#7 How to (STOP) Overthinking and Catastrophic Anxiety

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Hey there, welcome to the Mental Refuge podcast. Here we talk all things mental health and Christianity. I am your host, Angela McDonald. I run my website, The Mental Refuge, where I talk about my own personal struggles, mental illness, while also being a Christian and a mom of two. And I help others by giving tips and tricks on what has helped me. To be clear, this is my story. I personally live with bipolar disorder and live with anxiety, so I know what it's like to go through the trenches of life and to feel alone. My goal is to bring you weekly tips and education on how to thrive with your mental health while giving you real examples from my own life and also provide you with a much needed dose of Jesus. I hope you stick around and stay a while. Welcome everyone to episode number seven. If you have listened to my last episode, it was on overthinking versus catastrophic anxiety. And that episode, I laid out the differences between the two thought processes. And I gave real life examples from my own life and some stuff that you've been dealing with too. So if you haven't listened to that one yet, hit pause on this and go listen to episode number six first, and then come back to this one. Okay. Also, I want it to mention that I took last week off from my podcast. If you remember from a few weeks ago, I've shared that I've been in a depressive episode. My depression crept in. And then last week I was supposed to record and I kept putting it off. And then my last weekend, I was just sobbing uncontrollably. To the point where I could barely move or get out of bed. Has that ever happened to you? So needless to say, I took the week off from recording and just really focused on myself. I still have my moments of depression, but I'm not sobbing uncontrollably like I was before. So that is a win. So before we get started, if you have liked any of my previous episodes, please consider subscribing to this podcast. So you can get updates on new episode releases. It's just a small bay in which you can support me. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please go ahead and like, and subscribe. It really does help spread the word to others that this podcast and this channel even exists. So let's go ahead and jump on into today's episode. So, like I said, last week, I talked about overthinking versus catastrophic anxiety and gave many examples. So you might be thinking, why do we even do it? Why do we have these thoughts? If it's so bad to overthink and it's so bad to have catastrophic anxiety, then I should just be able to stop it. Right. And I sense sometimes we like to prepare for the worst, and that is why we do the overthinking and half catastrophic anxiety. It can be natural to prepare for bad things to happen. Maybe if you drive, you might keep a spare tire or jumping cables in case your battery won't start. Those are both great things to have. If you live in an area where there are hurricanes and you know that a hurricane is coming and that you're going to be near the water. You're going to prepare for that storm by boarding up your windows. You're going to move your stuff off of the floor, out of the basement, wherever it may be and move it up high so that you won't have water damage. Being prepared. It doesn't necessarily mean that you think that the absolute worst will happen. Sometimes you just prepared just because you're being smart. And we tend to overthink or have catastrophic anxiety because it might have been something that we learned, whether we know it or not. Maybe when you were little, your parents fed to you. You can't keep slipping in so late. If you don't get up right this second, then you're going to miss the bus. And if you miss the bus, then I'm going to have to take you into school, which means that I'll be late to work. And if I do that too many times, then I'm going to get fired. And if you're late for school, then you're going to be rushed when you go take that test. First thing in the morning. And then you'll end up feeling the class and then you'll have to take the whole class over again. And you'll never be able to find a good paying job. A lot of us grew up with parents who probably had really good intentions. They just may not have worded it properly and it might have motivated you right in that moment. Right? Like if your parents was yelling at you saying you better get your butt out of bed, You're gonna miss the bus and I'm going to be late for work and dah, dah, dah. It worked in that moment. You may have gotten out of bed. But those thoughts and those words have probably stuck with you. And now you're dealing with the consequences of it because you just haven't been taught the proper way to treat your brain. You haven't been taught that. Yes. Even if you do sleep in late and you miss the bus, or now that you're an adult, if you sleep in late and you are an hour or two hours late for work, it might not be the end of the world. It doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to get fired. So it can be really hard for us to retrain our brains. When it comes to overthinking or catastrophic anxiety, but we can do it guys. We can do it. So, like I said, you might be feeling like you need to prepare yourself for whatever is about to come. So that may be your reason why you overthink. Also having a huge fear of the unknown. How many times have you been called into your boss's office at work? And your mind automatically goes to the worst case scenario. You're like, oh, I'm going to get fired. I'm just, I'm going to get fired. Well, Flip your brain. What if it was for another reason, what if he got called into your boss's office? Because they want to have a performance review and you just might be getting a race. How about you could be called into your boss's office because they just want to. I acknowledge your achievements and all that you do for the company. I always ask myself. Have I ever done anything to get myself in trouble. Because the answer is yes, then. Sure. Be worried. But at the answer is no. And I haven't done anything to get myself in trouble to go to the boss's office, then why worry? Like I said, I'm probably just being caught into the office for something completely random and has nothing to do with me getting fired or me getting in any sort of trouble. Okay. So this is what you're here for, right? Tips on how to overcome your catastrophic thinking. So we already know what causes catastrophic anxiety or overthinking, why we might have those thoughts, but now let's learn how we can actually overcome them. The first thing we're going to do is we're going to analyze how realistic