{"id":10825,"date":"2026-07-30T06:55:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T06:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=10825"},"modified":"2026-07-30T06:55:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T06:55:38","slug":"therapists-one-minute-trick-can-stop-your-brain-from-always-jumping-to-the-worst-case-scenario","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=10825","title":{"rendered":"Therapist\u2019s one-minute trick can stop your brain from always jumping to the worst-case scenario"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The sky is not, in fact, falling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a lot of us with anxiety, it can be difficult to refrain from turning small negative thoughts into insurmountable, catastrophizing ones. We go from \u201cthis is happening\u201d to \u201cworst-case scenario\u201d at the snap of a finger. It\u2019s often not a conscious choice, but rather a misfiring of synapses (and a hefty imagination) that can lead us down some very scary mental paths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, there are excellent tricks that can quell that way of thinking almost immediately. Many have discussed the importance of processing anxiety through therapy or meditation, but if you\u2019re looking for a faster fix, one in particular often works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why we may catastrophize<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a\u00a0piece\u00a0reviewed by Dr. Stephen Gans, MD, for\u00a0VeryWellMind, journalist and mental health advocate Adam England discusses how common it is for the human mind to make these negative leaps.\u00a0 He writes, \u201cWe may catastrophize if we\u2019ve had negative past experiences, particularly in a similar situation, or if we have low self-esteem or a mental health condition like depression or anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"anxiety,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He also illustrates how quickly \u201clogic\u201d goes out the window when we\u2019re having these thoughts, particularly as it pertains to the future. Those worries often loop and re-loop until they get snagged in a cesspool of rumination. But it\u2019s the thoughts themselves that are faulty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England shares a parable from a children\u2019s book, writing, \u201cSmriti Joshi, lead psychologist at Wysa, brings up the famous children\u2019s story about a rabbit who believed the sky was falling after a coconut fell from a tree onto its head. \u2018Without examining what had happened, or that it was a coconut that had fallen on his head, he believed the worst-case scenario and panicked that it was the sky falling and the world was about to end,\u2019 she explains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Write it down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

England continues quoting Joshi, who shared, \u201cA simple technique to practice is to write down all your thoughts. You can then replace them with other thoughts. For example, if you\u2019re catastrophizing over a health complaint, write down your thoughts and then write down the facts\u2014that it\u2019s much more likely to be something minor, for example, or that your doctor isn\u2019t too concerned.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Psychologist\u00a0Millie Hardie,\u00a0who goes by the name\u00a0\u201cThe Pocket Psychologist\u201d\u00a0on social media, often gives helpful tips for dealing with anxiety in less than 60 seconds. In a recent\u00a0post,\u00a0she has a similar plan of attack for what she calls \u201csticky thoughts.\u201d A chyron on the video reads, \u201cI\u2019m a Psychologist. I\u2019m going to challenge six of your stickiest thoughts in 60 seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dealing with \u2018sticky thoughts\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

She then proceeds to go through each thought, exemplifying how one might take a giant statement and make it smaller with a little re-evaluating. Each negative thought is shared, followed by a kinder, more manageable one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c1. \u2018I\u2019m behind in life.\u2019 You\u2019re not behind. You\u2019re on a different timeline your brain keeps comparing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. \u2018They\u2019re mad at me.\u2019 That\u2019s a guess. Not a fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. \u2018I\u2019ve ruined everything.\u2019 You made a mistake. That\u2019s very different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. \u2018I need to know what\u2019s going to happen.\u2019 That\u2019s anxiety asking for certainty. Not something life can give you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. \u2018I can\u2019t do this.\u2019 You can\u2019t do it perfectly. You can do it messily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. \u2018Something bad is going to happen.\u2019 That\u2019s your brain trying to protect you. Not predict the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give the thought a beginning and end<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Loftin,\u00a0a psychologist at Prosper Health, shared with Upworthy that putting thoughts down on paper helps decipher them. \u201cWhen an anxious thought stays in your head, it can feel overwhelming and almost limitless. Writing it down gives it a clear beginning and end, making it feel more concrete and easier to examine. Instead of being caught up in the thought, you can step back and ask whether it\u2019s accurate, whether there are other explanations, and how you would respond if a friend had the same concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of replacing a thought with one that\u2019s more positive is to make a more balanced story and realistic perspective that\u2019s supported by the evidence. For example, one might change, \u2018I\u2019m definitely going to do badly on this presentation\u2019 to \u2018I\u2019m worried I might not do well, but last week\u2019s presentation was great, and the world doesn\u2019t end if this is boring.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Loftin notes that this process is a major tenet of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which helps an anxious person zoom out. \u201cOver time,\u201d she writes, \u201cthis practice can help reduce habitual thinking patterns that fuel anxiety and strengthen more flexible, adaptive ways of interpreting situations. It\u2019s one of the reasons cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which includes identifying and challenging unhelpful thoughts, has such strong evidence for treating many anxiety disorders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stacy Sheller, LMFT, a therapist at\u00a0The Grove Recovery Community, shared with Upworthy why writing anxious thoughts down can help. She shares, \u201cThe speed at which a worried individual\u2019s thoughts occur often leaves little time for challenge. When writing these thoughts down creates some space (distance) from what he\/she is worrying about, then the worrier can better see the thought pattern rather than seeing his\/her worries as truth. This short delay allows the worrier to reflect on their reaction vs. their actions. This is one way to reduce anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sky is not, in fact, falling.  For a lot of us with anxiety, it can be difficult to refrain from turning small negative thoughts into<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/759768801_1046604081515846_1931350926002674108_n.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10827,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10825\/revisions\/10827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}