Tolerating uncertainty: what helps?

We're all living through uncertain times at the moment. What does research from CBT tell us about what tends to help people tolerate uncertainty? Dr Lucy Maddox interviews Professor Mark Freeston about what might help.

 

Show Notes and Transcript

Podcast episode produced by Dr Lucy Maddox for BABCP

For more on BABCP our website is www.babcp.com

For Mark's research survey follow this link:

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/who-we-are/coronavirus/research/uncertainty/

A preprint of Mark's research paper on coronavirus and uncertainty is available here:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340653312_Towards_a_model_of_uncertainty_distress_in_the_context_of_Coronavirus_Covid-19

If you feel like you're struggling here are some resources:

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/

https://www.samaritans.org/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/mental-health-services/how-to-access-mental-health-services/

The register of BABCP accredited CBT therapists is here: 

https://www.cbtregisteruk.com/

Photo by Katie Mourn on Unsplash

Episode edited and produced by Lucy Maddox

Music by Gabriel Stebbing

Transcript 

Lucy: Hi and welcome to Let’s Talk About CBT with me, Dr Lucy Maddox. This podcast is brought to you by the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies, BABCP. It’s all about CBT, what it is, what it’s not and how it can be useful.  

Today in another post-pandemic special episode I’m speaking remotely to Professor Mark Freeston from Newcastle University. Mark’s research is about how intolerance of uncertainty relates to anxiety and he spoke to me about how findings from this research can be relevant at this current, very uncertain time.  

Mark was clear that feelings of anxiety and distress in response to the current pandemic are totally normal.  

Mark: Anxiety problems that we see in mental health services have an element that is recognised to be excessive about them. But what we’re looking at at the moment, which is anxiety and distress in response to the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t necessarily have this excessive elem