[adregan]

> applying worst case scenario visualization

I recently learned about "thinking traps" (essentially spiraling out of control imagining terrible outcomes) when my pandemic stress hit an all time high.

I learned coping mechanisms and ways to short circuit them (really comes down to awareness), but realized that I get paid to engage in this destructive behavior! We have pre-mortems at work trying to imagine everything that might go wrong; a little of the macabre mixed in with the stress.

I became a professional programmer later in life, and I've been wondering whether or not it has been influencing my behavior and personality in negative ways. I don't remember this paranoid in my previous life.