Disaster Thinking: Putting A Negative Spin On Everything
We usually express disaster thinking in two ways. The first way involves blowing up a difficult or awkward situation completely. The second way is that we look to the future and we can only see bad things. For example, we only see the problems we have or the situations we face.
You could therefore say that people who are prone to disaster thinking put a negative spin on everything. It is as if their minds are envisioning a whole series of events.
These events always represent the worst things that can happen. These people act as if they have to torture themselves in their own mind.
Often it is people who suffer from anxiety or depression who are prone to disaster thinking. Subsequently, this way of thinking does not allow them to solve their anxiety or depression at all.
These catastrophic thoughts arise in a person as a result of a disturbed state of mind. This state of mind causes a person to think about the worst possibilities, the macabre or the terrible. Let’s dig a little deeper into this.
The Characteristics of Disaster Thinking
The main feature of disaster thinking is that it is not based on real risk. These thoughts can be supported almost exclusively in an imaginary dimension. In other words, the dangers or threats that the person visualizes represent improbable, but not impossible, outcomes.
For example, imagine that a person who is dominated by catastrophic thoughts suddenly feels his heart beating very fast. He probably doesn’t associate this with the fact that he just drank coffee.
He also won’t associate it with the fact that he just ran very fast for five minutes. Instead, he thinks this is the start of a heart attack or definitive proof that his body is deteriorating.
A person prone to disaster thinking may refuse to board a plane because he has the “feel” that the plane is going to crash. He may even think that the plane will crash somewhere in the middle of the ocean and that he will be devoured by sharks.
As you can see, catastrophic thoughts are not impossible, but they are highly unlikely. A “catastrophist” imagines the worst possible future situation. This obviously has very negative consequences for his emotional state of mind and behavioral patterns.
The Origin of Disaster Thinking
This thinking pattern tends to repeat itself. It is a pattern that applies to everything the person thinks about. In the end, he programs himself to think terribly about the world.
Why is this happening? As we said before, it is a way in which a person manifests their anxiety and/or depression. These states of mind feed and sustain themselves. They grow like a snowball and then invade our thought processes. Disaster thinking is just a manifestation of these conditions.
However, for some people it also becomes a kind of defense mechanism. It’s as if thinking of the worst possible outcome allows them to be relieved when those unlikely scenarios don’t happen.
Somehow they feel it protects them from disappointment and pain. While it actually exposes them to unnecessary fear.
The consequences
Disaster thoughts lead to emotions such as fear, anger, resentment, guilt, sadness, and pessimism.
On the other hand, disaster thinking also makes one very demanding. It makes him believe that everything and everyone has to be perfect. This in turn causes him to be dissatisfied and disappointed with everything and everyone. And of course this is not the best way to live.
It is therefore important to check whether this is something you do yourself. It could be caused by a previous inconvenience or unresolved conflict that you have not yet dealt with.
Disaster thinking doesn’t protect you or help you express your feelings. Instead, it scares you into taking the initiative, makes you non-conformist, and makes you bitter.
