Coming to terms with the Unknown

A Dutch experiment gave subjects a series of jolts of electricity. The group was divided into those who knew they would receive 20 shocks and those who were told they would receive 17 mild shocks and 3 intense jolts. The second group wasn't told which shock was coming when. 

The researchers found that the group that did not know what was coming had a higher level of anxiety, even though they received fewer hits. The group facing uncertainty sweated more, and their hearts beat faster.  

Anticipation of the unknown creates more stress than knowing something bad is going to happen. We prefer knowing a sure thing, even if it is bad news, to suspecting there may be bad news waiting for us ahead. 

It’s hard to come to terms with the unknown. When we know what we are facing, we are able to grieve and move forward. But when we don’t know whether to grieve or not, when we don’t know whether to feel relief or not, we become stuck in the land of uncertainty. 

Stephen Goforth