Practical Psychotherapy - Blog #anxiety

Coping with Uncertainty About AI: Mental Tools for Volatile Times

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

In 2020, the mention of AI would evoke images of J.A.R.V.I.S. from Iron Man, The Terminator, or, if you're old enough, Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Today, AI is no longer science fiction. It has become a part of our daily reality, with rapid progress in multiple areas. This has led to discussions about AI replacing human jobs across many industries. And you might be worried that your job is in jeopardy. What can you do to manage your worry?

The Psychology of Worry

Preparing for future challenges is a useful skill. That ability helped our ancestors store food to survive winter, in a world that didn't have supermarkets and Uber Eats. And the ability to predict when your bank account will hit zero helps you to consider a supermarket trip, instead of ordering delivery for the 30th time this week.

However, focusing too much on negative predictions about the future can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety. In the case of AI, worrying about what will happen next will compound your anxiety with each press release from OpenAI. So what can you do instead?

Practical Tips for Managing Worry

The first thing to be aware of is that mentally preparing for the loss of your job can make that anxiety worse. You might want to believe that visualising the job apocalypse is like Sarah Conner in the movie The Terminator doing push-ups and getting ripped. But Sarah Conner actually did those push-ups, she didn't just imagine them. Pay attention to when you slip into mental push-up mode and try one of the following instead:

Consider more than just the worst case.
Make reasonable preparations for likely scenarios.
Tolerate the anxiety.

Best, Worst, and Most Likely

One of the traps of anxiety is that it typically leads you to focus on the worst case scenario. You imagine the computer at work becoming sentient and doing the work without you. Your anxiety spikes when you think about it. It probably spiked when you read that sentence (sorry!). That's the worst case scenario.

To get that anxiety back under control, consider the best case scenario instead: AI never gets smart enough to reliably do your job. You probably feel a brief respite. But to make it last, consider the most likely scenario.

So what's a likely scenario? If you look at the past, you can find examples of game-changing technologies that affected entire industries. Computers with word processors (think Microsoft Word or Google Docs) eliminated the jobs of professional typists decades ago. But many of those same typists got computer training and found new jobs. AI might lead to widespread changes to various industries, and you might also have an opportunity to retrain and keep your job.

Real World Preparation

If there are opportunities to keep your job, it will take work on your part to seize them. But instead of merely imagining what opportunities might exist, do some actual research to identify concrete steps. For example, can you use AI to become even better at your job? Can you lead projects to responsibly and ethically use AI in your company? If you are leading the AI charge, you are less likely to find yourself out of a job if your company reduces the workforce. Your efforts to upskill are far more productive than hours spent worrying and researching backyard bunkers for the AI apocalypse.

Tolerating Uncertainty

While it is important to make preparations for the future, it is also important to accept that you don't have a crystal ball. You might be tempted to go down a research rabbit hole, preparing for multiple outcomes. This is your anxiety trying to keep itself fed after you cut off its daily supply of worrying. Anxiety demands certainty even more than Toronto restaurants demand 18% tips. The antidote is just to accept it (the anxiety, not the 18% tip). Tolerating the discomfort that comes with not knowing the future will help to reduce the desire for certainty, and will starve your anxiety.

Conclusion

The kind of future that AI will create in the workplace is anyone's guess. But don't waste time guessing. There are people that get paid to do that, so why do it for free? Instead, consider realistic outcomes and do as much as you can to prepare. Then tell your anxiety that you have done all you can and that it should give you a break, or you will leave it outside the bunker if there ever is an AI apocalypse. And if that doesn't work, book a free consultation session to get some professional help.

References

Pine, D. S., Wise, S. P., & Murray, E. A. (2021). Evolution, emotion, and episodic engagement. American Journal of Psychiatry, 178(8), 701-714.

