Catch the Catastrophe

Your mind jumps straight to the worst-case ending. One unanswered text becomes 'they hate me'; a small mistake becomes 'I'll lose my job'

Steps

Notice the jump. Anxiety skips the middle and lands on the disaster. The tell is a sentence that starts 'What if…' and ends in catastrophe
Name it: 'My brain is doing the catastrophe thing.' You are not the thought; you are the one noticing it
Ask three questions: How likely is this, really? Has it happened the other times I felt certain it would? What is a more boring, likely ending?
Write the boring ending next to the catastrophe: 'They hate me' becomes 'They're busy and haven't looked at their phone'
Don't try to feel calm; just widen the options. Anxiety insists only one terrible thing can happen; you're proving that's not true

What you need

Your own attention; optionally somewhere to write

Why it works

This is cognitive defusion (from ACT) plus gentle CBT reappraisal. Anxious brains treat predictions as facts; labelling a thought as a thought restores the gap between you and it. Naming the pattern also engages the prefrontal cortex, which helps quiet the amygdala's alarm. Neurodivergent brains often catastrophise faster, with rejection sensitivity and pattern-detection running hot, so catching the jump matters more, not less.

Age guidance

Adults and older teens.

Real-world example

An ADHD adult saw an unread message from their manager at 9pm and spent two hours certain they were about to be fired. Learning to say 'my brain's doing the catastrophe thing' and writing the boring ending ('she's probably just sending it before she forgets') didn't make the worry vanish, but it stopped the two-hour spiral. The next morning the message was a thank-you.

Troubleshooting

If a 'more likely ending' feels impossible to find, ask what you'd tell a friend who said the same thing. We're kinder and clearer for other people
If the worry is about something genuinely uncertain, pair this with a plan for the one part you can control
If you can't find the thought at all, start with the body ('my chest is tight'), and the story often surfaces once you name the sensation