Catastrophizing - Sorting out one worry and looking for a new one....

[Iced_diamond]

I’m not sure if I’m after some reassurance, some opinions or maybe just want to put my thoughts down in writing to help order them in my mind....I‘ve had a little bit of a rocky ride lately with unfortunately some strings of sad and disappointing events (on top of the worries and isolation that the pandemic has had for a lot of us), which has seen a return of my anxiety. Particularly in the last couple of months I have experienced some personal difficulties (just some very unfortunate, stupid life things that I guess you learn from and grow from) which have left me feeling upset, down and a bit venerable. I know it’s something I will move past in time and I am confident about that. It’s just that I have noticed that I am doing the whole Catastrophozing thing, which I’m sure others will have experienced too. It’s like I have a new worry every day about something or another- stupid things that probably don’t even matter. But It feels like every night I think of something to obsess about, then I spend about a week figuring out how I could sort the problem and once I have achieved sorting it, I tell myself to quit worrying....then I achieve it, but instead of quitting the worry, I instantly think of something else to make me panic and think „What if this happens? What if that happens? Oh god, Oh god....“I find ways to sort it and then I can feel myself thinking up some new terrible, awful problem which usually ends in some catastrophic way....Part of me realises that this is probably just some sort of a self punishing thing, because I feel that I have made bad decisions and let myself down, but it is really draining to always be worrying and obsessing about things constantly. It feels like it’s never enough....I solve one thing and can’t help but „look for something else“ and convince myself of the worst all the time. Can feel I am doing it, but just sometimes lack rationality....Might be the same for others on the forum?

[ankietyjoe]

I think the issue here is that you're allowing yourself the luxury of 'sorting out' an imaginary or hypothetical problem, and that has become habitual.

Unless you have a problem in front of you that needs sorting out here and now, there's no value in thinking about it.

I would suggest creating a mantra for yourself that you can use every time you feel the need to go down that kind of thought process. Something that can replace the instant gratification of responding to something unnecessary -

'This is not a problem I have to deal with right now, I choose to do something different'

Or whatever works for you.

You might have to do that 500 times before it sinks in, but your brain will learn eventually.

[Iced_diamond]

Thank you. This actually makes perfect sense when you think about it and I’ll try and adapt this going forward. I have just been thinking about distraction techniques/ideas in response to a different post and I think having a few of these on hand for when those niggling thoughts creep in is a good idea.

[ankietyjoe]

Thank you. This actually makes perfect sense when you think about it and I’ll try and adapt this going forward. I have just been thinking about distraction techniques/ideas in response to a different post and I think having a few of these on hand for when those niggling thoughts creep in is a good idea.

Distraction techniques are a legitimate and important part of the process, but so is deliberately recognising the negative thought pattern and making another deliberate choice to divert your thoughts elsewhere.

Make the choice first...'no I will not think about this'.....and then distract yourself with something else.