Do you catastrophize? Poll

[Forever Sleep]

Defined as: when someone views a situation as considerably worse than it is.

I tend to do this a lot. Oddly, not over the really big things. I've taken quite risky leaps in life- eg. moved hundreds of miles to places I've never been to for jobs. So- sometimes, I'm happy to go with the flow.

But, I will 'sweat the small stuff'. Get myself into a panic about things I can't control and that probably seem trivial to others. Plus, my mind will automatically jump to the very worse case scenario. In some ways, that's good- it means I can prepare for it but, it's also exhausting too. It doesn't do much for sleep either. I tend to do my most intense worrying at night.

For those who do do this though, does it make you question your ideation? Like- if part of it is motivated by fear of the future- what if that fear is exaggerated? For me, it's more that, even my best case scenario looks kind of shit! So, I feel fairly confident that I have made a reasonable assessment of my prospects.

 

[NearlyIrrelevantCake]

It's something I do sometimes, but while I'm doing it I also have thoughts of, "Well that's fucking stupid, don't believe that."

A current example: I had two seizures in my sleep recently. My tongue and back are fucked months later. I'm waiting on a referral to a neurologist. I also have shingles right now, for the second time in my life.

In the back of my mind, just unhinged cries of Cancer! Brain cancer! Causing seizures and knocking our your immune system, brain cancer growing larger every day while you wait for an MRI!

 

[noname223]

Completely. It tortures me. My mind is tormenting me.

 

[Prism]

Yes, I'm a very anxious person, so I tend to assume the worst. I do feel kinda dumb if things end up turning out alright but it does nothing to prevent me from catastrophizing in the future unfortunately. It's just an automatic feeling of panic I have no real control over. It's very tiresome.

 

[Forever Sleep]

Yes, I'm a very anxious person, so I tend to assume the worst. I do feel kinda dumb if things end up turning out alright but it does nothing to prevent me from catastrophizing in the future unfortunately. It's just an automatic feeling of panic I have no real control over. It's very tiresome.

Sometimes it's a relief though, when it doesn't happen- right? Or, it does but, you deal with it and it's ultimately fine. But, I'm just the same. I don't seem to learn. The next thing comes along and I'm right back to making mountains out of mole hills.

 

[Ethernatuskoi]

Yes, because I suffer from anxiety. Over the past two years, my anxiety was mild and easy to control, but this year has been without a doubt the worst and has consequently evolved into panic attacks and panic syndrome. I started therapy at the end of last month with the hope that it might help me.

 

[Prism]

Sometimes it's a relief though, when it doesn't happen- right? Or, it does but, you deal with it and it's ultimately fine. But, I'm just the same. I don't seem to learn. The next thing comes along and I'm right back to making mountains out of mole hills.

It's a momentary relief, but then I'm just like "okay, what shit thing is going to happen next that I need to be on guard for?" I'm at the point where things being "not as bad as I thought" just isn't enough - I need actual good things to happen in order to stop feeling so pessimistic. If that makes sense.

 

[Lexandro]

I tend to do this now more often than not. This only really started, if memory is right, when I was an adult. No idea why it happens or when it actually started, but it can be a huge burden just to get through days with these constantly on my mind no matter how much I try to push them away.

Biggest impact was at work. This constant worry and stress over everything sometimes, I've had to take lower responsibility jobs many times now because of this, pretty much has derailed my career.

Exhausting at times.

 

[LostLily]

Yup, that why I'm here

 

[Pluto]

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I suppose one might say I do this a lot but from my perspective the things I've been panicking over genuinely logically seem like I'm giving the appropriate amount of thought towards them. The fear and apprehension I feel is not catastrophizing for me because there is no over exaggeration of what's going on, the danger is very real.

 

[GlassMoon]

I guess I should have picked "Yes", but in an effort to reduce catastrophization of the severity of my catastrophization, I picked "Over some things"...

 

[ConstantPain]

Yes, 150%

 

[DeadEndRoad]

Since I was a kid Ive been doing it. It helped me. It served a purpose back then. If I mentally prepared myself for the worst case scenario then nothing could phase me. If that scenario ended up playing out, then I was ready for it. If it didn't, even if the outcome was bad, the fact that it wasnt the worst made it "good"

 

[-nobodyknows-]

"Now and again, it seems worse than it is, but mostly the view is accurate."