3 Tips to Manage Your Worst-Case Scenario Anxiety
Anxiety, overall, can feel uneasy for a lot of people. Let’s face it- who wants to feel worried? Do we really enjoy feeling nervous? How about feeling on edge? The answer to all the questions is simply “no.” However, a lot of us, if not all, have had some anxious symptoms. It’s not all about the emotions, though. We have some physical sensations, too. And some of it has to do with our thinking. I’m sure you’ve gone through it: thinking the worst will happen. This worst-case scenario anxiety is called catastrophic thinking. And it’s normal and common!
Reasons Why You Are Creating Scenarios in Your Head
What does that type of thinking look or feel like? In general, it feels like you’re making up scenarios in your head about what may happen in the future. This can be near or far future. It’s not that you purposely want to do this. It…kind of just happens. Your mind wants to prepare you for what’s to come. We’ll talk about why later.
One reason why you are creating a worst-case thought in your head is simply because you are worried. Maybe you are anxious about work, about your family, about an event that’s coming up. So, you begin to think about all possible case scenarios. This includes the worst ones. Are you worried that you could get in trouble at work, then get fired, which would lead to financial issues? Then your mind wonders how you’re going to pay the bills and survive. Yes…that’s how our mind may run. Or let’s take your family. Maybe you’re thinking about someone’s health. Is it going to get worse? Or maybe you’re questioning if you’re doing a good job at parenting. Will my child grow up to dislike me? Or will my child grow up “messed up” if I mess up as a parent? Perhaps you have an important event coming up. You may think what could possibly happen that maybe you embarrass yourself or your safety is at risk.
A second reason why you have that worst case scenario anxiety is past events. Maybe something you didn’t expect or bad happened. Trauma would fit in this. Maybe you got into a car accident. Or perhaps you lost someone important to you. Something traumatic like abuse or an assault can cause worst case thinking. In general, when one goes through trauma, you go through a lot of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Let’s say you got into a horrific car accident. You may think that if you go through a similar path or time of day, something bad could happen again. If you lost someone important to you, maybe you’re now on edge about who could be next. Furthermore, if you were abused or assaulted, maybe you fear it’d happen again and perhaps worse than the first time.
Lastly, a reason why you are making up scenarios in your head is because this is an actual coping method. I hear the cliché saying, “Hope for the best, expect the worst.” There are people that apply this saying in their lives. I get it, though. If you expect the worst to happen, then you won’t be surprised. And if you aren’t surprised, then you won’t feel as letdown. People think that if the worst-case event does happen, it won’t affect them. Or at least not as much as it would have if they didn’t expect it. You’ll want to explore if this coping method is helpful in living the life you want.
3 Ways to Manage Your Worst-Case Scenario Anxiety
Now that we know the reasons why we engage in catastrophic thinking, it’s vital to learn how to manage.
First (and simple but takes practice) is ground yourself to the present moment. Remember that our worst-case scenario anxiousness is about the near or far future. It is too easy for us to become attached to the future. Thus, we miss out on the present. We could miss out on tasks we need to do, people we love, other matters that require our attention.
Maybe grounding yourself to the present means a statement, such as “I’m here and now.” Another statement could be, “I’m safe here.” You could even be more specific, like, “I’m here at (location). It’s (day) at (time). I feel safe.” My favorite way to quickly ground myself is using my 5 senses. You could do the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown mentioned in a previous blog. You could also just focus on your 5 senses in no order with no set number.Second, a way to manage your worst scenario anxiousness is to acknowledge a part of you wants to protect you. I mentioned earlier that our mind wants to prepare us for what’s to come. In general, there is a part of you that wants to protect you. And so, that part causes you to think of those scenarios. Notice that. How amazing is it that parts inside of us want to do that for us! Although it can become overwhelming or excessive, parts have pure intentions, according to Internal Family Systems therapy. Think of that part as a protective friend. Once that friend oversteps it, though, create some distance. This way, you can feel more at ease or at least not as overwhelmed. Maybe you could tell that part of you, “I thank you for trying to protect me. I need some space.” Then, you could identify what catastrophic thoughts you are having. Notice those by stating, “I notice that I am having the thought that (actual thought).” It starts to create that space.
The third way to manage is to imagine yourself coping well with the worst-case scenario. When we think the worst will happen, we rapidly feel the anxiousness, stress, and pressure. We ruminate on it, but we forget one thing. The missing key is thinking that we could cope well with it. You can rehearse in your mind that worst-case event per se. See how you could manage through it. Don’t forget to do some relaxing and grounding techniques afterwards. This may help ease the anxiousness of picturing the catastrophe and coping.
Therapies, such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), can help you further with imaging coping well. DBT gives you specific steps in coping ahead. ART can walk you through the worst-case event in your mind. It will then allow your brain to identify how to cope with it. ART will process the anxiousness from it. These therapies can further build your confidence in this. An anxiety therapist or a trauma focused therapist can help.
To summarize, there are multiple reasons why we create scenarios in our head. It’s not your fault. It’s possible our brains may have evolved to think this way for decades and centuries. I’m sure past generations’ minds wondered if the worst would happen as a form of protection and to prepare them. Notice your mind doing that as well. Luckily, the said ways to manage can help reduce how intense and frequent worst-case thinking happens. You got this!