Catastrophising

What is catastrophising?

Catastrophising is when you imagine and think about the worst thing that could happen in a situation, rather than having a more balanced and realistic view of what could happen.

Here’s an example to demonstrate. Let’s say you’re about to play a game of basketball. Nothing has happened, no-one has said anything, it’s just a usual day and game. If you are catastrophising then you might start to imagine that you are going to be the very worst player on the court, or that you’ll fall over and break your leg. Or perhaps you play a scene in your mind of everyone booing you and asking you to leave the court. That’s catastrophising. It’s the tendency to imagine the worst possible outcomes happening in a given situation.

Here's another example you might relate to. Your husband is coming home from work. He usually rings you when he leaves work at 5pm and he usually arrives home at 6pm. It’s 5.15pm, and if you’re catastrophising, you might start thinking about horrible reasons why he hasn’t called you yet. For example, you might think he’s got a new girlfriend, he doesn’t care about me, he’s being selfish, or he’s gone out drinking with his mates. And then, as a catastrophiser, you’ll start to focus on these ideas and magnify them, not thinking about other more likely scenarios or reasons. Then let’s say it gets to 5.30pm and he still hasn’t called. So now the catastrophising and worst case scenarios really kick in. The thoughts might be something like he’s been in an accident, he must be dead in a ditch, maybe he got fired and he doesn’t want to tell me, or maybe he’s left me for another woman. See how this works? It can be really distressing when it happens.

Catastrophising is not only thinking about the worst case scenario in a situation, but it is thinking the worst without considering other more likely, realistic, or rational possible reasons. In the example above, notice that there were no more reasonable or likely thoughts such as ‘perhaps he didn’t call because his phone was flat’, or ‘perhaps he has left his phone in the office’. Catastrophising does not allow for a balanced perspective of the situation. It focuses on the negatives only and blows the possible consequences of the situation way out of proportion.

In addition to thinking only about the negatives and blowing things out of proportion, people who catastrophise will also tend to feel that they won’t be able to cope with the situation if it were to happen. This idea of not coping can lead to stressful feelings of overwhelm and helplessness. And when this happens, people can start to feel out of control, extremely stressed, and very anxious. So catastrophising is a combination of thinking the worst, and a feeling of being unable to cope with the imagine worst case scenarios.

Why do people catastrophise?

The reasons that people catastrophise can be complex and varied, and may be influenced by a variety of factors, which may present in a different combinations. Here are some of the reasons that I’ve seen for why people catastrophise:

1. Being a Human - human beings are wired to look for and anticipate danger. This is to keep ourselves safe and to protect ourselves. The bottom line of wiring for human beings is survival – that is, ‘don’t die’. So it makes sense for us to be on the lookout for things that could go wrong, and to anticipate problems. In the past, the people who did this survived – they were our ancestors and we’ve inherited that instinct. It was really helpful when we lived in caves and there were lots of creatures and dangers in the environment that could kill us. Today it’s much less of an issue but we’ve still got that programming running in our brains and instinctually it’s what we’re designed to do – anticipate danger, protect ourselves and stay alive.

2. Modelling – we learn what we see. If you grew up with people who catastrophised, then there would be a much higher chance that you will do this too. Modelling is a very powerful way of learning, especially when we are younger. We mimic and take on the ways that others around us do things. It’s how we learn to speak, what to eat and the way to eat, and how to interact with others for example. So for some people, this way of thinking and speaking is just ‘normal’. It’s the way it is and they don’t know that it doesn’t have to be this way, that it doesn’t have to be this stressful. When I see people for this issue, they have often not even associated the stressful feelings of catastrophising with this way of thinking and responding. Because it just seems ‘normal’ to them.

3. Past Experiences – when someone has had bad experience in life, then this can have a big impact on the way that they think about and respond to things. In general, when negative things happen it can feel really bad, scary or sad. These feelings are usually something that us humans want to avoid. So these experiences and feelings get etched into our minds, so that we remember that thing. That way, if it happens again, then the brain will try and work out ways for us to avoid feeling that way again. One of those ways that the brain thinks it can help us avoid an unwanted situation again is to catastrophise. It tries to anticipate all the bad and terrible things that could happen as a way of trying to prevent and avoid danger, and having all of those bad feelings again.

4. Personality – some researchers believe that we are born with certain personality traits. That is a tendency to be a certain way. One of the personality traits is pessimism (versus optimism). Pessimism is the tendency to see the worst parts of things or people, and to think that the worst will happen. Pessimistic people will see the mistakes rather than the successes, and they focus on the negative rather than the positive. If this is a trait that someone already has, then we are more likely to see catastrophic thinking in this person.

