p><\/div>\n

2. Go all worse case scenario.<\/span><\/h3>\n

The \u2018worst case scenario\u2019 is a <\/strong>coaching<\/a> technique.<\/span>The idea is that if we let our minds fully face our fears, and write out or talk through the very worst thing we think might happen? We actually lower our anxiety.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Once we admit the worst possibility, we open our perspective<\/a> to also see the action steps<\/a> that could deal with that situation. And once we have an action plan, we can start to feel less overwhelmed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

3. Find proof that things change.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

When we are anxious and living with uncertainty, our thoughts become distorted. We<\/strong> think in black and white, we make assumptions<\/a>, add a dash of doom and gloom. We cannot handle this! It’s a lost cause!<\/p>\n

But if you are old enough to be here reading this article, you are old enough to<\/strong> have lived through a tough time and made it through the other side intact.\"living<\/p>\n

Make a list of all the hard things you experienced and the good times that came after. Notice the pattern. How life is a cycle, no matter how much it doesn’t feel like it right now. What inner resources did you find in those times? And how might they help you now?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

4. Catch those mad thoughts and hold them up to the light.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Key thing to remember — thoughts are often far from factual.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Develop the habit of ‘listening in’ to<\/strong> your ‘head radio’ and noticing what your thoughts are. Then take a tip from cognitive therapy<\/a> and learn to question each one.<\/p>\n