Dorothy: I don’t like this forest. It’s … it’s dark and creepy!
Scarecrow: Of course, I don’t know, but I think it’ll get darker before it gets lighter.
Dorothy: Do … do you suppose we’ll meet any wild animals?
Tin Man: Hmmm … we might.
Scarecrow: Animals that … that eat straw?
Tin Man: Some, but mostly lions and tigers and bears.
Dorothy: Lions!
Scarecrow: And tigers?
Tin Man: And bears.
Dorothy: Lions, and tigers, and bears … oh, my!
All: Lions, and tigers, and bears …
Dorothy: Oh, my!
All: Lions, and tigers, and bears …
Dorothy: Oh, my!
All: Lions, and tigers, and bears …
Dorothy: Oh, my!
All: Lions, and tigers, and bears …
Dorothy: Oh, my!
[Enter Cowardly Lion. He roars, and bounds into view, down onto the yellow-brick road.]
— The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
As Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man make their way along the yellow-brick road through a forest in the scene above — from The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) — they provide us with an illustration of a kind of anxious thinking that we can call catastrophic thinking, or “catastrophizing,” i.e., imagining the worse-case scenario. Dorothy worries that she and her friends will encounter wild animals in the “dark and creepy” forest; Scarecrow frets that the animals might have an appetite for straw; and Tin Man anticipates that the animals will mostly likely be lions, tigers, and bears. For all three, their fears escalate quickly, becoming almost too much for words; their catastrophic thinking gets summed up in the gasp of an exclamation: “Oh, my!”
Catastrophic Thinking Is Anxious Thinking
We can describe catastrophic thinking as a kind of anxious thinking in which we assume that an experience we identify as negative will have dire, unmanageable consequences. For instance, I might fear that if I can’t remember someone’s name at a party, I will be mortified, and then stammer, blush, or otherwise demonstrate my embarrassment. I might tell myself that the other person will judge me as not only forgetful, but odd because of my response, and will not want to talk to me. I might also fear that this person whose name I forgot might even tell other people at the party, including the hosts, what an awful, socially awkward experience she had with me. At this point in my catastrophic thinking, I am absolutely sure that I will never get invited to another party again!
Learning from Dorothy
So, what happens in The Wizard of Oz (1939 film), when Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man’s fears come true, and a roaring lion bounds into view? The lion begins by bullying Scarecrow and Tin Man, but when he turns from them to chase a yapping Toto, Dorothy brings herself to intervene; she gives the lion a terrorizing-halting swat on the nose. With her courage, Dorothy stops the lion in his tracks.
Now, when Dorothy was catastrophizing, just a few moments before, did she pause to think how she might handle the situation, or even that she could, should some wild animal pose a threat to her, her friends, and Toto? If Dorothy had considered how she would cope with such a situation, realized that she could (even though she would have still have preferred it not occur!), I imagine that she would have felt less worried about the prospect. I imagine that she would have experienced a much greater sense of calm, courage, and confidence as she, Scarecrow, Tin Man — and Toto, too — made their way through the forest, down the yellow-brick road.
Catastrophic Thinking Is a Cowardly Lion
Even if we don’t skip as far or as quickly down the path of anxiety as Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man do in this scene, we still “catastrophize” whenever we assume that the worst will happen, and neglect to ask ourselves, “So what if it does?” or “How would I like to respond to that situation, if it happens?” When we notice ourselves starting to catastrophize, responses like these can help us question the likelihood of the worst-case scenario that we’re imagining — our own version of an encounter with lions, and tigers, and bears. Responses like these can also help us question whether such a scenario would really mean the “end-of-the-world,” and challenge our fear that we won’t be able to handle the scenario, should it occur. Simply put, these responses can help us swat the cowardly lion of catastrophic thinking on the nose, and stop it in its tracks.
When catastrophic thinking has become a bully in your own life, how have you given it a swat on the nose?
Sign up for free and be the first to get notified about updates to Thought Tonic.
If you enjoyed this post, here are a few more:
Featured image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Wizard_of_Oz_Bert_Lahr_1939.jpg
One response to “Stop Catastrophic Thinking in Its Tracks”
[…] Stop Catastrophic Thinking in its Tracks […]