Why You Catastrophize and How To Stop It

Like a lot of people, I tend to catastrophisize while lying awake at night. I try to remember the wise words of an old girlfriend: "Nothing you think at 3 in the morning is real."

Yes! This is me! To be fair, the world is legitimately catastrophic with random, capricious, arbitrary tragedy that can lurk around any corner. My catastrophisizing is not hallucination, paranoia or a reality-testing problem. I don’t fear being abducted by aliens.

For over 30 years, I have been in survivor mode because I catastrophize everything. I been told to stop being dramatic, but this was not me stirring up drama. I even would ask my manager at work if we were getting laid off because I was laid off before. I wouldn’t do things, experience life, go places, or pursue my dreams because I just knew, from my past experiences, these endeavors were going to fail. Regardless of what I did or would do, the inevitability was failure. Now I take pride in every effort I make, even if it was a fail. I look for moments I can claim as a victory, no matter how small. This helps to get rid of those catastrophic thoughts. It also reminds me that failures happen in life, but my life is not a failure. 🕉️

Health anxiety. A pain turns into cancer etc.

Some of us have had more adverse lives than others , that can also cause real fear for the future. It's hard to pretend that there are not serious risks in making the wrong move in life when you have no safety net ( Family Wealth or Personal ) . Unfortunately this undermines your confidence , and makes failure unacceptable . That's a lot of pressure , and tends to set you up for anxiety and stress .

The phrase that always helps me cope with negative thoughts is "real but not true". If I fear that I'm going to die or lose my job, I have to recognize that that is a real fear, and it can happen to anyone. But that doesn't mean it's going to happen, or that if it does, I will not be able to find a healthy way to deal with the situation. The feelings are real, but the worst possible outcome almost never comes true.

Feels like I have ALWAYS been in this mindset... and in survival mode. I'm 65.

Everything you’ve said resonates with me. Im constantly catastrophizing due to my upbringing and depression. Thank you, Dr. marks. Your videos are my lifeline. ❤

This goes hand in hand with hypervigilance which I struggled with a lot myself due to CPTSD. Unfortunately parental influences play a big part in how we can cognitively process information. Highly recommend everyone to do some family history digging

My husband is the worst case KING! I am his balance because I HAVE lived in my worst case scenario and I came out the other side stronger than I thought I could be. I infuriate him because I learned to just let him rant and rave and then I calmly question him about how he came to this conclusion (or I just laugh at him which used to infuriate him but now he takes it as a sign to look at the issue from a different perspective) I have been blessed by my trauma because I am closer to God than I have ever been and more grateful for my life.

I lost my 28 year old son in August and it was extremely sudden and tragic. I find myself looking around thinking everyone in my life is dying. My favorite uncle just died on Jan 2. I’m terrified. I’m going to try some of these techniques.

I was just talking yesterday about how I tend to catastrophize and how hard it is not to. Thank you for this.

"your mind is just marinating in negativity". marvellous definition!

Had problems with my in laws for years. I couldn’t control the constant ruminating and churning angry thoughts. Someone with even worse problems told me that you can’t stop a bird from sitting on your head but you don’t have to let it stay there. This was initially helpful and I expanded on it by stopping and thinking why am I suddenly thinking these things, am I angry at that person right now, etc. It let me just recognize anger, try not to let myself get embroiled in their lives anymore and just move on with life.

I have CPTSD. While I was a child I was convinced I would die young. I felt I was simply unlucky and everyone else knew something I didn't. When I had kids, my worries centered around them. I was convinced they would unalive themselves bc I was a bad parent. Therapy helped break me of this belief. It was awful but, I was a great paramedic! 😂 Thinking of the worst-case scenario is vital to saving a life. You have to be prepared and work with urgency to prevent the worst. See, mental illness has its up sides!😅😂😂😂

Yes! My brain always calculates the worst case scenario without me really being conscious of it. I quit a lot of stuff, because I'm convinced I won't do well at it. This is so me!

I have health anxiety and GAD. I tend to catastrophize a lot and ruminate in fear. Especially when my pulse rate remains high for days on end because of an anxiety attack (yes, I saw a doctor and it's anxiety related, but I can't get good mental health treatment in rural nowhere). So, I've been trying to watch videos in order to deal with these issues and calm myself down.

I find this quite true with ocd and intrusive thoughts. The absolute worst thoughts at the least expected time. It’s like constantly on repeat

I wish you made videos 15 years ago. Thank you for what you do. You're videos are truly a gift for both children and adults.

Having had some hard losses in our family in the past year, I seem to be experiencing anticipatory grief. Every feeling of love I have is now tainted with that expectation of loss. I’m sure I’m not alone, especially with all the tragic losses to Covid, and this has been very helpful, and timely. Thank you.