Anticipation
Mature defence; high adaptive level on the DSM-IV scale. The person feels some of the distress of a coming difficulty in advance, in measured doses, and plans for it realistically.
What drives it
Spreads anxiety over time so it doesn't arrive all at once, and turns it into preparation; Janis found that surgical patients who worried moderately beforehand coped better afterwards.
How it shows
Work
Before a hard board meeting: “This is going to sting; here's what I'll say if they push on margin.” Scenario planning that includes their own emotional reaction. Calm on the day because the feeling was partly processed already. Others find them steady but not detached.
Relationships
Preparing for a difficult conversation with a parent, including how they'll feel if it goes badly. Grieving a little ahead of an expected loss while still showing up.
Self
Your worry is bounded and specific and produces a plan; once the plan exists, the worry eases.
What tells it apart
Rumination and worry: Rumination and worry circle without producing a plan and keep going after one exists; anticipation produces concrete preparation and then subsides.
Catastrophising: Catastrophising jumps to the worst outcome and freezes; anticipation weighs realistic outcomes, including the bad one, and prepares.
Generalised anxiety: Generalised anxiety spreads across many topics and feels uncontrollable; anticipation targets one known event and feels manageable.
A test
Ask what the person has done about the coming event; anticipation comes with a concrete plan and concern that is moderate rather than escalating.
Questions to carry
- Ahead of the coming event, what concrete plan exists, and how steady is the worry?
- Which difficulty coming up for me have I let myself feel a little of in advance?
How strong the research is
clinical. Linked to good outcomes in Vaillant's studies and consistent with research on proactive coping and Janis's surgical-patient studies, though those used different measures.
Where it comes from
Irving Janis, 1958; George Vaillant, 1977
Sources
- George E. Vaillant, Adaptation to Life (1977)