From October to April we live in Scotland. We travel from the eastern part of the Netherlands to Rotterdam to take the ferry to Hull and then all the way up to Fort Augustus, a pretty village at the southern end of Loch Ness.

When preparing for the trip, all sorts of "worst case" scenarios run through my mind, such as: “What if we have an accident, what if our car breaks down, what if something happens to our son or grandchildren (they live in the Czech Republic), what if, what if".

How worst-case thinking can negatively affect our well-being

Many of us have developed a kind of worst-case scenario thinking, such as getting a serious illness, losing your pet, etc. But by constantly thinking about negative things that could happen in the future, we can affect our well-being negatively. Often we draw our conclusions without any real evidence, and this can activate our fight-or-flight mode by releasing an abundance of stress hormones.

You may be thinking, “What's wrong with preparing for bad things that could be lurking around the corner?” And of course, it's important to take measures to protect yourself, e.g. smoke and CO2 detectors in the house, being careful when it’s icy outside, etc., but constantly thinking about the worst-case scenario is something else entirely because it has become a habit of negative thinking into an imagined future, whereas these things may not actually happen. When we focus so much on the negative things, we start to brood and there is no way to solve the problem because it is an imaginary problem that generates stress and therefore stress hormones.

Why do elderly people are more susceptible to worst-case scenario thinking?

I have also wondered why older people are more likely to struggle with these feelings of fear and anxiety. One explanation could be that as we get older, we are faced with aches and pains, muscle and bone and muscle loss, etc., which can make us feel more vulnerable. This thinking may also be based on what happened to us in the past.

This habit of thinking of the worst-case scenario activates our fight-or-flight system by releasing stress hormones that trigger our anxious feelings and thoughts. Our brain tries to protect us from danger, and even a perceived danger instead of a real danger can trigger our nervous system.

Why do we do this worst-case scenarios thinking to ourselves?

I want to get to dive a little deeper into this strange habit and find out what we can do to stop or at least minimise this habit.

So why do we keep thinking about bad things that could happen to us? Well, we are evolutionarily designed to prepare ourselves to imagine the worst, which allows us to prepare for the future; the brain has developed a mechanism to protect us, which was essential for prehistoric humans to survive. Being prepared meant that our body reacted to a stressful event and responded with an excess of stress hormones to enable the body to flee, fight or freeze. This is meant to be a short-term reaction and hormone levels should return to normal once the danger had passed.

Creating awareness of catastrophic thinking

Why is it so important to be aware of what we think? Our thoughts affect how we feel, and if we think too often about bad things that could happen in the future, our bodies continue to produce stress hormones, so we gradually become accustomed to higher levels of stress hormones in our system, which could affect our immune system and make us more susceptible to illness.

When these negative thoughts persist, they become habitual because these thoughts keep recurring. We can’t get out of the stress response and begin to condition our thoughts and feelings so that the body becomes “the mind of fear”.The more often we experience these feelings, the more we have to prepare for danger and the more stress hormones are released. We are not used to releasing this stuck energy from our bodies like animals are used to. This stuck energy consumes a lot of energy, and with lack of energy, we are all the more susceptible to the let of these thoughts come through.

What can we do to stop or minimise this unconscious loop?

* Investigate whether the newspapers or programmes you see on TV or elsewhere are filled with cruel, sensationalist stories. Try to find neutral sources of information that focus on the actual facts.

* Realise that what we think are just thoughts, and realise that we are not our thoughts. Try to observe the feelings and embrace them, invite and welcome these feelings without judging or labelling them.

* Focus on the best case scenario. Before we start our journey, I often imagine that we have already arrived. I imagine driving into the village, driving all the way to our , entering the house and sitting in front of the wood stove.

* Practise mindfulness to stay in the present moment and limit the "what if" thinking. Mindfulness also promotes awareness of our thoughts so that we can focus our mind on the breath or on something outside of us.

Please feel free to download 4 easy calming exercises pdf to regulate our nervous system

Four calming exercises