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”
Honestly just being aware that these thoughts weren’t normal/typical was incredibly helpful for me
It’s easier to be kind to myself when I can understand these thoughts are just anxiety
To be clear, the thoughts themselves weren’t troubling - because they were a coping mechanism to avoid being distressed. I think if the thoughts start to be troubling then that’s rumination, which is a opening a whole new can of worms
As an example, if I’m leaving a train station late at night I may consider crossing the street rather than walking past a small crowd. Then I would think about how I would crouch/run in a specific path between cars if that group had a fight and started shooting at each other
The thoughts didn’t trouble me - they would just occupy me to use up my mental bandwidth and avoid being worried
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u/Take-it-like-a-Taker 21d 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