What is Future Foreshortening?
Why is it so hard to imagine a happy future when you have PTSD?
There are days when my PTSD is bad where I just don’t see the point in trying too hard to make my life better. It’s a difficult feeling to describe, but…
Imagine walking on a brightly lit path on a warm spring day with a clear destination in mind. As you walk, you look around you, noticing how the leaves dance in the breeze. Imagine smelling a sweet scent wafting in the air and looking around to spot the source. The day is peaceful, and you feel happy and proud because you can see the end of the path ahead. You’re almost there, and you start to imagine how it will feel when you reach your destination.
Warm, happy feelings swirl all around you, but as you take your next step, a loud scream tears through your quiet, peaceful path. Startled now, you look around, attempting to find the source of danger. Your heart begins to race, and your limbs begin to tremble as you frantically look in every direction for the source of your fear. Your path looks exactly the same. Nothing has changed; your path is still bright and beautiful, but your vision begins to darken as you look at it. The shadows from the trees seem to grow larger, and the path begins to lengthen. The destination you are headed for becomes obscured by fog until you can no longer see it. You might start to shiver as you realize that in the absence of the warm sun, you’re actually quite cold.
You wrap your arms around yourself and hunch over, attempting to seal in any body heat. After affirming that no danger is present, you decide to continue on the path, but you’re weary now. Each step you take seems heavier than the last, and your thoughts are consumed with the memory of the scream and the cold air swirling around you. Your muscles ache with the effort of continuing on your path, but you know that you have to keep going. One foot in front of the other. Minutes stretch into hours, and you begin to doubt. Are you even on the right path?
What if you missed a turn?
You should turn around and go back. Options swirl in your head as you realize you’re lost. How did this happen? How did you get lost when you never left the path? You look all around you, hoping for a glimpse of your destination, but all you see is fog. “This is the path.” You repeat the words to yourself over and over again. “I’m not lost. This is the path.” The clouds move away for a brief moment, and the sun shines again. Relief washes over you as you spot your destination at the end of the path. You seem farther away than you did before, and as you wonder how that happened, the clouds descend again. The wind swirls around you, and you feel disoriented as you desperately try to hold sight of your destination but realize with a sinking feeling that it’s gone.
You hold the memory of your destination in mind, reminding yourself that it’s real and you’re almost there as the world grows darker around you.
I didn’t know that feeling had a name, but I did know it was connected to my PTSD. I’m good enough friends with my PTSD now that I can typically track the days when I am lost in the fog. It used to terrify me, that feeling of not knowing where I was or where I was going and frantically trying to find my path. None of my goals or past accomplishments felt real because the fog swallowed them up. Eventually, I learned how to remind myself that feeling lost in the fog doesn’t last forever.
I had that feeling today. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but PTSD doesn’t take the day off just because it’s a holiday. I sat with it, feeling the pull to dissociate for hours on TikTok, and then finally wondering if there was a name for that feeling, and there is.
It’s called Future Foreshadowing, and it’s a symptom of PTSD. It refers to the difficulty or inability to imagine a meaningful or positive future for yourself. Trauma disrupts your sense of safety and stability, and that makes it really damn hard to believe in the possibility of long-term success or happiness.
When experiencing future foreshadowing, you might feel like your goals are pointless or impossible or that the future is a blank slate with no clear path forward. The lack of hope feels like an additional burden on top of the already heavy weight of PTSD.
If you’ve experienced this, welcome to the club. You’re not alone; even if you’re feeling lost in the fog right now, you’re not alone. The trauma that causes PTSD leaves deep emotional wounds. It’s wild to think that so much invisible damage can be done that it can interfere with your ability to connect with hope for the future. It’s comforting to me, knowing what that devastating feeling is called and knowing that while I will still experience it, I can work through it and find my dreams waiting for me other side.
If future foreshortening has left you feeling lost, here are some strategies to help you reconnect with hope and start moving toward your goals again.
1. Set Goals in Small Steps
Big goals can feel overwhelming when you struggle to see a path forward. You need to focus on small, actionable steps to track and see paying off in real time. Break your goals into bite-sized, teeny, tiny pieces. For example, if you want to write a book, set a goal of writing at least 100 words daily. It sounds silly, but you need to celebrate every small win along the way. Every step you take is worth celebrating, and taking the time to acknowledge your wins helps cement it in your mind that you aren’t really lost in the fog.
2. Ground Yourself in the Present
Sometimes, the future feels impossible because the present feels so goddamn overwhelming. Ground yourself with practices that anchor you in the here and now. Give yourself a simple “Today Plan” with a few manageable tasks. I particularly like lists I can check off because I can physically see what I have accomplished for the day.
3. Use Tarot as a Tool for Hope
Tarot can offer valuable insights and inspiration when the future feels unclear. I’m not always able to read tarot for myself when my PTSD is high, but when I can, it’s invaluable in helping me clearly see what is going on in my inner world. You can pull cards for guidance by asking things like, “What energy will help me move forward?” or “What is the root cause making me feel stuck?” Find or make a spread to explore your current state, hidden possibilities, and the next steps to take.
4. Reframe Doubts Through Journaling
Journaling can help you process your doubts and reframe them into opportunities for growth. Honor your feelings. That stuck feeling exists because of deep emotional wounding. Give that part of you a voice, write about what triggers your doubts, and then list evidence of your past successes.
5. Surround Yourself with Supportive People
You don’t have to do this alone. That’s a hard thing to remember when you are fighting an invisible battle in your head. It feels so lonely and isolating. I tend to self-isolate more when my PTSD is high, and I have to make an effort to reconnect. Join communities of like-minded people, such as writers, tarot practitioners, or those working on PTSD recovery. You’re always welcome on my page. It helps to have spaces where you can safely share your feelings with someone who can remind you of your strength.
6. Create Tangible Reminders of Hope
Sometimes, visual or physical reminders can help you reconnect with your goals. Make a vision board with images and quotes representing your dreams. Start a “success jar” where you write down small wins and moments of hope to revisit when you need encouragement. For me, having something I can physically see and touch is the most helpful thing because it’s not just a thought in my head. It’s tangible and real.
7. Explore Healing Modalities
Integrating healing practices into your routine can create space for new growth. Use mindfulness or meditation to ground yourself and bring awareness to your progress. Try guided visualization exercises or hypnotherapy to reconnect with a hopeful future vision. Hypnotherapy is particularly useful for this type of issue because it works directly with your subconscious to re-wire some of those thought patterns.
8. Write Your Future Story
If imagining the future feels impossible, try writing it on paper. This one is hard for me, which is ironic because I am a writer, but I am working on it. Write a detailed story about your life five years from now, as though your dreams have already come true. Include sensory details to make the vision feel real and vivid.
9. Stay Connected to Your Why
Remind yourself why you started pursuing your dreams in the first place. Write your reasons down and keep them where you can see them daily. These reminders can serve as an anchor when doubt inevitably creeps in.
Healing from PTSD and its symptoms, like future foreshortening, is a long and not exactly linear journey. Some days will be harder than others, and that’s okay. It feels frustrating, on top of everything else that comes with PTSD, to have to fight to regain our hope as well. What matters is that you continue to take small steps, even when hope feels out of reach, because the light will return.
By breaking goals into manageable pieces, leaning on tools like tarot, and surrounding yourself with supportive people, you can begin to reconnect with a brighter vision of the future. Your dreams are not out of reach. They’re waiting for you, one small step at a time.
What steps will you take today to reconnect with your future?
