In this series, we are taking a look at some of the most common ways our thought process can become distorted, causing us to feel depressed, bad about ourselves, negative or hopeless. One of the most common patterns is Catastrophic Thinking, or “Catastrophizing”.

This occurs when your thoughts automatically go to the worst possible outcome of a situation as the most probable.

Alex is a teacher and has been teaching for 5 years. He receives positive reviews at the end of the year from the students in his classes and their parents, and his principle has gone out of her way several times over the past few years to congratulate Alex on his inventive lesson plans and engagement with his students.

One day, Alex oversleeps. He races to school in a panic, thinking the whole way about the expectation that teachers be in their classrooms prior to students arriving. “I can’t believe I overslept! The principle has talked so many times about how important it is to be on time! What am I going to do when they find out I was late? This is a nightmare, I’m probably going to get fired now. I won’t be able to pay my rent if I get fired! I’ll have to move back in with my parents! Why couldn’t I just wake up on time?!”

In this example, even though Alex has proved to himself and his job that he is competent and consistent, when he makes one error he immediately jumps to the worst possible outcome of the situation. He then continues to follow the line of thinking, imagining how getting fired could result in him not making rent and having to move back in with his parents.

This is what happens when catastrophizing takes over your thought processes.

Not only do you see the worst outcome in the situation at hand, but your thoughts take it a step further and explore how that one negative could expand and ruin a whole string of areas in your life.

This distortion can cause you to be in a constant state of anxiety, worrying about how each and every situation could play out in the most negative way possible, leaving you constantly braced to face the worst. If you catch yourself constantly freaking over things others seem to be able to brush off, or always expecting the worst to happen, try taking a step back and looking at the whole situation. Is there evidence from your past experiences or from feedback from others that indicates the worst may not be guaranteed? For example, if Alex thought about his many positive reviews and great relationships with his students and their parents, he may not have been worried about being fired for a first infraction.

Have you tried running your doomsday scenarios past your loved one and seeing what their thoughts are? Try coming up with at least 2 alternatives to the worst outcome – what is convincing you that the worst is the one that is definitely going to happen?

Check for the next installment to learn more about “Filtering” and how it can affect your life!

Molly Halbrooks, LAMFT
mhalbrooks @ growcounseling.com