Living With Doubt: Making Peace with Uncertainty

Certitude is comforting but elusive, and doubt can provoke anxiety. Consider this composite based on my clients, friends, and me.

I worry…about almost everything. Did I buy the right thing? Was I too tough or too nice? How hard should I work? How hard should I play? How much should I trust that person, even my wife?! Help!

My Psychology Today article today asks questions and offers suggestions for people plagued with doubt

RAD: A way to cope with uncertainty

Clarity is comforting while uncertainty can be disconcerting. For example:

• If you’re vaccinated, how safe will you be from COVID? How transmissible will you be? You’re invited to a gathering of eight people. Do you go? How about if you'd have to get on a plane?
• Amid the COVID-shrunk economy, will you keep your job?
• How dangerous are carbs? Red meat? Saturated fat? Marijuana?
• Should you invest conservatively, such as in a bank CD or in a stock mutual fund, which has greater risk but potentially greater reward?
• Is there a God worth placing faith in?
• Is there an afterlife?

Alas, there are no clear answers to such questions. So how can you deal with the uncertainty?

One approach that my clients have found helpful is RAD. I describe it in my Psychology Today article today.