Most of the monsters you’re scared of are just the future with the lights off.

Unknown things get filled in by the most alarming version available, which is why a vague worry is heavier than a specific one. The dread is mostly darkness rather than monster: you do not know what happens after the exam, after the move, after the conversation, so your mind supplies something. A named fear can be looked at, measured, sometimes answered.

Write down exactly what you are afraid will happen, in one sentence, the specific version. Then find out one actual fact about it from somebody who has been through it. Knowing usually makes it smaller than the shape in the dark.