Amidst the busyness of life, it’s not uncommon to occasionally feel overwhelmed, pondering worst-case scenarios. However, if you frequently find yourself dwelling on potential disasters and worst-case outcomes in a way that affects your mental wellbeing, this is known as catastrophising.
Catastrophising can lead to unhealthy negative thought patterns that significantly impact quality of life. But the good news is that there are several things you can do to help reframe your thoughts.
Here, we’ll take a closer look at catastrophising, including its causes and ways to break the cycle.
What is catastrophising?
Catastrophising is a mindset that causes people to predict the worst possible outcome of a situation, even if there’s little to no evidence pointing to it.
Some experts liken the effects of catastrophising to a mental snowball: a small worry starts rolling in your mind, growing larger until it becomes a mountain of anxiety.
There are two main forms of catastrophising: magnification, where a person sees a current situation as worse than it really is, and future catastrophising, imagining the worst possible outcome of a future event. Both types can be distressing.
While catastrophising isn’t a mental health condition in itself, it’s often linked with mental health issues like anxiety and depression.
What are the characteristics of catastrophising?
Catastrophising is marked by a tendency to worry excessively about things going wrong, even when there’s little to no real evidence to think that way.
Sometimes a single event, which many people would consider to be largely insignificant, can spiral into a huge anxiety-inducing fear.
Catastrophising can affect all areas of life, impacting everything from your health and career to your relationships. We’ll explore some examples of catastrophising below.
- Health – experiencing a minor pain in your body may cause you to jump to the conclusion that it must be a sign of a severe, life-threatening condition.
- Career – making a small mistake at work may lead you to imagine that you’ll be fired and unable to pay your bills.
- Relationships – if a friend takes longer to respond to you or cancels plans, you may catastrophise that you did something wrong and they no longer want to be friends.
Catastrophising can take up a lot of mental energy and, as a result, is often linked with other health issues like anxiety, insomnia, poor self-esteem, and digestive problems.
What can cause people to catastrophise?
According to experts, there’s no single cause of catastrophising. Instead, it’s likely to be the result of several contributing factors.
For some people, catastrophising can be a learned response rooted in previous experiences, such as the environment they grew up in. Catastrophising can also be a trauma response, as learning to expect the worst provides people with a way of regaining a sense of control and avoiding disappointment.
Research also shows that, as humans, we’re biologically wired to pay more attention to threats or negative information – known as a ‘fight or flight’ response. In many cases, this innate survival mechanism can fuel catastrophising, particularly in stressful or uncertain circumstances.
As mentioned above, catastrophising is also strongly associated with several mental health conditions. We’ll explore some of these below.
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
Research has identified a strong link between catastrophising and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). People with OCD experience intrusive thoughts, often causing them to magnify perceived threats and engage in compulsive behaviours as a coping mechanism.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
There’s evidence that catastrophic thought patterns and PTSD are linked. For example, people with PTSD may view their traumatic experiences as evidence that future worst-case scenarios will occur.
In this study of soldiers, those with higher levels of catastrophic thinking were 274% more likely to develop PTSD than those with fewer signs of catastrophic thinking.
Anxiety
Research suggests that people who catastrophise are more likely to have an anxiety disorder. For example, catastrophising about your health is a common symptom of health anxiety.
Depression
Ruminating over worst-case scenarios can lead to feelings of guilt, worry, hopelessness, and several other common symptoms of depression.
For example, the results of this study noted catastrophising as a predictor of depressive and anxious symptoms in children.
5 ways to help break the cycle of catastrophising
Catastrophising can have a significant impact on daily life and mental wellbeing. However, while it can take time, there are things you can do to help break the cycle of catastrophising. We’ll cover some of these below.
1. Introduce thought-stopping techniques
When you notice yourself falling into catastrophic thought patterns, experts recommend telling yourself to stop, whether mentally or out loud. From there, try shifting your focus onto something positive or neutral, or do something to keep yourself busy and distract your thoughts.
If you struggle with positive thinking, you might find our article on developing the skill of optimism useful.
Some people also find it useful to prescribe themselves a specific ‘worry time’ (say 7pm for 15 minutes), and each time a catastrophic thought comes up outside of this time, to say ‘I’ll deal with that later’. Often, when the worry time comes around later, it’s possible that you’ll either have forgotten about your worries or they don’t seem as important anymore.
2. Practice mindfulness and grounding exercises
Practices like mindfulness, grounding, and deep breathing exercises can help break the catastrophising cycle by encouraging you to stay focused on the present moment.
3. Practise self-care
Self-care involves tuning into your personal needs and taking time to improve your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing – all of which can make a huge difference when it comes to managing anxious thought patterns like catastrophising.
Self-care looks different for everyone, but can involve anything from eating a healthy, balanced diet and exercising regularly to making time for hobbies and self-development activities.
Check out our guide to self-care to learn more.
4. Confide in people you trust
We all know the saying, ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’. And often, when it comes to negative thought patterns, speaking to people you trust about what you’re struggling with can help lighten the weight of your thoughts and remind you that you’re not alone.
5. Consider seeking professional help
If catastrophising is impacting your daily life and you’re struggling to make any lasting changes on your own, it’s worth considering professional treatment, such as talking therapies.
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is one of the most common forms of talking therapy. It works by challenging negative thought patterns and setting goals to overcome your fears. Research suggests CBT can help to break the cycle of catastrophising.
CBT is available through the NHS. You can either ask your GP to refer you to a talking therapy service or refer yourself to NHS talking therapies without needing to see a GP.
Final thoughts...
Struggling with catastrophic thought patterns can be difficult and take up a lot of mental energy. However, while it can take time and patience, several things can help break the cycle of catastrophising.
For further reading, head over to our healthy mind section. Here, you’ll find information on everything from coping with stress and anxiety to therapy and counselling services.
Do you have any other tips for overcoming catastrophising that you’d like to share? We’d be interested to hear from you in the comments below.
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