We all exaggerate sometimes. And it’s not always a bad thing, especially if it’s spicing up a story with a friend or making fun of a little thing that happened to us on the way to work. However, it often happens that people who are most stressed in life also have a strong tendency to exaggerate every little bad thing that happens to them. They can’t handle something without treating it like it’s the end of the world.

Of course, everyone experiences daily stress and frustration, but when we exaggerate these bad experiences, we often add unnecessary tension and drama that need not be present.

Even if we think we’re just being playful with our exaggerations, it’s still important to be aware of them. You may think, “I’m joking,” but if you say these things repeatedly, then your mind begins to believe it on an unconscious level.

In today’s world, “hype” seems to be a very common response to our everyday lives . People seem to enjoy turning anthills into mountains, perhaps even because they are addicted to their own problems and dramas.

3 ways to overdo it that create drama in your life

Here are 3 main ways  your way of overdoing it can create unnecessary stress . Try to be more careful with these kinds of exaggerations in your own thoughts and speech.

Overgeneralize

Overgeneralizing is when we overestimate how often something happens to us. For example, many times something bad will happen to someone, maybe they spill something on their shirt, or get rejected on a potential date, or lose their favorite pair of shoes, and they will think, “This always happens to me!”

This is often a type of exaggeration. Some people seem to remember every time something bad happened to them, but they forget every time something bad didn’t happen to them. It is important to avoid this type of distorted thinking. When you find yourself thinking like this, try to step back and actively look for past events or situations that prove you wrong.

Is it really true that this “always” happens to you? Can you think of a time when things didn’t turn out that way? All you need is an example to show that your exaggeration is wrong or wrong.

Catastrophizing

Catastrophism is when we overestimate the importance of something that happens to us. In the heat of the moment, it can be really easy to feel like this bad thing is going to change the course of our lives forever, or that it really is “the end of the world.” But this is often not the case.

What seems like a big problem at the moment is often much less significant when we look back days, weeks, or months later. Signs of catastrophizing in your everyday life include saying things like “This is the worst day” or “I will never be happy again” or “I am a complete loser who fails at everything.”

These are often exaggerations that do not reflect the truth . And when you see things worse than they really are, the experience is much more stressful and painful. For example, if you tell someone about something bad that happened to you before, and exaggerate it to make it seem much worse, you are not only “reliving” the stressful experience, but you are also intensifying your memory of it.

The next thing you know, you tell the same story to two or three other people and a little stress that you could have released in the moment has now morphed into something much bigger and stronger than it should be.

Don’t get it wrong, bad things happen to everyone, but we have to learn to let go of the little things and not have to create a tragedy in every story. These kinds of exaggerations can become unhealthy.

Jump to hasty conclusions

Jumping to conclusions is what happens when we overestimate our knowledge about a situation and make a quick judgment. When we draw conclusions, we often think that we know much more about an event than we really do. This illusion of knowledge can end up giving us the wrong or wrong impression of a situation, because we generally do not know all the relevant facts.

For example, our partner comes home late one night, so we automatically assume that they must be cheating on us, without having the full details of the story.

Of course, overdoing it like this, or having this type of overly reactive thinking can lead to a lot of unnecessary drama and stress. It often leads us not only to misinterpret a situation, but also to act in a way that only makes things worse.

Be careful when you find yourself making exaggerations such as “I am 100% sure” or “I know this as a matter of fact” or “There is no way it could happen” when the truth is that it is generally not known with certainty what is true.

It is often best to suspend your judgment until you have enough facts and reasons to support it beyond a reasonable doubt. Rough judgments can be wrong and dangerous.

By Dr. Eric Jackson

Dr. Eric Jackson provides primary Internal Medicine care for men and women and treats patients with bone and mineral diseases, diabetes, heart conditions, and other chronic illnesses. He is a Washington University Bone Health Program physician and is a certified Bone Densitometrist. Dr. Avery is consistently recognized in "The Best Doctors in America" list.

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