Our brain is like a machine that is constantly making predictions and trying to make assumptions that allow us to understand and navigate the world around you.Â
It’s unlikely that you’ve experienced a pandemic before, but even if you have, the state in which everything seems to hang in the air, there are no clear “rules” about how you should behave from day to day, how exactly you should interact with society – won’t leave you.
When your brain tries to assess the changing environment, it goes into ultra-vigilant threat monitoring mode. If your brain can’t beat or reduce uncertainty, the “allostatic load” can contribute to systemic failures and brain malfunctions.
One of the problems is that when the uncertainty reduction process drags on, the body reacts to hypothetical threats as if they will happen any minute, and thoughts of worst-case scenarios add fuel to the fire.
Uncertainty In A Scientific Way
One way to better understand stress is to look at it from the homeostasis side: when your internal balance is disturbed in some way, stress can be seen as your body’s nonspecific response to the demand for change and subsequent regulation.
A study published in 2016 in Nature Communications provides some insight into the basis of the relationship between stress and uncertainty and concludes that most people would rather know for sure that they will be electrocuted than not know it and be in the dark.Â
Specifically, one of the findings was that situations in which subjects had a 50 percent chance of being electrocuted were the most stressful, while 0% and 100% chance of being hit resulted in the lowest stress levels.Â
One reason for this response is that your brain needs to go into threat monitoring mode when uncertainty is present. You have to be alert at all times.
Fear and uncertainty can leave you feeling stressed, anxious, and powerless over the direction of your life. It can drain you emotionally and trap you in a downward spiral of endless.
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