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People often imagine fake scenarios, which are like daydreams, in their heads to help them fall asleep. But if someone you know is about to get in a car, and your first thought is that it will crash and burn, you may be sensitive to negative or fake-scenario thinking, which is also called catastrophic thinking.
We all engage in it at some point of our lives, and it could be because of bad things we've been through in the past that we can't get over or because of mental health issues like anxiety or long-term sadness. These scenarios can be regarding anything, but most of the time, they are about a dream setting rather than a real memory, which is why they are called fake scenarios.
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What Are Fake Scenarios?
The point of a fake scenario is to take you away from your real fears and worries about everyday life and put you in a pleasant situation. The more you want to think about something, the more valuable it is. To avoid these irrational or unrealistic scenarios, people can try to counteract their mind's tendency to predict bad results by setting up more positive alternatives.
Employing your imagination to visualize yourself in an ideal scenario is an excellent approach to taking your mind off of problems in the day-to-day world. It is also a good way to protect yourself from getting upset about how hard it is for you to fall asleep.
When you're trying to fall asleep, positive fake scenarios that are full of details and use all of your senses work best. That means they work better when you picture not only the things you would do and see, but also what you would taste, smell, hear, or feel. This makes the mental picture or scene more real and rich.
What Is Negative or Fake Scenario Thinking?
Nearly everyone daydreams. It's normal for your mind to take off every now and then in search of an experience. But if you daydream about negative things, it can cause you a lot of worry and hurt your mental health.
Some people have a tendency for making up negative or fake stories about how bad things could happen to them or those whom they worry about. Again, it's natural to have some thoughts and worry that something bad will happen from time to time.
However, when it gets in the way of how you live your life, making up these bad situations in your head becomes a problem. Your quality of life gets worse because you think and act out of fear. Because of this, you might avoid the usual risks and activities you'd otherwise engage in and find it harder to live your life.
This way of thinking is called catastrophic thinking, and it can be caused by problems with mental health or mental illness. Because of psychological issues or illnesses, a person may make up fake scenarios. For instance, an individual with an anxiety disorder might worry all the time about things they can't change.
Is Making up Fake Scenarios in Your Head a Disorder?
Catastrophizing is when someone believes that their circumstances are far worse than they actually are or imagines the worst-case scenario or a fake one. It is a type of distorted thinking or cognitive distortion that is also called catastrophic thinking.
However, catastrophic thinking isn't an official medical condition. Instead, it is a sign of a number of different illnesses such as anxiety, sadness, and post-traumatic stress disorder. People who don't have mental health problems can also sometimes think of worst-case scenarios.
If you tend to think the worst, and you also have generalized anxiety, PTSD, or OCD, it might be hard to tell the different problems apart and see how they work together. Anxiety, for example, makes you feel afraid and uncomfortable. If your brain also catastrophizes, it's easy to think about the worst possible scenarios, which makes your anxiety worse.
Catastrophizing is not a mental illness in and of itself, but it is closely related to mental diseases and can be treated in the same ways. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, for example, is good for both. This is a method that teaches people to look at their lives as a whole and come up with realistic answers. Both being mindful and taking medicine is also very helpful.
The fake scenario thought cycle can cause a lot of anxiety or stress and hurt your body and mind in a lot of ways. If you always think about the worst-case scenario when planning, you may be catastrophizing, which is something you should work on.
If you catch yourself catastrophizing and say out loud what you think will happen, you may realize that you are no longer thinking logically and be able to stop catastrophizing. Meditation along with deep breathing practices can sometimes help you slow down your thoughts and bring you back to the present moment, away from unpleasant or fake scenarios.
Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.
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