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Intolerance of Uncertainty and Managing Emotions

Ethan
over 3 years ago

HI all,

I've come across the concept of Intolerance of Uncertainty - something my psychologist mentioned and after a recent blip I've started investigating it. Most of the material I've come across is academic papers (taking a wee bit of time to absorb) but I was wondering if anyone else had come across the idea and what they made of it?

On a semi-related topic the Coursera platform is running a course by the Yale Centre of Emotional Intelligence: Managing Emotions in Times of Uncertainty and Stress. It's free (although you can pay £36 for a certificate if you want one). Link > https://www.coursera.org/learn/managing-emotions-uncertainty-stress

It's intended for school staff (and neurotypicals) but looking at the syllabus I'm fairly sure there's ideas that might give me another perspective and increase emotional awareness. I'm going to explore it - but I thought I'd share in case anyone else is interested. 

The course leader Marc Brackett has a website @ https://www.marcbrackett.com/ (apologies for the big book ad slap bang in the middle of the homepage Rolling eyes- I'm not on commission, It's the video I'm pointing to)

Parents
  • over 3 years ago

    I totally agree with this.

    Ever since I was diagnosed, the engineer in me has been measuring and analysing what I do and why I do it - and then assessing those around me in comparison.

    I've boiled it down to two issues - sensory overload - everything is too sensitive to live comfortably - and the big one is a pathological need for certainty and predictability.    In the same way as the sensory overload, I am easily overloaded with uncertainty.     Luckily, as an engineer, I was able to design-out most of the problems in front of me.

    I've noticed NTs don't seem to notice this stress - they blunder about with short memories so their task-anxiety dissipates quickly.

    I've been watching young ASD children at a mixed ASD group I attended and almost all of their problems seem come from the chaotic lives of their parents - there's no grounding or basic stability - no schedules or patterns to latch on to for comfort.   There's no safe space or safe retreat area.    There's no logic in the random and arbitrary rules applied to them.   The kids seem to be locked into a permanent fight-or-fight mode.

    Me, as a parent, thought it only logical to provide my daughter with every option to make her feel safe, (how I would have liked to feel) whatever the situation - little things like still holding her hand in busy places or arranging pick-up spots where she was under cover and me never being late.    it's meant that every life-challenge has been manageable for her because it is the only one in front of her - all the other risks have an escape plan and safety net in place to reduce any possible anxiety caused by external factors.

    She's grown up to be a very well-balanced and mature young lady.

  • over 3 years ago in reply to Plastic
    Plastic said:
    a pathological need for certainty and predictability.

    Yes! Again, Plastic.... I just thought that was just one facet of my core personality and nothing more.  I'm risk averse.  I like things planned and organised properly and find last minute changes stressful... why am I recognising so much of myself here. 

    The worst for me is travelling.  Don't get me wrong, I DO it.  I took myself all over Europe when young.  I've taken myself off, all by myself in recent times, on family history trips to Ireland and Lake Como, but I am nervous all the way in case a taxi or a train doesn't turn up on time, or something is cancelled and I have to rearrange something from my careful planning en route.  I can feel the rise of panic while waiting for transport.  What if the plan doesn't work?????   Ahhhh!!!  Then, of course, I really don't like it if stations and airports are too busy.  And I won't go anywhere, where I don't speak enough of the language to know I can find a loo and buy a meal or a ticket.

    Still, worth it for the beauty of that Lake.

Reply
  • over 3 years ago in reply to Plastic
    Plastic said:
    a pathological need for certainty and predictability.

    Yes! Again, Plastic.... I just thought that was just one facet of my core personality and nothing more.  I'm risk averse.  I like things planned and organised properly and find last minute changes stressful... why am I recognising so much of myself here. 

    The worst for me is travelling.  Don't get me wrong, I DO it.  I took myself all over Europe when young.  I've taken myself off, all by myself in recent times, on family history trips to Ireland and Lake Como, but I am nervous all the way in case a taxi or a train doesn't turn up on time, or something is cancelled and I have to rearrange something from my careful planning en route.  I can feel the rise of panic while waiting for transport.  What if the plan doesn't work?????   Ahhhh!!!  Then, of course, I really don't like it if stations and airports are too busy.  And I won't go anywhere, where I don't speak enough of the language to know I can find a loo and buy a meal or a ticket.

    Still, worth it for the beauty of that Lake.

Children
  • over 3 years ago in reply to Dawn
    Dawn said:
    The worst for me is travelling.  Don't get me wrong, I DO it.  I

    Tell me about it!        I've taken autistic and partially sighted children to DisneyWorld in Florida - more than 20 times - if you can imagine the stress and the engineering required to make that happen safely for everyone.       There's sooooo much that can go wrong.

    The rewards make it well worth the effort.