How to stop catastrophising: Therapist shares tips

From labeling the situations to playing out best-case scenarios, here are a few ways to stop catastrophising.

Sometimes we get stuck in negative thinking so much that we have difficulty in letting things go and move on from such situations. One of the classic signs of negative thinking is when we start to think of the worst possible scenarios in our head about everything. This type of thought pattern is known as catastrophising. It can make us start to believe that we are living in worst –case scenarios. Physically, mentally and emotionally such thought patterns can affect us, leading us to stress and anxiety about conjured up scenarios that do not exist. With time, such thought patterns become so rampant that it gets difficult to control. "It’s an easy habit to fall into, but the consequences of dwelling on negative possibilities is increased anxiety. You can learn to manage your thoughts, so they don’t have their way with you anymore," wrote Therapist Carrie Howard.

How to stop catastrophising: Therapist shares tips (Unsplash)

How do we stop catastrophising? The Therapist shared a few tips.

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Label the situations: one of the first steps is understanding when we start to have these thoughts. The situations and the people that trigger such thoughts should be labeled. This will help us to understand how such negative thoughts start in the mind and will give us a head start in knowing ourselves better.

Challenge the thoughts: After we are aware of the situations that accelerate catastrophising for us, we should start to challenge the negative thoughts. When we start questioning ourselves every time, we start to catastrophise, we will slowly start to see the absence of logic behind our thought patterns.

Replace the thoughts: After we have challenged the thoughts, we should start consciously replacing the negative thoughts with new ones. This is a difficult process as it involves constantly and consciously replacing each and every negative thought that comes to the mind. Sometimes, the old thoughts will come back, and we should replace them with new ones.

Practice playing out best-case scenarios: one of the healthy ways to combat catastrophising is to start playing out best-case scenarios. This will make us start believing in the power of positive thinking.