5. Control – most humans love certainty. We want to feel that they have some say and control in life. It helps us to feel secure and safe. Unfortunately, life is not designed this way. There is often a lot of uncertainty and no guarantees in life. So, because we don’t like this feeling, sometimes people may catastrophise as a way to feel as if they have more control. It might sound strange but it’s like they feel that by imagining the bad things happening, then they can be more mentally prepared and, therefore, handle it better and have more control. There is a certain level of comfort and control we get as humans in knowing what could happen.

Can catastrophising be used as a protective mechanism?

While catastrophising is most often seen as a very unhelpful style of thinking, it could also be seen as a protective mechanism, but only in some circumstances, and only some of the time. For example, thinking about worst case scenarios may be helpful if I were working on a new building project. It may serve me (and others) well to consider worst case scenarios about this project, which will allow me to plan, be more proactive, and take precautions, so that I can either prevent, or be ready for, those worst case scenarios. Catastrophising heightens our awareness to possible dangers and threats, so that we can anticipate problems and plan for solutions should these arise. It is only helpful though if we actually use the imagined worst case scenarios to plan for and take actions that will help overcome those issues when needed.

While catastrophising likely developed as a survival mechanism in the old days, in most circumstances nowadays, it creates far more issues than it resolves. And as catastrophisation habituates and generalises to more and more things in life, the more it negatively impacts on the quality of our lives.

What is catastrophic thinking a sign of? Are there broader conditions that people might have that could contribute to this way of thinking?

Catastrophic thinking can be linked to a variety of mental health conditions. Whether this way of thinking led to the condition or the condition led to this way of thinking is a ‘chicken and egg’ kind of conversation. We’re not sure which came first – catastrophic thinking or the mental health condition.

Certainly we do see that catastrophic thinking is closely linked to anxiety disorders such as generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). Often known as the ‘what if’ disorder of thinking, people with GAD are often plagued with the negatively focussed ‘what ifs’, and can be especially focussed on the worst case scenarios, which cause the most distress. The inability to feel able to control the worrying thoughts in GAD means that catastrophising will most often make the anxiety much worse.

In depression, it is common for people to dwell on negative thoughts, feelings, and experiences. As you can imagine, catastrophisation can make this much worse by exaggerating the negativity of all of those thoughts, feelings and experiences. Catastrophising means that people not only focus on the negative, but do it to the exclusion of any positives. In addition to this, people with depression who also catastrophise, can experience an increase in hopelessness and helplessness, as catastrophisation also increases feelings of being unable to cope with the imagined scenarios.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is another mental health condition that may also be impacted by catastrophic thinking. One of the criteria of PTSD is hypervigilance. As catastrophic thinking can increase a person’s concerns about possible dangers in a situation, it will therefore increase their hypervigilance. People with PTSD may experience feeling more alert or alarmed at times where it is unnecessary, they may feel more on edge, and have more difficulty relaxing.

What are some of the issues with adopting a catastrophic mindset?

Overall, having a catastrophic mindset (or way of thinking) is not helpful for most people for the majority of time, and people will often experience a variety of negative impacts and issues from catastrophising.

Certainly one of the biggest impacts we see in people who catastrophise is an increase in stress and anxiety, and a decrease in quality of life. Constantly expecting the worst in situations will continuously set off the ‘fight and flight’ response in our body. When this response is frequently activated, this causes problems not only in our mental health, but also in our physical wellbeing. The fight and flight stress response is designed as a quick short term, once in a blue moon response to get us out of immediate danger. So when we constantly set it off, which is what we can do when we catastrophise and think threatening thoughts, it can create a number of physical issues as well as mental distress. Physical issues might include tense muscles that can lead to headaches and neck pain, fatigue, difficulties sleeping, heart palpitations, and digestive issues.

In addition, having a catastrophic mindset can impact on our ability to make logical, rational decisions. In catastrophising, our thinking is skewed and unbalanced. It only takes into account one side or perspective. So when we need to consider all aspects of something to make a good decision about, our judgement may be clouded, and heavily focussed on the negatives and worst case scenarios. This does not allow for a logical, balanced process, thus impairing our decision making abilities.

