9 Therapist-Approved Tips to Stop Catastrophizing

Can’t stop spiraling about worst-case scenarios? Read on for therapist-approved tips to help you stop catastrophizing.

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If you’ve ever felt yourself thinking, “Oh my gosh, I must have brain cancer” when you have a severe headache, or “Oh no, I’m going to get fired and never find another job,” when you make a small mistake at work, you’ve fallen prey to catastrophizing — a common cognitive distortion, which is a biased, maladaptive way of thinking. “Catastrophizing involves imagining the worst-case scenario or expecting disaster, even when the likelihood is small,” says Meghan Jensen, MA BS, LPC, a Charlie Health Primary Therapist. 

Most people engage in catastrophic thinking once in a while, but for some people, catastrophizing is the norm, and it can seriously impact your mental health. Read on to learn about how to stop catastrophizing, from coping strategies you can do alone to recommendations for professional help. 

How to stop catastrophizing

If catastrophic thinking is a problem for you, there are plenty of techniques you can use to try to limit its impact on your life and the amount of time you spend catastrophizing. Here are nine coping strategies and tips to stop catastrophizing.

1. Gain awareness

The first step to calming your catastrophic thoughts is to gain awareness and recognize when they’re happening in the first place. “Know when to intervene in your own thought process,” says Charlie Health Primary Therapist Kathleen Douglass, MA, LCPC. Pay attention to your thoughts and notice when you’re engaging in this extreme, worst-case scenario thinking. Once you know your unhealthy, unhelpful thoughts and know it’s time to intervene, you can take action. 

2. Learn to recognize fact from fiction 

Once you’re aware of the catastrophic thoughts, you can start to challenge them. One way you can do this is by recognizing what thoughts are fact and which are fiction, says Douglass. Let’s look at the example of making a small mistake at work and thinking you’re going to get fired and never get a job again. 

The fact here is that you made a mistake. But does that mean you’re definitely going to get fired and furthermore, never get another job? No, this is fiction. You may find that you’re able to detach yourself from the catastrophic thought and associated anxiety when you think more realistically. 

So next time you’re spiraling down a catastrophizing rabbit hole, ask yourself, is this actually a fact, or is my brain making up stories? Jensen suggests asking yourself, “What evidence do I have for this thought?” This can help you separate fact from fiction. 

3. Consider other possibilities

Catastrophic thinking pigeonholes you into thinking about only the worst possible outcome, which isn’t even likely to occur. To counteract this, Douglass suggests taking a step back and thinking about the other possible outcomes that are more likely to occur. 

For example, if you have a headache and your mind jumps to having brain cancer, the fear can overtake you and make it hard to think rationally. Ask yourself what other likely outcomes are. Maybe you have a headache because you’re dehydrated or have too much caffeine. Maybe you’ve been staring at your computer screen for too long. Or, maybe you have a cold coming on. Actively thinking about other less terrible outcomes can help lessen your anxiety and bring you back to reality. 

You might even look at past experiences and see if you can predict what the most likely outcome is, Jensen says. For example, if all the past times you’ve had a headache, it has subsided, and you’ve been fine, this is more likely to be the case now rather than brain cancer.

4. Think about what you’d tell a friend

Jensen says one way to challenge your extreme thoughts is to ask yourself what you’d say to a friend in this situation. This is a pillar of self-compassion –– treating yourself with the love and understanding you’d offer a loved one. 

When you’re in a heightened state of anxiety or stress, it’s easy to beat yourself up. Self-compassion and treating yourself with love can help you be more gentle to yourself when you’re coping with catastrophizing. After you catch yourself catastrophizing, see if you can offer yourself some gentle, loving advice.  

5. Use distraction techniques

In times of heightened anxiety, when you’re getting carried away by catastrophic thinking, you may choose to engage in distraction. “Sometimes, especially in moments of heightened emotional arousal, engaging in a distracting task can help shift attention away from catastrophizing thoughts,” Jensen says. Just make sure it’s a healthy distraction (like a hobby, physical exercise, or talking to a friend) and not an unhealthy distraction, like abusing alcohol or drugs.

6. Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness is simply about being aware of what’s happening right here and now, observing thoughts and feelings without getting caught up in them, says Jensen. Practicing mindfulness is a way to stay grounded in the present and separate yourself from future-forward catastrophic thinking.

