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Our experience of time changes during panic. Time seems to speed up. There is no futureonly the urgency of the moment. Each minute rushing into the next stands for further loss. The future spells utter doom; we try to prevent it. |
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When we feel strong fear and panic, we are psychologically trying to stop the future from occurring. When we feel mild anxiety, we are trying to delay it. Read those two lines again and think about them. |
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Negativity and fear are often characterized by all-or-nothing thinking. We only think of the extremes of what may occur, nothing in between. This is also called "catastrophic" thinking. All we can see is the very worst possible outcome, and our fear is reinforced by focusing on this worst-case scenario. |
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Examples of Catastrophic Thinking |
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All kinds of negative thoughts about the present and the future take over: |
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"I'm going to lose all of my profit!" |
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"I'm going to lose a big chunk of my investment capital." |
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"Months (minutes, weeks, or years) of steady gains are now going down the drain." |
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"This will only accelerateI need to get out now!" |
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"My vacation (new car, house deposit, new computer, big screen TV, etc.) money is evaporating. I can't sit here and watch this!" |
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"My hard-earned retirement funds are losing value big time. I'll end up unable to retire when I had planned. We'll be poor and have to live in a trailer park in the Ozarks." |
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"My kids' college funds won't have enough when they need it. They'll be forced to go to some terrible junior college." |
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Fantasyland: The Power of the Daydream |
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One aspect of all-or-nothing thinking that we use to scare ourselves with is taking what is a process and turning it into a final and irrevocable outcome. |
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This is most often done by a combination of conscious and unconscious thought. The conscious aspect is simply freezing a moment |
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