our conclusions of our beliefs actually are. So I will ask myself and you ask yourself, Is this the only thing that can happen or are there other possibilities? Is there any evidence that says that this is going to happen? Just like my example from a few seconds ago about being called into your bosses office, is there any evidence in front of you that says that you are getting into trouble? And that you're going to get fired. Probably not. The only evidence is that you recalled into the office. That's it. No big deal whatsoever. So analyze how realistic your beliefs actually are. The second thing we can do to overcome our catastrophic anxiety. Or overthinking is that think about the emotions that are tied to our beliefs. So if we have a big presentation coming up at work and we are really, really overthinking it. And we're having those catastrophic thoughts of I'm going to present in front of these people and they are. Automatically going to hate it and I'm going to lose my job because of it. And your thoughts just spin out of control. What emotions are tied to your beliefs. Are you just nervous about your presentation? Because you don't know how well you will do. Maybe if you don't do well, it's going to lower your self-confidence and you're already down in yourself. You already don't have the best self-esteem. So think about your emotions and why you're thinking, the thoughts that you're having. In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter if you don't do well on one presentation? Probably not. The third thing we can do to stop our overthinking is to write down all of our thoughts into a journal. That way we can go back and read them. Each and every time we have a catastrophic thought, so there are so many people in the world who journal. I feel like it's very popular these days, but how many of you actually go back and read your journals? I know I do. I don't very often, but I do go back and read them and it is amazing to me because it helps me to realize how far I've come and how far God has taken me. In my healing, it is very therapeutic to go through and read a past journal. Number four. Probably my most favorite thing to do is to practice mindfulness. So basically this means bringing your thoughts into the present moment, instead of thinking about what could happen. You're thinking about things that are actually happening around you. It's kind of like a reality check. What I call it. So you can practice this every single day, not just when you're overthinking or over analyzing the situation. So here's an example. If you're outside and you are walking around in your mind, starts wandering off. I can look at my surroundings and I tell myself what I can see around me. I can see tree limbs, swaying back and forth. I can see leaves falling to the ground. I can hear birds chirping and talking back to each other. I can pick up a pine cone from the ground and feel the rough edges. So if you notice I'm using all of my senses, the smells, the sights, the tastes, the touch, all of those. These are all things that are actually right there in real life. And it takes my worries away. Even if it's just for a few seconds or a few minutes, it takes away my overthinking thoughts. Mindfulness really does help train your brain to get back on track and to think about things that we should be thinking about. The next thing you can do is have self-compassion training yourself with kindness and understanding, especially in the face of setbacks and failures. I know this isn't something that you can overcome in one day, but it can certainly start today. So give yourself some grace, if it takes some time to get used to. And the last tip I have for you to stop every thinking in catastrophic anxiety. Is to practice gratitude, focus on and appreciate the positive aspects of your life and what you've got going for. You. Even if you're in a challenging situation, sit down and write out what you have overcome. And how you ever came in. Something that I do is whenever I'm in a depressive episode and I'm really in a deep dark pit, I will tell myself, Angela, you've gotten through this before. You will get through it again. I know that my pain is only temporary. It is a heavy pain and it is a burden most days than not, but it is temporary. I know that it will one day end, even if I'm in heaven, when it happens, I know that it will add one day. I have overcome my depressive episodes each and every time. I have never given into it. And that is something that I'm so proud of. And something that I am forever thankful for. Speaking of gratitude. I wonder if you noticed that didn't start this episode off with what is making me happy today. I did that on purpose because I want to jump into the episode, but I also knew that my last point would be on gratitude. So today I'm thankful for the beautiful sunrises that I get to see each and every morning from my bedroom window. We moved into our home. We had no idea how beautiful of a site we would have, but they sunrise each morning. Our home and neighborhood have trees everywhere. And I just never thought it would even be possible. But it seems like every morning I get to witness the sun rising. And taking that morning, red, orange, yellow glow. And it really makes me have a great start to my day. Even if my day won't go with planned. Or if I'm in a depressive episode, I know that I can count on the sun rising just as God instructed it to. And I am so forever thankful for that. God, thank you so much for giving us tools to stop our overthinking and catastrophic anxiety. We know that you hold us in your hands. You hold the whole world in your hands. Thank you so much for giving us these tools and these tips. Thank you for the listeners on this podcast. May gain insight. And use these tips and tools to their advantage so that they can live happy and fulfilling lives so they can do more of your work. Amen. Now, if you deal with catastrophic thinking or anxiety, I have something that may help. I want it to wrap up this episode and talk to you about the rescued and restored workbook. This the 65 page downloadable mental health workbook that is filled with worksheets prompts and scripture to read in times of depression and anxiety. This is not your momma's old fashioned journal. This workbook can really help you overcome that catastrophic thinking and anxiety that you may be dealing with. It is a workbook filled with worksheets that you can use to dig deeper into learning more about yourself. Simply head on over to the mental refuge.com and click on the shop tab to download your copy today. Well, that's it for you guys this week. I kept it short and sweet. I hope you have an amazing week ahead. I'll talk to you later.