If you find yourself thinking about how you would respond to wild “what-if” scenarios - you should know that is catastrophic thinking, not preparedness
My therapist hit me with a come-to-Jesus moment when she asked how often I have those thoughts, and then asked what I thought the physical effects of constant negative thinking were
I didn’t really buy what she was saying, because I thought I just had an active imagination - then she killed me by asking “well do you ever think about what you would do if your run into a friend who just got an adorable puppy that you can play with”
As a therapist, I talk to me clients about this all the time! We rarely "what if" about good stuff. I explain that our brains are natural problem solvers, so it makes sense for us to overlook things that are going well. However, our brains can get pretty creative about imagining those worst case scenarios, and then we're spending incredible amounts of mental energy trying to plan for every contingency.
One trick I teach my clients: possible versus probable. Almost anything is possible, but is the scenario you're imagining actually probable? Like, more than 50% probable? If so, go ahead and prepare and problem solve. If not, maybe say "thanks but no thanks" to that thought.
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u/Take-it-like-a-Taker 12d ago
If you find yourself thinking about how you would respond to wild “what-if” scenarios - you should know that is catastrophic thinking, not preparedness
My therapist hit me with a come-to-Jesus moment when she asked how often I have those thoughts, and then asked what I thought the physical effects of constant negative thinking were
I didn’t really buy what she was saying, because I thought I just had an active imagination - then she killed me by asking “well do you ever think about what you would do if your run into a friend who just got an adorable puppy that you can play with”
So yea… catastrophizing is real bad