Catastrophizing. A Cognitive Distortion is a thought or series or thoughts that causes to the mind to think certain things are going to happen such as thinking the world is going to end on Arbor Day which is really not true. There are several cognitive distortions such as filtering. Filtering is when someone hears something be it another person or the news and filters every single thing that is negative. In doing this, they also ignore what is positive.
What I wanted to discuss is called Catastrophizing. Catastrophizing is essentially your thoughts going to a worst-case scenario thinking the worst is going to happen when its real life it is far from the truth. People who have experienced some sort of trauma have a harder time dealing with this because they have at least once gone through a worst-case scenario.
I can get caught in that trap. A few weeks ago, I got this piece of mail at work from a lawyer firm. I received this message on a Friday afternoon and the more I thought about it the less peace I had until I read what the letter said. My thoughts were all over the place thinking someone had sued me or letting me know I had to testify in court on behalf of a client. Nope!… not any of those. The piece of mail was a brochure on a workshop on how to navigate divorce to mention to clients.
How can something like Catastrophizing be prevented? One thing you could do is to channel that anxiety into energy and go on a run or workout. Another is to give yourself maybe five to ten minutes of “worry time.” Get the worry out of your system but do not dwell on it. Lastly, think how you would advise a friend going through similar circumstances. If you would say something like sleep on it or revisit this another day, take a page from that advice.
If you are looking for a therapist near you and a Google search is a great way of finding one. I happen to be a therapist in Charlotte, NC but am licensed to counsel anyone in the state of North Carolina. In Google, try looking for “psychotherapist,” “find therapist,” “therapy near me,” or even “counseling charlotte, nc.” If you feel like you have hit a wall you are not able to get past, call me at (704) 458-6298 or email me at jeffhelms@clearerthoughtspllc.com.
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