Anticipatory anxiety is not just the stuff of actors and musicians, it effects many people and many situations. In fact most of the anxiety felt is in anticipation of something. If you think about it a panic attack is often an anticipation of fainting, or dying, or going crazy. The funny thing is that research done on phobic people (in this case agoraphobics) has found that almost everyone over rates the fear and anxiety they are about to feel, by large percentages. So in fact almost all of the anxiety felt is never manifested.
With the thought in your head that anticipatory anxiety doesn’t do much and doesn’t come to much, what else can be done to stop this menace?
The cognitive behaviour therapy approach is good for dealing with catastrophic thoughts, and this alone can deal with the anticipation.
Some medication such as beta blockers can be used to reduce the adrenalin and stop shaking and the physical symptoms of nervousness.
SSRIs and Tranquilizers such as Valium and Xanax do not really change how you think, although they may be useful to some extent.
The best therapy is experiencing anticipation and realizing it doesn’t come to anything, then it will decrease. Read about Claire Weekes’ approach here.
