Anyone who experiences anxiety to any degree is arguably familiar with catastrophizing, myself included. The term is a bit of a mouthful, but, defined in my own words, it involves someone allowing their thoughts to lead them to the absolute worst possible outcome of any given scenario, with absolutely no hope for an alternative. In short, it requires someone to constantly jump to the worst possible conclusion.
When you’re in the midst of an anxiety spiral, or, worse, a panic attack, catastrophizing comes naturally. You’re already at your wits’ end, so it makes sense that your brain seizes the moment to catastrophize and make an already shitty situation even worse.
It’s easy to tell someone to just think positively, and, unfortunately, this rarely does the trick when it comes to anxiety. I have, however, recently come across a little trick, so to speak, that helps prevent someone from catastrophizing. I’ve tried it myself, and for this reason, I figured I would share it with all of you in hopes of potentially helping someone out there.
It seems too good to be true, but when we find ourselves catastrophizing and conjuring images of the most horrible outcome fathomable, it makes a world of difference to take pause, and simply ask ourselves, “But what if it goes right? What if it does work out?
Too simple, I know. But, I’ve given the practice a lot of thought, and if we can put so much effort into anticipating something fucking terrible, why can’t we do the same in a far more advantageous sense and instead put effort towards anticipating something wonderful? Why should we allow ourselves to dwell on everything negative, and in doing so, prevent ourselves from identifying hope or positivity?
Catastrophizing has the ability to rule someone’s life, but this little trick can make a tremendous difference. Try it out for yourself if you don’t believe me.
Photo by Solving Healthcare on Unsplash
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