Catastrophizing is the distorted and irrational thought pattern that you overwhelm yourself with to make yourself believe that something is far worse than it actually is.
Catastrophizing is one of the cognitive distortions that anyone who has been involved in Scientology can become familiar with, and watch out for, if they want to continue evolving and growing as they move on down the road.
It is easy to see that a lot of Exes go through a catastrophizing period after leaving Scientology. They learn about the deception, the undue influence, and the abuse of power that was hidden from them when they were in the Church. And it can be very overwhelming to believe that you dedicated so much of your time, money and energy to something that turned out to be so much of a let-down.
All kinds of emotions rise up within you when you come to grips with this. And especially if you are spending lots of time on post-Scientology social media sites, the people you hang out with there can shift those emotions into overdrive.
You can see these Exes catastrophizing when they write posts on social media and make videos about Scientology. Exes in this catastrophizing phase on their way out of Ex-Scientology have very definite thought patterns that can turn quite toxic to other Exes who are continually exposed to them.
Exes in the Catastrophizing Period will do and say things like this:
- They will turn the initials “COS” (as in “Church of Scientology”) into “CRIMEWAVE OF SCIENTOLOGY“.
- They will repeatedly call the Church of Scientology a criminal organization.
- They will call any death of a Scientologist, including a suicide and an accident, a MURDER.
- They will also call Scientologists, and even other Exes who disagree with them, PSYCHOPATHS, and SOCIOPATHS, and MALIGNANT NARCISSISTS.
They are consumed with the EVIL in Scientology. They are fairly fanatical and sometimes very unpleasant to discuss things with, especially if you are trying to develop some kind of reasonable perspective on what happened to you in Scientology.
Just As Some People Never Leave Scientology, Some Exes Never Leave Ex-Scientology.
How can you tell that an Ex-Scientologist will never make it out of being an Ex-Scientologist?
You can see them catastrophize, over and over, for years about anything and everything connected to Scientology. They are not capable of relaxing, and simply seeing the humor and silliness. They are DEADLY SERIOUS. And, they will frequently attack any EX as an “APOLOGIST” or FREEZONER who is relaxed and un-horrified by the subject.
I think it’s natural to expect newly out Exes to catastrophize to some degree for a certain period. But there are some people who frequent Scientology social media, who have been out for over a decade, who tense up, who whip out their guns, and who freak out like Barney Fife whenever the word Scientology is mentioned.
These will be the people who say this blog post is proof that Alanzo is going back into Scientology again.
They lack perspective.
And the ability to read English.
And this is why this catastrophizing phase is so important to be able to recognize in others, and especially in yourself:
Because in order to heal from any shock, loss, or trauma, you must work to gain perspective on that trauma, and you must keep that trauma in perspective whenever you are reminded of it.
For the overwhelming majority of people who were involved in Scientology, even calling what they experienced in Scientology “trauma” is catastrophizing. “Trauma” is what’s happening to people in Aleppo, Syria right now. Trauma is the result of what happens in actual catastrophes such as tsunamis and tornadoes and battle torture and asteroidal impacts upon the Earth.
Try to never lose sight of that.
Here are 2 more paragraphs that will be ignored by the Catastrophizers of Scientology:
I am in no way justifying or minimizing any of the deception and abuse that anyone ever suffered in Scientology. I am not condoning it, nor am I trying to get anyone to ignore it. I am saying that it is vital that you put any deception or abuse in Scientology into its proper perspective, and to keep it in its proper perspective whenever you are reminded of it, or discussing it with others.
I am saying that you should be very careful not to catastrophize Scientology or any of your own experiences in it. And I am saying – for your own health and peace of mind – that you should always work to keep your experiences in Scientology in perspective.
What I said above will be mischaracterized and misinterpreted by the Catastrophizers of Scientology because the very heart of their problem is that they can not keep things in perspective.
Many Catastrophizers are at war with the people around them – including other Exes – because they continually overwhelm themselves with the worst possible interpretations of their own and others’ experiences in Scientology. It is very similar to the fanatical Sea Org Members who dramatized what Hubbard told them in KSW that the future of every man, woman, and child on Earth depends upon what you do with and in Scientology.
For them, it’s “the future of every man, woman and child on Earth depends upon what you do with and in Anti-Scientology.”
Their histrionic hysterics come from telling themselves catastrophe after catastrophe about Scientology.
It’s also true that some people on the Post Scientology Internet are making money off of catastrophizing Scientology. Their blog traffic, their video views, their book sales and their documentary’s box office all depend upon making Scientology into a catastrophe. And their egos, and all the time they spent righteously fighting the evil catastrophe of Scientology, are all justified by how much of a catastrophe we all believe Scientology to be.
But for an Ex who wishes to have some peace in his life, to move on down the road positively and constructively after Scientology, you have to stop catastrophizing.
And chill out about Scientology.
Get good at spotting when you are catastrophizing Scientology to yourself. When you spot yourself doing it, step back and say, “Whoa! Wait a minute. Was it REALLY that bad??”
Make that a calm, peaceful habit in your life.
And get some rest from all this.