Harvard Business Review Archives

What to Do When Your Mind (Always) Dwells on the Worst-Case Scenario

Not long ago, a medical student, let’s call him Paul, walked into my shift in the emergency room of a large university and told me that his life was ruined. I’m a clinical psychologist. And for the past 20 years, I have worked — in many capacities — with young adults. I’ve counseled them in private practice. I’ve taught them on college campuses. I’ve given talks at the companies where they work. And this day, I was staffing the emergency walk-in on a college campus.

Recent Grads Are Drowning in Uncertainty. Here’s How to Stay Afloat.

There are nearly fifty million twentysomethings in the United States, most of whom are living with a staggering, unprecedented amount of uncertainty. Most have no idea where they will work or where they will live in five years. They don’t know if they are a day or a decade away from a promotion, or when they will be able to pay their bills. And now, millions of new would-be workers have graduated, without the pomp and circumstance, into a global pandemic and recession.