Catastrophizing
by In the process of questioning our logic, it helps to have labels for the cognitive distortions.
You can make yourself miserable by repeating to your self statements such as “I’ll never get out of this mess. I can’t stand all this stress. This has to be the worst day of my life.” This is “catastrophizing” the situation, and when we catch ourselves at it, we should yell (though silently to ourselves) “Stop!” and make an on-the-spot modification.
For instance, we can say to ourselves, “Now wait a minute, is it really true that I’ll never get out of this mess? No, of course not, that was an overreaction. I do have a big problem here, and there’s a lot of pressure, but I’ll eventually get it solved. And can I stand any longer? Sure, for a while at least, if I have to. Is the worst day of my life? Hardly.”
Image by DerrickT via Flickr
Popular Searches:
Want to earn money by writing articles, Earn and sign up now
Want to earn extra income just by reading articles, Click here
Want to have extra income just by viewing ads, Click here
Liked it
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Post Commentceegirl
On September 23, 2009 at 8:51 am
Here lately this is what I been thinking because I don’t have a job.
LOVELYHONEY
On September 23, 2009 at 9:19 am
POSITIVE THOGHTS WILL
make a world of a difference
I SHALL AND WILL
GOOD
Katien
On September 23, 2009 at 9:50 am
It also helps to remember that other people are in far worse situations.
Francois Hagnere
On September 23, 2009 at 10:20 am
Excellent. Always think positive my friend! Thank you.
cutedrishti8
On September 23, 2009 at 10:43 am
Excellant work
Lady Sunshine
On September 23, 2009 at 11:12 am
Positive thinking is the way to go, but can be hard to implement, esp. if you are in dire situations. Nice piece, giftarist.
Goodselfme
On September 23, 2009 at 11:38 am
Very truthful and well written piece.TX
Christine Ramsay
On September 23, 2009 at 1:32 pm
The catastrophizer sounds just like someone I know. The trouble is he cannot look on the positive side at all. A good piece.
Christine
Shamanz
On September 23, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Good one!
Tanya Wallace
On September 23, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Very positive points made!Great work!!
Lee Ness
On September 23, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Very postive too and truethful
Thanks for sharing
Lee Ness
http://socyberty.com/activism/volunteer-quilting-and-cross-stitching-projects-for-our-service-men-woman/
livemike
On September 23, 2009 at 5:09 pm
I do this all the time…It also creates bad situations over and over again..
CA Johnson
On September 23, 2009 at 6:54 pm
I enjoyed your article. I have been guilty of doing catastrophizing in the past, but I am trying to be more positive. It can be hard to be positive when things are really going wrong, but that is when you have to try even harder to be positive.
mystery61
On September 23, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Good article, very interesting!