Word for the feeling of dread/complacency that comes when starting something new

Question

Is there a word for the feeling of that comes when faced with something new and you really have to push yourself hard to actually start and get into the flow of said task or situation? It seems to be the mental pressure or weight of some combination of dread, complacency and intimidation that causes a person to freeze. I suppose it could be described as generalized form of "writers block for life situations".

(Laziness is not the word, because it would suggest not wanting to start ;) )

I know what this feels like, but don't know how to express it, and it is highly frustrating!

Answer 1

WORD FOR THE FEELING OF DREAD/COMPLACENCY THAT COMES WHEN STARTING SOMETHING NEW (some combination of dread, complacency and intimidation that causes a person to freeze--TAGS: [meaning] [word-choice] [adjectives] [vocabulary])

Due to the wording of your request all single-word answers must reference either the “intimidation” or the “inertia” factors of your request (INTIMIDATION aspect: trepidation; the newly-minted “archophobia”; INERTIA aspect: lassitude; enervation; torpor; neurasthenia), because no single word in the English language combines these divergent qualities.

Additionally, if "laziness" is not a factor (and, based on personal experience with this issue, I agree that it is not) because it would "suggest not wanting to start" then "complacency", the feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements, is also not a factor for consideration.

ENERVATION noun: 1. lack of vitality; "an enervation of mind greater than any fatigue" 2. serious weakening and loss of energy 3. the depletion or sapping of strength or energy;

Usage Note: Sometimes people mistakenly use enervate to mean "to invigorate" or "to excite" by assuming that this word is a close cousin of the verb energize. In fact enervate does not come from the same source as energize (Greek energos, "active"). It comes from Latin nervus, "sinew." Thus enervate means "to cause to become 'out of muscle'", that is, "to weaken or deplete of strength."; see The Free Dictionary enervation and Google enervation

While your official selection, “lassitude”, is certainly a gorgeous word, and both “lassitude” and “enervation” effectively evoke the weakness, diminished energy, and depleted vitality OP seeks, “enervation” possesses two qualities which, to my mind, recommend it over all other single words offered: 1. “enervation” includes the sense of dynamic process, of becoming or increasing, whereas all other suggestions describe a static condition, or feeling. 2. “enervation” possesses a verb and adjective form (ENERVATE verb: to weaken or destroy the strength or vitality; ENERVATING adjective: causing one to feel drained of energy or vitality) which would allow you to gracefully combine the “dreadful” aspect of your request with “enervation,” i.e., “the trepidation which enervates and saps the vigor necessary...” or "the enervating dread forestalling your initiative".

Answer 2

Trepidation would emphasize the fear and anxiety:

noun

[MASS NOUN]
1 A feeling of fear or anxiety about something that may happen:

ODO

Answer 3

There is a phrase exactly for this situation: blank canvas paralysis.

It is a fairly new coinage and it is originated in painting where painters can't start painting and keep staring at the blank canvas; but it can be applied to any situation.

Whenever you are about to start something new, you risk ‘Blank Canvas Paralysis’, the inability to get started. It is frightening, frustrating and causes you to doubt yourself, but once recognized for what it is, it loses some of its power and you can find ways to deal with it.

However, it is not only painters who face the blank canvas. Everyone eventually faces its petrifying stare.

_{themodernnomad.com}

In a letter to his brother Theo, Van Gogh wrote:

Just slap anything on when you see a blank canvas staring you in the face like some imbecile. You don't know how paralyzing that is, that stare of a blank canvas is, which says to the painter, You can't do a thing. The canvas has an idiotic stare and mesmerises some painters so much that they turn into idiots themselves. Many painters are afraid in front of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the real, passionate painter who dares and who has broken the spell of `you can't' once and for all.

_{^{Source: Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written October 1884 in Nuenen. Translated by Mrs. Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, edited by Robert Harrison, number 378. URL: http://webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/14/378.htm.}}

Answer 4

Lassitude might approach the feeling of mental paralysis:

n.
A state or feeling of weariness, diminished energy, or listlessness.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

From etymonline.com:

early 15c., from Middle French lassitude (14c.),
from Latin lassitudinem (nominative lassitudo) "faintness, weariness,"
from lassus "faint, tired, weary,"
from PIE *led- "slow, weary" (source also of Old English læt "sluggish, slow;" see late (adj.)),
from root *le- "to let go, slacken"

Answer 5

Unless a specific preexisting term is identified, I believe the neologism archophobia is in order:

noun

a morbid dread at the commencement of creative work

Origin

From the Greek ἄρχω meaning begin, make a beginning and φόβος, meaning panic flight, fear, object of terror

Liddell & Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon

Archophobia is to be distinguished from acrophobia--the fear of heights, and arachnophobia--the fear of spiders

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If the focus is strictly on the newness, there are several closely related words for preexisting phobias:

Neophobia- Fear of anything new.
Cainophobia or Cainotophobia- Fear of newness, novelty.
Kainolophobia or Kainophobia- Fear of anything new, novelty.

According to Wikipedia, these preexisting phobias tend to describe a fear of changing from the normal, rather than the creative process.

Answer 6

torpor

noun

1. a : a state of mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility b : a state of lowered physiological activity typically characterized by reduced metabolism, heart rate, respiration, and body temperature that occurs in varying degrees especially in hibernating and estivating animals

2. : apathy, dullness

Answer 7

I have not a single word, but an expression: cold feet

"To “have cold feet” is to be too fearful to undertake or complete an action." --Wikipedia

Answer 8

Tim, there is a term "neurasthenia". It is more a medical diagnosis than what you are talking about, but I thought you might find it interesting. If you Wiki it, you will read about Buzz Aldrin suffering from it, with a meaning similar to Scott M's "lassitude" or Little Eva's "enervation", but you should know that Russian psychiatrists make a bigger deal of the term, with, I think, a somewhat different meaning. A neurasthenic is unlikely to make a good fist of starting a big project.

Ever thought about the people who love starting things, with a "new project buzz", but then never finish them? Equal and opposite?

Answer 9

I think' Apprehension 'is a good word to define such feelings As an example: I was apprehensive about the outcome of the new project undertaken by me.

Answer 10

Transition shock: state of loss and disorientation predicated by a change in one's familiar environment that requires adjustment

Symptoms:

Feelings of helplessness and withdrawal
Irritability
Anger
Mood swings
Glazed stare
Physiological stress reactions
Boredom
Getting "stuck" on one thing
Suicidal or fatalistic thoughts

metathesiophobia: unwarranted fear of breaking the routine