AprilR wrote:
Does anyone else distract themselves with another imaginary stressing thought/occurence so they can deal with the real stressing thing better?
Imagination... Hmmm. Yeah, I have that. But in a distressing situation. I think , what I do is. What I normally do, is distract myself, yes. But not with negative things, To get away from negative things, I go towards positive things, or things that elicit a calming relaxation. A positive mood.
I guess also I do what you describe here also. In a sense it's re-framing the situation. Putting things in perspective. Alot of things which feel life and death at the moment, are generally not that big a deal. "Oh so and so broke down and needs repairing," well Atleast I'm alive and breathing. It's not that bad. " or "Well people are starving, homeless, wars in Europe, et etc. I actually have it good, now that I think about it." I guess something like that. So many things that are personal upsets, are really just minor, and insignificant, in the grand scheme of things.
That doesn't work for me much, although it is probably healthier to think that way.