Are you catastrophising? Don’t underestimate your ability to cope

"I can’t cope"

"I’ll never get through this"

 "I can’t bear the pain"

 "I can’t live without them!"

We hear these words every day, endlessly gushing from the mouths of our favourite characters as we sit glued to the latest TV soap.

In cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT for short, this way of thinking is what we call "catastrophising", and it’s not just limited to Kat from EastEnders or Kevin from Corrie. To some greater or lesser extent, we can all find ourselves doing it.

What is catastrophising?

Research into how people predict their future emotions suggests that we can sometimes underestimate our ability to adapt. "Things are never as bad as they seem" may sound like something you might see on a tacky card in your local gift shop, or something a good friend may say to us as we are sobbing into our fourth cup of tea. But things may not always affect us in quite the way we predict.

Human beings can be remarkably adaptable, even when faced with difficult circumstances. Psychologists have used the term "psychological immune system" to describe some of the processes that can help us adapt and make sense of difficult experiences.

This is potentially good news, as it means we may sometimes overestimate how strongly a difficult event will affect us, or how long those feelings will last. Phew, what a relief!

Are you underestimating your ability to cope?

Research into what is known as “immune neglect” suggests that, after events such as a relationship break-up or being made redundant, we may overestimate how unhappy we will feel and how long those feelings will last.

In short, we can sometimes underestimate the psychological resources that may help us adapt to adversity.

So the next time we think, “I’ll never get through this”, let’s leave the endless suffering to those addictive characters we love watching so avidly and instead say to ourselves:

“You know… perhaps I shouldn’t underestimate myself so much.”

In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT for short, this way of thinking is what we call “catastrophising”, and it’s not just limited to Kat from EastEnders or Kevin from Corrie. To some greater or lesser extent, we can all find ourselves doing it.

What is catastrophising?
Research into how people predict their future emotions suggests that we can sometimes underestimate our ability to adapt. “Things are never as bad as they seem” may sound like something you might see on a tacky card in your local gift shop, or something a good friend may say to us as we are sobbing into our fourth cup of tea. But things may not always affect us in quite the way we predict.

Human beings can be remarkably adaptable, even when faced with difficult circumstances. Psychologists have used the term “psychological immune system” to describe some of the processes that can help us adapt and make sense of difficult experiences.

This is potentially good news, as it means we may sometimes overestimate how strongly a difficult event will affect us, or how long those feelings will last. Phew, what a relief!

Are you underestimating your ability to cope?
Research into what is known as “immune neglect” suggests that, after events such as a relationship break-up or being made redundant, we may overestimate how unhappy we will feel and how long those feelings will last.

In short, we can sometimes underestimate the psychological resources that may help us adapt to adversity.

So the next time we think, “I’ll never get through this”, let’s leave the endless suffering to those addictive characters we love watching so avidly and instead say to ourselves:

“You know… perhaps I shouldn’t underestimate myself so much.”