New Zealand Railways. (1959). Head Office typists room, New Zealand Railways, 1959 [Photograph]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Head_Office_typists_room,_New_Zealand_Railways,_1959_(25557790294).jpg

Beck, J. S., & Hindman, R. (n.d.). Why anxiety persists. Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Retrieved October 22, 2025, from https://beckinstitute.org/blog/why-anxiety-persists/

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3 CBT Techniques You Can Use Today to Reduce Anxiety

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 14:00:00 +0000

While it may not seem that way when you're presenting for the thousandth time in a work meeting, anxiety can be useful. It prepares you to respond to threats by giving you energy and focus to spring into action. For example, if you hear a sound behind you while walking at night, you'd likely turn toward the sound with muscles tensed. You'd prepare to fight or run away if something emerges from the dark. Or you might keep still in hopes that you go unnoticed (it is dark after all). So where does this helpful trait go wrong?

The Psychology of Anxiety

Anxiety sometimes shows up at the most useless times because you can't always tell when a threat is real. For example, you feel anxiety when watching a movie even though it is fictional. But it gets worse. When your anxiety is out of control, you might do things that make it feel unbearable.

First, you might predict the worst outcome possible ("I'm going to mess up the big presentation at work and get fired"). Next, you start to get hyper-focused on the thing that has triggered your anxiety, perhaps thinking about it while walking the dog or trying to fall asleep. Then, to make matters worse, you might get anxious about your symptoms ("I wonder if they can see my hands shaking"). Yup, you get anxiety about your anxiety. At this point it all becomes too much and you just want to get away ("Maybe I can say I'm sick to get out of the presentation"). If you can't get away, you try to feel safer, perhaps by sitting in the corner of the room and making yourself small. And, surprise surprise, it backfires and makes you feel even worse.

Practical CBT Techniques for Managing Anxiety

So if the things that you tend to do when you get anxious don't help, what should you do instead? Here are three CBT techniques to try:

Put your anxiety on trial.
Talk yourself down.
Control your breathing.

Put Your Anxiety on Trial

Your anxiety has refused to pay the rent for living in your head, so it's time to take it to court. But first, you must gather evidence for your case. Here is how you do it:

Write down the thing your anxiety is predicting.
Ask yourself: what evidence is there that this will happen?
Then ask yourself: what evidence is there that this might not happen?
Review the evidence and decide if the threat is as bad as your anxiety claims.

If the evidence supporting your anxiety seems stronger, call for backup. Ask a friend or family member to join your ace legal team and help you find more evidence against your anxiety.

Prediction: I'm going to bomb the presentation and get fired

Evidence For	Evidence Against
I messed up my first presentation at this company.	My boss said that it was ok, everyone knew it was my first time.
I'm bad at presenting.	No one at the company has been fired over a bad presentation.
	I have done other presentations with my team and they went ok.

Verdict: I don't like doing presentations, but I will probably be ok and I'm not likely to be fired.

Talk Yourself Down

Your anxiety always fixates on the worst possible outcome. Consider other outcomes by using the following questions:

What’s the worst possible outcome?
What’s the best possible outcome?
What’s the most likely outcome?

Here are some example responses:

I do a terrible presentation and get fired on the spot.
I deliver a great presentation and get promoted.
I get through my presentation while most people stare at their phones and laptops.

Control Your Breathing

When you get anxious, you might find that you breathe too quickly or hold your breath. If you notice that your breathing is unusual, try the following:

Place your hand on your stomach.
Inhale deeply through your nose while counting to 4 in your mind. You should feel your stomach grow bigger.
Pause briefly and then exhale through your mouth while counting to 6 in your mind. You should feel your stomach contract.
Repeat the breathing until your anxiety feels lower.

Conclusion

Remember, anxiety is normal. But it can sometimes get out of control. Strategies to regain control only work if you implement them. For example, when approaching a situation that makes you anxious, add a reminder in your calendar to put your anxiety on trial the day before the event. And if you found these tips useful, working with a therapist can help you to learn even more strategies for your most difficult problems. Book a free consultation session today.

References

Beck, J. S. (2020). Cognitive Behavior Therapy, third edition: Basics and Beyond. Guilford Publications.

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