We actually have no idea what version of ourselves we will discover in a given situation until we are actually in it. Will we be brave? Or run like hell? And will we be able to tell if and when either one of those responses is or was the right one for us personally.
Catastrophic Thinking is one of the ways we walk ourselves right into a mental corner and become convinced that under certain circumstances we won't be able to cope with a given situation if it were to occur. We say to ourselves, "I won't be able to handle it." "That will be too much for me." "I'm sure that would be the point of no return." "I can't do it."
One method for countering this kind of thinking is to "decatastrophize" the situation by using a few thought experiments in which you walk a little farther into the situation in your mind and imagine that instead of being paralyzed into inaction, you find your way out. In other words, rather than allowing your mind to just shut down at the thought of imagining the worse-case scenario, to instead visualize seeing yourself handling the situation to the best of your ability. Even if it means hardship.
With Catastrophic Thinking we tend to overestimate danger, and underestimate our ability to cope with it. For instance, as we age we might become fearful of falling. This can lead to an overestimation of how bad a fall would be, how much damage might come from such a fall, and an underestimation of our ability to handle both the fall and any injuries that might come from the fall. But a thought experiment, including information about the ways athletes fall and martial artists learn to roll or prevent injury during falls, can give us material to come back to our thinking and imagine a way in which we might cope much better during a fall than we ever imagined. The Catastrophic thought can be decatastrophized and you create a way in your mind's-eye to see yourself "falling well". And not only falling well, but recovering from any fall injury, well.
Decatastrophizing includes avoiding the overestimation of danger by looking at our fears more realistically. This can be used in any number of situations in life where we can reinterpret the situation and see a more realistic view with possibilities and better outcomes. It also means a more realistic look at our ability to cope in life, based on our history, skills, advanced reasoning, and a better estimation of our ability to stay in the game and cope well in many situations.
Take a look at your most frequent recurring fears and ask yourself if you are overestimating the danger and underestimating your ability to cope. Rather than continuing to fall into the Catastrophic trap of believing you cannot ever allow bad things to happen because you wouldn't be able to handle it, try on the thought experiment of decatastrophizing the situation in your mind. It makes all of the difference in the world between becoming paralyzed with fear, and pushing your comfort zone.
You can read more about Catastrophic Thinking and Faulty Thinking Styles from my March, 2018 blog entry here
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do" ~Eleanor Roosevelt
Thanks to Lisa Ann Yount for the great image, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en
