Catastrophizing During Corona: A Three-Pronged Approach, Pt. 2
Bridgette W. Gottwald LPC, NCC
This is a two-part blog post that breaks down how to combat the negative habit of catastrophizing into small and realistic steps. If you haven’t already, check out my previous blog post (part one) to make sense of it all. Here goes part two!
Take Control
It might sound silly, but research shows that it works. Instead of letting anxiety consume your day, establishing a regular “worry time” would be more effective. You can start by setting aside a half-hour every day. Write down your concerns, and include specific details. Then, you can assign a score on a scale of 0-100% to explore the distress that this possibility is causing you. Next, list all the possible explanations for your concern, and then rank them individually, rating how likely they are to be correct.
If you need to use reputable sources, that’s fine, but stick to professionals and dependable websites. Maybe talking to negative Aunt Suzie, who experienced a similar stomach ache, and then found out weeks later that she has rare cancer, isn’t your best bet. I mean what do you expect her to say? There are obviously always going to be outliers and exceptions to the norm.
After working on practicing self-control and setting aside a specific worry time, you gradually will start to notice your ability to reduce the amount and frequency of worry time each day.
Use the “Best Friend” Test
Talk to yourself like you like yourself, and speak to yourself as you would to your best friend. If your best friend came to you with the same concerns, what would you tell them and how would you advise them? Likely, you’d speak to them with love and compassion and provide them with an alternate perspective that would take them outside their rumination and catastrophizing within their head.
Learn to Self-Soothe
Of course, we all want reassurance, and you can give yourself permission to do this – but not immediately. Establish a healthy interval for yourself before you are allowed to act. Two minutes would be a good place to start because even though it’s a small amount of time, that is still a form of self-control. Once you have reached the point where you are able to wait more than twenty minutes before seeking re-assurance, you will likely find that you no longer need it anyways!
A Logical System
Engaging in this three-pronged approach will help you to use your worry to carry out “new and enjoyable challenges,” while dealing with your catastrophizing more logically and systematically. Learning how to wait through discomfort takes time, but if you invest the effort, and do the work, you will reap positive results.
In taking these small steps to change your thought processes, you will gradually notice your perspective on things change. You will go into each day's head first, with confidence that you will be able to combat anxiety with positivity and balance. Now more than ever, we need to rely on positivity and things that we can be grateful for during these uncertain and scary times. It might help to focus on the things that we can do instead of what we can’t do. Additionally, we can avoid exaggeration, stay specific, and rely on what we know is true (not assumptions). Time to start leaving old maladaptive patterns behind, and start using this logical system. Good luck everyone!
Reference:
Blair, L. (2017). How to Stop Catastrophizing: An Expert’s Guide. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://getpocket.com/explore.item/how-to-stop-catastrophizing-an-expert-s-guide?utm_source=pocket-newtab