Does your mind constantly tell you stories? Storytelling is our brain’s way of making meaning of the world; however, these stories and thoughts can sometimes be errant and biased so negatively that it has an impact on mental health.
A core pillar of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is identifying these cognitive distortions, which are negatively biased stories our mind tells us. One common cognitive distortion is catastrophizing - in which we usually see an unfavorable outcome to an event and then decide that if this outcome does happen, the results will be a disaster.
Here are some common examples of catastrophizing:
I made a mistake at work… I’m definitely getting fired!
If this relationship ends, I will never find love again.
So what can be done when we catch ourselves catastrophizing?
To help deal with catastrophic thoughts, we have developed a tool that you can use to analyze and challenge your thinking. Let’s look at an example to see how this tool works following three researched steps:
- Name the unhelpful thought you are having.
I procrastinated on a work project and sent over the final presentation with a bunch of errors in it. My boss is definitely going to fire me!
- Name evidence you have to challenge your thought.
My last performance review was a month ago, and my boss has actually been impressed with my work and told me I was a great asset to the team.
- Identify another way of thinking about this.
Mistakes happen, and these errors were preventable. But everyone makes mistakes, and maybe I can use this as an opportunity to assess how I can better manage my time, so I’m not rushed in the future. I can proactively share these steps with my boss in our next one-on-one meeting.
It’s a simple process - but by consciously analyzing our thoughts, we take back control instead of letting these thoughts control us.