Intolerance of Uncertainty
What Is Intolerance Of Uncertainty?
Uncertainty is a fact of life, and the global pandemic has undoubtedly brought this to the fore. Some individuals really struggle to tolerate uncertainty, but there are tools we can employ to reduce this discomfort.
Intolerance of uncertainty (IoU) is the term given to circumstances where people find ambiguous or unclear situations distressing.
One way people try to deal with IoU is by worrying. While this may sound like an odd response, you are likely to try solving IoU via excessive thinking if you believe worrying has benefits. Positive beliefs about worry are represented by statements such as:
'Worry helps me identify danger' and
'Worry keeps me alert'
People with IoU also tend to have a negative mental attitude to problems, where these obstacles are seen as insurmountable challenges.
Clinically, we see intolerance of uncertainty as a prominent feature of Generalised Anxiety Disorder, also known as GAD. This condition is essentially supercharged, out-of-control worry. However, people can experience IoU at lower (non-clinical) levels of intensity.
What can I do about intolerance of uncertainty?
One productive way to tackle this form of dysphoria is to identify and challenge unhelpful beliefs about uncertainty. These questions might help you with this process:
Can you be certain about everything in life?
What is the biggest threat to your life from uncertainty?
What are the advantages of certainty?
What are the disadvantages of certainty?
If you could wave a magic wand and remove ALL uncertainty from your life, would you want this?
Another way to address intolerance of uncertainty is to unhook mentally from difficult thoughts about uncertainty. This strategy can help reduce unhelpful and impulsive responding to these thoughts. When you are 'watching' your thoughts, there is sometimes less pressure to respond in ways which as self-defeating.
Try adding 'I'm having the thought...' to intolerance thinking. For example, 'I can't stand not knowing the result' becomes 'I'm having the thought I can't stand not knowing the result'.
Eliminating uncertainty is a mental battle that cannot be won. Giving up the fight to control this process can improve tolerance to uncertainty.
There are many other tools for dealing with uncertainty. One useful approach uses the APPLE acronym.