Stay Curious

SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AND UNLOCK ONE MORE ARTICLE FOR FREE.

Sign Up

VIEW OUR Privacy Policy


Discover Magazine Logo

WANT MORE? KEEP READING FOR AS LOW AS $1.99!

Subscribe

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

FIND MY SUBSCRIPTION
Advertisement

Uncertainty is Uncomfortable. Here's How We Can Learn to Live With It

Psychologists share tips and insights on how to coexist with life’s unpredictability and deal with unknowns.

Credit: Viktor Gladkov/Shutterstock

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news

Sign Up

Checking your email to hear back from a job. Searching for signs that your partner loves you back. Waiting for the world to go back to so-called normal.

Many of life’s most anxious experiences are governed by uncertainty. And the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic has only stacked more unknowns on top of people's trying circumstances and mental health. Psychologists and therapist have been studying psychological uncertainty for ages, and they offer some clarity to some basic, nagging questions about the condition and how to deal with it.

For starters, some scholars define uncertainty as simply as the awareness of a lack of knowledge. Others conceptualize it as a fear of the unknown, with the understanding that the unknown has the potential to be threatening.

As COVID starkly reminded us, nothing in this world is certain. And yet, many of us spend much of our lives courting the illusion of ...

Stay Curious

JoinOur List

Sign up for our weekly science updates

View our Privacy Policy

SubscribeTo The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Subscribe
Advertisement

0 Free Articles