What is Catastrophic Thinking?
The word catastrophic means something terrible, sudden, and disastrous. While it is normal for all of us to fear or think about impending disasters or terrible events, especially on the back of the pandemic, those who battle catastrophic thinking can’t turn that thinking off. They are in a constant state of crisis as anything can be potentially disastrous. Our mind unfortunately cannot tell the difference between someone experiencing something terrible and our imaginations of something terrible happening. As a way of protecting us, the body goes into fight, flight, or freeze mode, even when there is no actual danger. It is for this reason catastrophic thinking can be detrimental to mental and physical health. It is important to note that catastrophic thinking is not a mental health condition, though it can be a symptom of some conditions. Catastrophic thinking has been likened to the snowball effect. It starts with a small negative thought that can, just like a snowball grow into something much bigger than the initial trigger. Characteristics of Catastrophic Thinking People caught up in a catastrophic thinking loop do so without any evidence that what they fear will come to pass and in most cases, those fears do not materialize. Some of the common characteristics of catastrophic thinking can include the following: Negative irrational thinking. Catastrophic thinkers do not rely on evidence or fact to support their fears and anxieties. It’s all cognitive with no actual reasoning behind their negative conclusions. They use their emotions and/or intuitions as evidence that something terrible is going to happen. Exaggeration. In simple terms, this is sometimes referred to as blowing things out of proportion. Catastrophic thinkers magnify the significance and impact of a situation, making it much worse than it is. Minimize abilities. They minimize their ability to deal with [...]