Concepts
Health psychology/Defence mechanisms · Mature
Anticipation
What it means
Reducing future distress by realistic planning and rehearsal of an anticipated discomfort.
Worked example
Rehearsing how to break bad news, or pre-arranging support before a stressful event.
In the exam
Before a planned amputation, a patient researches rehabilitation, arranges home adaptations and mentally rehearses the recovery.
What settles it
Anticipation engages with the future stressor realistically and plans. It is the mature counterpart to denial, which refuses the reality.
Classically confused with
Denial
Source: Vaillant hierarchy