Catastrophizing

Catastrophizing is an irrational thought that leads us to believe that something is far worse than it actually is. This can take two different forms: 1) making a catastrophe out of a current situation or 2) making a catastrophe out of a future situation.

Every person tends to catastrophize from time to time. And it’s easy to see how this could happen now, more than ever. Today even the most optimistic person may have trouble staying balanced.

That’s because crisis situations, by definition, are ambiguous. And this crisis is unique in that none of us have experienced anything like it in our lifetime. In an attempt to close the gap on what we know, you hear our leaders trying to compare what’s going on today to other national crises such as 911, Katrina, and the Great Recession. We are all looking for reference points to guide us as to what might lie ahead.

We do this because the brain does not like ambiguity. Neuroscientists tell us that in times of ambiguity, all areas of the brain are recruited in an effort to manage the lack of information. Our efforts to deal with uncertain situations may leave us feeling mentally fatigued, irritable, and anxious. And this may lead to faulty decision-making.

Also, we know from research that in times of uncertainty, we tend to think the worst. Even when a situation or message could be interpreted as positive, we more often than not interpret it as negative, especially when we lack information.

Six Steps to Manage Catastrophic Thinking

1. Acknowledge the reality of the situation.
   Putting your head in the sand or ignoring the facts will not lead to more certainty. Taking steps to carefully, objectively review what is known and what is not known will help us put rationality around an irrational situation.

2. Recognize when thoughts are irrational.
   Catastrophizing often follows a pattern that looks a lot like the following. This is an example of an interview I heard on the news. The governor of Ohio announced that primary voting was cancelled and rescheduled for June. That situation got expanded to questions like, “What will happen if the November Presidential election is cancelled or postponed?”. Then, on to, “What will happen to our democratic process if elections are cancelled?”. And when we hear something like this, it may set off a chain of thinking of how this would impact us individually, when in fact, this was a hypothetical extrapolation of one event.

3. Say to yourself, “Stop”.
   Once you recognize that your thoughts are building one irrational or hypothetical thought onto another, the best way to pause this thinking is to literally say to yourself, “Stop”. Doing this will allow you to hit the pause button on your thoughts.

4. Consider another outcome.
   Instead of thinking about a negative outcome, consider another alternative. Try looking at the situation from another perspective and perhaps seeing if there’s a positive way to look at the situation.

5. Leverage Positive Affirmations.
   When you find yourself having negative thoughts, many people find that positive, self-affirmations help them realize that they have overcome adversity in the past and that they will again in the future. An affirmation might sound like, “I can handle whatever is put in my path.”

6. Practice self-care.
   Catastrophic thoughts are more likely to control us when we are tired or stressed. Getting enough rest and engaging in stress-relieving techniques such as exercise, meditation, journaling, and talking things through with others, can help us gain perspective.

While I understand the desire and necessity of following news stories during this time of crisis, it’s important that we build skills to NOT allow news commentary and people’s opinions to impact our well-being and decision-making ability.