The worst case, all the way through
Instead of stopping at »what if«, you follow the thought to the end and look at what you would actually do.
»The worst case to the end« deliberately goes in the direction anxiety avoids. You write down what you fear and then ask: what would happen next? And then? You take each answer further, until you reach a point where you did something, someone helped you, or the thing simply passed. Write it down rather than thinking it through — in your head the scenario always stops at the same place. If you become overwhelmed while writing, stop and use grounding; it is better to do this exercise for the first time in a session.
When to use it
With catastrophising, when the thought stops at the worst point and circles there.
How it goes
- Write the fear out in full: What if …
- Ask: and then what? Answer. Repeat five more times.
- At the last step, write what you would concretely do — who you would call, what you would arrange.
- Finally, rate the likelihood of the whole chain from 0 to 100.
Why it works
Anxiety feeds on an unfinished thought. When you follow it to the end, it often turns out that you would do something even there — and that is exactly what fear doesn’t show you.
