Ask Gynomite (videostyle)!
In her former life, Emily “Gynomite” Gordon was a couples and family therapist licensed in 2 1/2 states. In this life, she’s a freelance fighter of your emotional woes with Ask Gynomite. Write her at askgynomite@gmail.com- all emails stay confidential. Today, Gynomite takes on catastrophizing, and once again, she does it by talking into a camera.
I have always had this problem but I never could correctly describe it until recently. I think I have a problem with”catastrophizing.” I am unsure if it is a scientific term but its on wikipedia. I constantly assume the worst possible outcome will happen. It’s why I am terrified of getting on a plane and why I worry constantly.
An example is when I hang out with this girl I would rather waste gas and drive her home (she doesnt live very close to me) than meet a halfway point because when she drives home I freak out about the prospect of a drunk driver hitting her or some other type of accident that could severely injure her or worse. I do this with most of my family members too if I know theyre driving and I can’t contact them.
I also do it with my myself. If i text someone, even a close friend, and they take a while to get back i am 100% positive (and at least as far as I know almost always 100% wrong after the fact) that this is because they don’t want to hang out with me anymore for whatever reason. I also will go to great lengths to conceal this or even give off the impression that I feel the opposite in most situations. It’s just how my mind works I suppose. I was just wondering if you had any advice on how to quell these seemingly meaningless worries, thanks a lot.
Stefan Bennett said,
January 23, 2013 at 6:45 pm
The plane thing is interesting, I’m not afraid of flying but will obsess on the negative when I’m not feeling well or experiencing stress. When I’m comfortable or assured in my personal life (not often) … nothing bothers me. I tend to obsess so there could be a component of OCD in there as well. My only advice would be to look for things that are creating worry and stress… family, career, personal life…things you may minimize as not important especially.