7 Ways to Cope with Uncertainty (2024)

Let's consider the overwhelming level of uncertainty that currently plagues many of our personal lives and the world at large.

The term “uncertainty” is most often considered the result of having limited or partial knowledge about a situation or life event, thus making it difficult to control, plan for, or predict the outcome. It may even paralyze us from responding effectively or appropriately.

Living with the pressures of prolonged uncertainty can cause distress and negatively impact our overall mental, emotional, and physical well-being. While a certain amount of uncertainty, disappointment, loss, and change is a natural and unavoidable part of life, in recent years, these events have escalated enormously: We lived through a global pandemic threatening our health, well-being, and way of life; endured significant economic and personal financial upheaval and uncertainty; experienced worldwide political, cultural and social turmoil; were exposed to unpredictable violence in our communities and global wars; and faced extreme weather patterns and natural disasters.

As human beings, we are by nature programmed to seek safety, and our brains are designed to scan for threats. Without sufficient information, we may succumb to distortions in our thinking such as assuming the worst, catastrophizing, jumping to conclusions, and adopting what-ifs and worst-case scenarios that can impair our ability to problem-solve and take action. We might overestimate threats and underestimate our ability to handle them.

Each person is different in how much uncertainty he or she can tolerate in life. Some of this is due to our individual level of resilience, ability to keep things in perspective, current emotional state and co-existing stressors that interfere with or influence our tolerance, and past life experiences. Unfortunately, the recent, unprecedented level of uncertainty in our world has put many of us in a continuous crisis mode, leading to stress, anxiety, panic attacks, negative emotions and depression, excess worry, fear, and rumination, a loss of personal efficacy and belief that things are out of our control, depleted emotional and physical energy and a change in how we conduct our daily work and personal lives.

We are understandably concerned about the uncertainty of things in life such as safety in our communities; steady employment; the ability to care for ourselves and our families, pay essential bills, rent/mortgage, or student loans; saving for education and future living expenses; finding affordable health insurance and medical care; having control over what happens to our bodies; the effect of international war and terrorism on our life and families; choosing government leaders we can trust to act in our best interest; and the impact of devastating weather patterns.

Despite these stressors, there is some opportunity for personal growth and benefit as we face the unexpected in life—we can learn to adapt, overcome challenges, and increase our resiliency, thus becoming stronger persons. Those who are successful in this effort tend to keep things in a realistic perspective, remain calm, and focus all their attention and effort on what really matters and what they can do in spite of uncertainty, making the best decisions at the time. They avoid insisting on perfection and instead accept realistic, reasonable solutions.

Here are some recommended strategies to help guide us:

• Learn to identify and acknowledge areas of uncertainty in your life, and how they make you feel. Try not to assume that a bad event will occur just because you don’t know how something will unfold; work to challenge these assumptions and replace them with a more realistic thought.
• Accept the things that are not under your control and work to come to terms with them. Focus instead on what you can control. Begin by seeking information from reliable, trusted sources and gathering all the available facts, understanding and accepting that you still might not have a complete picture. Assess the quality of information you are exposed to, where it comes from, and whether it is based on sound evidence. Try to avoid information overload and limit the time you spend searching for and consuming content.
• Understand that we all filter information in some way, influenced by our assumptions, past experiences, emotions, or sometimes by another person’s opinion. Recognize when this is happening and aim to modify this line of thinking.
• Have a concrete contingency action plan for those occurrences in life you can realistically anticipate. Rely on your instincts and skills to get you through the unpredictable moments.
• Practice basic self-care as part of your daily routine, including physical activity, sleep, a healthy diet, social connection with supportive, positive people, and a daily routine and structure. Following basic day-to-day rituals and routines helps support your mental health and overall sense of well-being and enhances your ability to manage those feelings of anxiety and distress caused by uncertainty.
• Engage in effective coping strategies to manage stress and uncertainty. These may include hobbies and pleasurable activities, relaxation techniques, and mindfulness. Helpful relaxation exercises include guided meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing exercises, and unplugging from technology and social media. Mindfulness techniques help focus your attention on the present moment and make you feel less overwhelmed and better able to manage the uncertainty you are experiencing.
• Work to develop and foster resilience. Resilience is an ongoing way of dealing with the difficult times in our lives, facing challenges, finding solutions, and recovering from setbacks. Having resilience means that you learn effective ways of thinking and responding during difficult situations. It means learning adaptive behaviors and coping skills, such as problem-solving, managing stress, facing one’s fears, mastering challenges, regulating one’s emotions, and others. Caring and supportive relationships, inside and outside the family, are essential to building resilience. They create love and trust, provide role models, and offer encouragement.

These strategies can help a person survive and thrive despite the stress of uncertainty.