Dread
Fear's anticipatory register — the threat is specific and identified, only its timing is still to come.
How it shows up
Dread tends to settle in when something unwelcome is definitely coming and the only question is when: a layoff announcement, a test result, a confrontation. It can hang over days, coloring ordinary activities, and many people feel it heavily in the chest and stomach. It keeps attention on the threat, which can aid preparation but is also exhausting. Its anchor to a specific, identified event separates it from free-floating anxiety.
How it differs from Anxiety
Dread is tied to a specific known event still to come; anxiety is more diffuse, without one clear object.
Notice
When dread hangs over a day, notice how it shapes the ordinary moments that have nothing to do with it.
Where it is felt
Felt most in the chest, stomach and throat.
Based on Nummenmaa et al. (2014), bodily maps of emotions, and related research. The map shows where people report bodily sensation, on average; individual experience varies.