Is there anything more agonizing than having to wait for something important?

You know that feeling of hoping for good news while bracing for the worst?

Time seems to crawl in periods of high-stakes uncertainty,

such as for a job applicant waiting to find out whether they got their dream job,

or a high school senior waiting for word from colleges,

or a patient awaiting biopsy results.

And since COVID-19 entered our lives,

the whole world has gotten a crash course in waiting and worrying,

as we've all hoped for the end of this agonizing pandemic.

What makes waiting so stressful?

How does the stress of waiting differ from other types of stress?

What kinds of waiting periods are the most difficult?

Do some people have an easier time waiting than others?

And what's the relationship between waiting and worrying?

Is worrying always bad?

And if you're in a period of anxious waiting,

are there strategies you can use to lessen your anxiety and make the time pass more easily?

Welcome to Speaking of Psychology, the flagship podcast of the American Psychological Association that examines the links between psychological science and everyday life.

I'm Kim Mills.

Our guest today is Dr. Kate Sweeney, a professor of psychology at the University of California Riverside. Dr. Sweeney researches how people

cope with acute uncertainty. Her lab has studied people experiencing tense times in

their lives, including law school graduates awaiting news about

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