Furthermore, having a catastrophic mindset can not only be extremely taxing and detrimental on the person themselves, but also on others around them. Relationships with others can suffer due to someone catastrophising excessively, as it may cause strain and difficulties in communication and interactions. Others may find that a person with a catastrophic mindset is extremely negative in their speaking and views of things, that they are unable to engage them in outside or fun activities or trips, and can find that over time, their life and life experiences get smaller and smaller, as the fear increases further and further, and that person shuts down many important things in their life.

What are some strategies people can use to cope if they do find themselves catastrophising?

Here are some of my ‘go-to’ strategies and steps for over-coming catastrophic thinking.

1. Firstly – just Breathe. And not just any old breath, but a big beautiful diaphragmatic breath. There are a number of ways you can do this, but my personal favourite is the 4-7-8 breathing technique. Undertaking diaphragmatic breathing will help your mind and body go into a physiologically relaxed state (the parasympathetic nervous system will be switched on rather than the stress response system, the sympathetic nervous system) and this will help to circulate blood flow where it’s needed, for calm and logical thinking, and to do the strategies.

2. Then Notice that you are having a catastrophic thought and Label it. For example, say to yourself – ‘that is a catastrophic thought’. To change anything you must first become aware of it. Catch the thought as early as you possibly can. At first you may not catch it until way after it happens. But as you keep practicing, this will become faster and easier to do. The earlier you can catch it – the less impact it will have on you, on others, and on how you feel. Labelling it can help to make it feel more distanced so we don’t get caught up in it as much.

3. Next challenge the thought. You could start by questioning the validity of this thought: Do I have any evidence for this scenario? Or you can challenge the reality of the thought: What is the likelihood of this actually happening? And then ask yourself: What is a more balanced view of this? What else could explain this situation that is more likely, knowing this person, or knowing what usually happens? Also recall past situations that are similar and that turned out better than expected, and then remind yourself of these times. Let the brain know the reality of what has actually happened in the past.

4. Alternatively, rather than challenge the thought, you could also just choose to notice it for it is – a catastrophic thought (not necessarily real or valid) – and then let the thought go. Don’t hold onto it or respond to it in anyway. You could imagine popping the thought into a helium balloon and then letting go of the string so that it just floats away. This can be a little more difficult for some people to do, especially at the beginning. But after awhile, knowing that you’ve been able to challenge a lot of the other catastrophic thoughts, and remembering mostly they never happen, then this may become easier and easier to do.

What are some long term ways to address this way of thinking?

Some long term ways to address catastrophic thinking are also things that will help with our overall mental health and wellbeing. These include things like:

1. Mindfulness & Meditation - Finding ways to better manage our thoughts and our responses to our thoughts will always be a great foundation for better mental health. In mindfulness and meditation we are practicing skills such as observing our thoughts, noticing them, not responding to thoughts, and being present. These skills can help people to become more skilled at shifting their thinking to being more healthy and helpful, and staying in the present moment.

2. Stress Management & Exercise – Any activity that increases joy, happiness, and gratitude, release tension, and increases happy chemicals such as endorphins and dopamine in the body will all contribute to having and managing a calmer state of mind. When we feel good, relaxed, and happy, our physiology supports us in being able to stay calmer and be more rational in our thinking.

3. Self-Compassion, Persistent Practice, and Patience – We are all human beings, bumbling along, doing the best we can (most of the time). It’s important to be able to have compassion and patience for yourself as you implement new strategies and tools. Making change takes time – be patient, be kind, and don’t give up.

4. Professional Help – As always, if you need more help to make these changes, or if an issue starts to negatively impact on your daily living and functioning, then we suggest that you seek professional help. Some of the strategies we have discussed today are based in therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). There are many professionals who can help you to better understand how your thoughts impact your feelings and behaviour, and can help you to learn and implement ways to better manage them.

5. In addition, there are many other therapies and techniques, such as EMDR, Schema Therapy, and Hypnosis, which can help you to get to the bottom of what is causing you to think this way, so that it no longer impacts on your life. This may include examining past negative experiences, addressing core beliefs & values, releasing stored trauma from the body, and using techniques for the unconscious mind to reprogram new beliefs and feelings.

Catastrophising is an unhelpful way of thinking that can have detrimental impacts on both the person themselves as well as others around them. However, learning about how it works, having some understanding and patience, and implementing some strategies, can be the beginning of making a change for the better.

Dr Natasha Davison

(Registered Psychologist & High Performance Coach)

Owner of ‘Winning From Within’

Author of the book “Real Talk, Real Change – Life Strategies from a Psychologist & Coach”