Catastrophic thinking

Humans have the tendency to exagerate the consequences of their circumstances, so we hear young children declaring, "oh, I'll just die if that hapens" or "You've ruined my life" or "now my whole day is ruined."

Helping them to focus on the "crisometer" will change their catastrophic thinking to be more realistic.

10 = the whole world is changed in a way it will never be the same. Examples: world war III; a new Ice Age; Armageddon; etc.

9 = your part of the world has changed in a way it will never be the same. Examples: War zones, Bagdad, WWII Germany or England; Tsusami; Katrina

8 = your family has changed in a way that life as you knew it will never return
Example: multiple deaths in the family; total destruction of family home with all belongings and some family members.

7 = Things have changed in a life changing manner, but will return to "normalcy" in a few months or years.

6. Things have changed drastically, but can be made to return to mormalcy through work, faith and help.

5. Things in your life have changed for a temporary period of time: example broken leg, fire in your room; loss of some belongings; divorce or separation

4. Things look like they might cause physical or emotional harm that will be painful

3. This does not look like it will have a good result for me or my family/friends

2. Uncomfortable; this is not in my comfort zone; I will have to make some changes in my behavior.

1. This is not the way I want things to be. I wish it was different.

I spelled catastrophe wrong? Oh, know, why do bad things always happen to me? This is the end of the world. I'll die if anyone sees this.