What's the worst that could happen?

Learn to choose your thoughts carefully and consciously, and take a more positive and productive path

- Dr Kirren Schnack

How often do you have an anxious thought that transports you to the absolute worst possible outcome? The tendency to assume something catastrophic will happen in the future is known as worst-case-scenario thinking, and this particular type of thinking is remarkably prevalent in anxiety disorders. Worst-case-scenario thinking possesses the extraordinary ability to transform a simple headache into a brain tumour; cancelled plans into personal rejection; or a routine flight into a catastrophic crash. It seems that your mind is inclined to persuade you that the absolute worst outcome is not only possible but highly probable.

Your mind's ability to imagine vividly is so powerful that, simply by thinking things that haven't happened, you can feel as if they're happening right now. This ability to imagine the worst has an adaptive advantage for our survival, but we rarely need to use this function nowadays. It’s when you experience this level of disturbance in your thoughts constantly that you can easily feel overwhelmed. We’re all capable of imagining all sorts of scary, weird, wonderful and exciting things. But because an anxious brain is biased in favour of fear, it readily grabs onto things that fit with that – usually doom and catastrophe.