“By noticing when the mind drifts into worst-case scenarios, you can observe these thoughts without reacting or spiraling,” Jensen says. “Mindfulness also helps develop a non-judgmental stance, reducing emotional reactivity when the thoughts occur. Through techniques like mindful breathing, clients can slow down, check in with their bodies, and calm themselves before they get too attached to the catastrophic thoughts.”

If you’re new to mindfulness, you may use guided mindfulness meditations on YouTube or meditation apps to get started as you build your practice. Or, you can simply start out with deep breathing or body scans. 

7. Practice self-care

It’s so important to take care of yourself physically and mentally. You might notice that when you aren’t feeling your best, you might find yourself slipping into catastrophic, distorted thinking patterns even more easily, Douglass says. To combat this, practice self-care. This can look different for everyone, but some ideas include:

• Staying physically active 
• Eating a healthy, balanced diet
• Getting adequate high-quality sleep 
• Finding a creative outlet (like art or music)
• Journaling 
• Leaning on social support
• Practicing mindfulness
• Practicing gratitude 
• Pampering yourself

8. Avoid toxic positivity

When falling out of your catastrophizing patterns, avoiding toxic positivity and staying realistic is important. Toxic positivity focuses on staying overly positive and always happy, not leaving any space for negative emotions. When you engage in toxic positivity, you may do more harm than good. You don’t want to tell yourself that everything will be 100% good 100% of the time. 

“Acknowledge that sometimes, bad things are going to happen here and there, but not all things are going to result in the worst-case scenario,” Douglass says. “It’s okay to have a bad day here and there –– but simply because you had one bad day does not mean they are all going to be bad from here on out.” Try to maintain this balanced approach, avoiding staying overly positive or negative. 

9. Consider seeking professional help

Do you feel like your distorted thinking patterns are getting in the way of your functioning and quality of life? Is it hard for you to manage these thoughts on your own? If so, you may consider seeking professional mental healthcare since continuous catastrophic thinking can have compounded negative impacts on your well-being. 

“Having this automatic negative thinking can cause a great deal of stress to us because it makes us feel as if we are always in a state of crisis,” Douglass says. This heightens our anxiety and can cause literal physical reactions in our bodies to that perceived crisis. It can disrupt our sleep, create a distraction that makes it difficult for us to perform at work or school, or even cause panic attacks.”

Chronic, difficult-to-control catastrophizing is often linked to mental health conditions such as:

• Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
• Panic disorder 
• Social anxiety disorder (SAD)
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Major depressive disorder (MDD)

Experiencing catastrophic thinking doesn’t guarantee that you have one of these conditions, but a mental health professional can diagnose you and come up with a plan to help you feel better. 

Therapy for catastrophic thinking

As mentioned, therapy can be life-changing if you struggle with catastrophizing. A therapist will teach you healthy ways to deal with stress, anxious thoughts, and cognitive distortions such as catastrophizing. A few types of therapy helpful for catastrophizing are:

1. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy helps you identify and reframe negative thought patterns and associated behaviors. Much of CBT is built around “cognitive restructuring,” which refers to challenging your unhealthy thoughts and creating more healthy ones. “The beauty of CBT is that it helps us stop focusing on the worst possible outcome fears in its tracks,” Douglass says. “CBT helps you to slow down your thoughts and look at actual facts rather than a perceived worst-case scenario.”

2. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

ACT is a type of therapy that takes a quite different approach to cognitive distortions than CBT. This modality is based on mindfulness, acceptance, and living in line with values. In ACT, you can learn to accept difficult thoughts without judgment, understanding that you don’t need to act on them or believe them, says Jensen.

3. Narrative therapy

This form of therapy helps you externalize and distance yourself from the problem by naming it, such as by calling it “The Catastrophizer,” in this case, Jensen says. “This can help you re-author your story by focusing on your strengths and alternative narratives,” she adds. 

Often, a therapist will use a combination of different therapy modalities to help address all of your symptoms. In some situations, you might need some additional help on top of therapy. In these cases, your therapist might refer you to a psychiatrist who can determine if you could benefit from psychiatric medications. For example, if you have a severe anxiety disorder or depression that is contributing to your catastrophic thinking, antidepressants like SSRIs or SNRIs may help. 

How Charlie Health can help

If you or a loved one are struggling with your mental health, Charlie Health is here to help. Charlie Health’s virtual Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) provides more than once-weekly mental health treatment for people dealing with serious mental health conditions. Our expert clinicians incorporate evidence-based therapies into individual counseling, family therapy, and group sessions. We also offer medication management to clients as needed. With this kind of holistic treatment, managing your mental health is possible. Fill out the form below or give us a call to start healing today.