Feeling of Impending Doom: What is the Meaning?

What Is the Feeling of Impending Doom?

Impending doom is a physiological, psychological, or medical experience during which stress hormones are released to signal imminent threat. When adrenaline and cortisol are activated, the nervous system is put on high alert to fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. People who experience impending doom are having an internal distressing experience in the absence of actual threat in the environment.

Symptoms Associated With the Feeling of Impending Doom

Symptoms associated with impending doom are feelings of dread, anticipatory anxiety, and depression. Some people describe it as an emotional “let down” or a feeling that things are “caving in” on them. People also report having a vague sense of something about to happen due to overwhelming somatic symptoms.²

Common symptoms people experience with impending doom are:

• A sense of urgency
• Being unable to “settle down”
• Desire to seek immediate medical care even though other symptoms don’t warrant it
• Feeling anxious, discouraged, restless, or uncertain (to an extreme)
• Feeling that something bad or unusual is happening
• Sensing a premonition
• Feeling suffocated
• Trouble swallowing
• Depersonalization (a sense of being detached from yourself)
• Heart palpitations (heart arrhythmias)
• Sweating
• Shortness of breath
• Tremors and shaking
• Drop in blood pressure

Causes of the Feeling of Impending Doom

The causes of impending doom can be psychological or physiological. Anxious people tend to catastrophize about upcoming events rather than thinking more neutrally or that things may even turn out well. This anticipatory anxiety can cause a feeling of impending doom because it is hard to look forward to plans. However, the cause for impending doom can also signify precipitating a major medical event. If one has no history of anxiety, they should consult a medical provider.

Anxiety disorders that can cause a feeling of impending doom include:

• Panic disorder
• Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)

Other psychiatric disorders that can cause a feeling of impending doom include:

• Depression
• Bipolar disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Medical conditions that can cause a feeling of impending doom include:

• Heart attack (myocardial infarction)
• Severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)
• Tumor (pheochromocytoma)
• Blood clot (pulmonary embolism)
• Seizure
• Aneurysm

Physiological Explanation for the Feeling of Impending Doom

The symptoms of impending doom are vasovagal syncope episodes that occur when the sympathetic nervous system is activated by stress or a trigger.³ These episodes can be caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure or the release of cortisol and adrenaline stress hormones.²

This physiological response is the same thing that happens during a panic attack. Diaphragmatic breathing counteracts the effects of the sympathetic nervous system by balancing the intake of oxygen and carbon dioxide.⁴

Feeling of Impending Doom & Sleep

Some people wake up or go to sleep with a sense of impending doom. Nocturnal dread may be caused by low glucose levels, hypothyroidism, or poor sleep.⁴ Morning dread is caused by releasing stress and activating hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) that get us to start our day.⁴

How to Manage the Feeling of Impending Doom

Many skills help to manage psychological impending doom. An important step is beginning to recognize what you are thinking about when overcome by the feelings. That will enable you to respond to them differently by taking a step back. Rather than engaging in catastrophic thoughts, you can take a more objective stance by labeling the feelings and letting them run their course.

Here are thirteen tips for how to manage the feeling of impending doom:

1. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT for anxiety helps people recognize irrational beliefs, cognitive distortions, and dysfunctional behaviors.
2. Exposure therapy: Exposure therapy helps people face their fears without compulsively attempting to reduce or avoid anxiety. This type of therapy rewires brain chemistry by staying in the feared situation without thinking or doing anything to reduce the anxiety, which allows it to run its course.
3. Progressive muscle relaxation: Progressive muscle relaxation involves purposely and systematically tensing muscles and then relaxing them from the top of the head to the toes. The effect brings about a relaxation response which shifts the body from alert to relaxed.
4. Diaphragmatic breathing: Diaphragmatic breathing helps exchange the breathing from the sympathetic (fear-based) to the parasympathetic nervous system (calm based).⁵
5. Mindful breathing: Mindful breathing is a meditation that focuses your attention on your breath and helps regulate emotions.
6. Mindfulness: Mindfulness is a practice that shifts the focus from fearful thoughts or emotions to what is actually happening in the here and now from one moment to the next, which is all we have control over.
7. Self-compassion (SC): SC is an approach that teaches people to be mindful of their negative or judgmental self-talk and instead talk to themselves as they would a good friend who is struggling.
8. Stress management: Healthy lifestyle routines and self-care can help minimize impending doom episodes. Physical activity, such as aerobics, can help to release stress. Sleep hygiene, such as going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, give or take on weekends, can help your nervous system get the rest it needs. Hydration, engaging in leisure and social activities, healthy distractions, and mindfulness are all stress-relieving habits as well.
9. Stay in touch: Isolation is one of the worst predicaments someone with anxiety or feelings of impending doom can make. Consider small steps to being around people, like going out for coffee with a non-judgemental friend who respects your boundaries or attending an exercise class.
10. Meditation: Meditation helps calm the mind and racing thoughts. Setting aside even 10 minutes daily for quiet time to heighten your awareness of your inner experience without judging or trying to change it.
11. Gratitude: Keeping a daily gratitude journal for noticing special moments of the day can improve mood. The moments can be something you observed, an interaction with someone, or appreciating the small things that happened that caught your attention. The hormone oxytocin is set off by gratitude and being grateful for things we normally take for granted.
12. Be organized: Having order and a plan can help you feel grounded and purposeful. Keeping a schedule for chores and social activities, keeping a priority to-do list and, taking care of personal business as things come up, having a place to put things that you use, such as keys, phone, glasses, etc., reduces stress from having to look for them all the time, sorting through junk mail to get rid of physical clutter and inbox clutter, and time management are all helpful steps to control aspects of life that may feel overwhelming.
13. Limit time on social media: Exposure to too much negative social media and its content can affect our mood and well-being. Try to limit reading or posting, especially when you feel vulnerable.

When to Contact a Doctor

Consider contacting your healthcare professional if you have an unexplained episode of impending doom, especially if you have a family history of the medical problems. If you feel it is an emergency, visit your local emergency room.

When to Seek Professional Mental Health Care

Consider seeing a mental health professional when the feeling of impending doom are not due to a physiological cause and are beginning to interfere with your daily life and ability to look forward to future events. Looking up an online therapist directory or online therapy platforms are sage and convenient ways to find a therapist specializing in anxiety disorder treatments.

Signs that you should seek professional mental health care include:

• You go back to bed to avoid feeling feelings of dread or facing the day’s challenges
• You experience the feeling of impending doom throughout the day or have intermittent episodes
• Your mood begins to worsen
• Your anxiety begins to increase
• You have anticipatory anxiety about the near or far future
• You feel unable to cope with the feeling or symptoms
• You begin to miss work or socially isolate
• You no longer enjoy the things you find pleasurable
• You have a family history of the psychiatric diagnoses listed earlier in the article

In My Experience

The prognosis for people who want to get psychological control over their feelings of impending doom is excellent! When working with anxious people who experience impending doom, it has been helpful to remind them that this feeling is a symptom and not an actual indication of danger. There are so many helpful options for people to understand that the belief that being forewarned by anticipating the worst outcome scenarios can be the very source of their suffering.