How to stop making up scenarios in your head and believing them?
By
OptimistMinds
As a BetterHelp affiliate, we may receive compensation from BetterHelp if you purchase products or services through the links provided.
Author bio
The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
This blog answers: How to stop making up scenarios in your head and believing them? What are the therapy options for making up scenarios in your head?
How to stop making up scenarios in your head and believing them?
Some ways to stop making up scenarios in your head and believing them are:
Use cognitive distancing
People might experience making up scenarios in their heads and believing them many times during the day. These scenarios might not be true or might be irrational.
In order to avoid these irrational or unreal scenarios individuals can consciously try to balance their mind’s tendency to predict the negative outcomes by coming up with more positive alternative scenarios.
For instance, if you have a fear of being on a plane and think that something bad might happen when you get on to it you can replace this scenario in your head by thinking about the good things that you will get once you get onto the plane and reach your destination.
Use a mantra
Another way to distract yourself from making up scenarios in the head and believing it is repeating a mantra which can be a word or a religious phrase. It is believed that repeating a particular word or a phrase in the form of a mantra has a calming effect on an individual’s mind.
It is proven that it helps to reduce activity in different parts of the brain that are responsible for self-reflection and self-judgment.
Thus when your mind wanders you can return to the current moment by reciting your mantra. This is also an easy strategy that can be followed anytime and anywhere.
Focus on the present
By navigating oneself to the present individual can stop making up scenarios in their head and believing it which might be unreal or irrational.
Many individuals make up scenarios in their minds that are connected to their past and attempt to change the mistakes that they made.
However, individuals must remind themselves that what is already done cannot be changed. Hence they must try and avoid thinking about ways to undo the past rather than prepare themselves for the future when similar situations come up.
In another case, individuals make up scenarios about the future. Well, no one can have control over their future events and situations thus wandering about it is wasting individuals’ time and also exhausting themselves mentally.
Write things down
Writing what individuals think and feel in a journal can always help them to reflect upon it and understand if their thoughts are rational or irrational.
It gives them a way to reflect upon their thinking patterns and also change them actively into more positive ones.
Writing down individual thoughts and emotions has also been considered to have a therapeutic effect when they feel less stressed and more relieved by putting out their concerns somewhere without being judged or noticed.
Breathe
Whenever your mind’s making up scenarios and making you believe it people can just close their eyes and take deep breaths wherever they are.
It is believed that deep breathing exercises help to calm down an individual immediately and help them to clear their mind out.
People can try counting up to three as they breathe in and up to five as they breathe out while paying attention to their breathing this further creates a meditative stance and helps individuals ease off.
Conclusion
Making up scenarios in one’s mind and believing it is very natural for individuals to experience. These might be intentional or unintentional.
However, when these are negative they might be very discomforting and anxiety-provoking. In such situations, individuals must stop, take a deep breath and reflect upon their thought process to understand if what they are thinking is possible.
Making up scenarios and being guided by them can also be done due to many negative experiences that people have had in the past.
In such situations, the individual must seek professional help so that these scenarios and negative thoughts do not hamper the individual’s functionality.
What are the therapy options for making up scenarios in your head?
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps an individual to control their negative thought pattern by using strategies like relaxation and breathing. It works on the principles of replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.
Exposure therapy
Exposure therapy is a kind of therapy in which an individual is exposed to a particular stimulus that they usually fear or are anxious about in a graded order.
As and when the individual gets comfortable with the situation or stimulus introduced or exposed to them with each session, individuals get more comfortable with a real-life situation.
Group therapy
It is based on the principle that when an individual interacts with other people who are suffering from the same fears they might not feel left alone or isolated. Group therapy usually involves a group of individuals who are experiencing similar symptoms and problems.
Medication
Anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medications prescribed by a health care professional can also help to calm an individual down and focus on the present.
Though medication alone cannot help it can help in restoring a sense of control and bring temporary relief.
Online therapy
In cases where reaching out physically to a professional is impossible or discomforting an individual can opt to seek help through the online medium.
In this, the therapy sessions are carried out one-to-one over a video or audio call. Some individuals also prefer interacting with the therapist through text as well due to various reasons. One of the most common is the fear of being judged by the therapist or some personal hesitation.
Online therapy can help individuals to regulate some aspects of their anxiety that aids individuals in carrying out a stress-free life over time
Frequently asked questions: How to stop making up scenarios in your head and believing them?
When do I make up scenarios in my head and believe them?
Many people make up scenarios in their heads and tend to believe it due to the negative experiences they have had in the past that they weren’t expecting. I
To protect themselves from future challenges they tend to imagine the worst scenarios and prepare themselves accordingly.
Is it normal to create scenarios in your head all the time?
It’s normal for people to have thoughts about their past, future, and present. However, when this is done excessively it might be problematic especially if they are negative.
Is it OK to make fake scenarios in your head?
Making up fake scenarios might be discomforting and anxiety-provoking for individuals which they realize after the panic builds up.
Hence it is required that instead of dwelling and making up negative scenarios one can try replacing them with positive ones.
Why do I catastrophize every time?
Catastrophizing is related to depression and anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
According to studies it’s found that teenagers are more vulnerable to catastrophizing everything than the other age groups due to the presence of anxiety-related disorders.
