Have you ever convinced yourself something terrible was about to happen… only to discover everything was absolutely fine?
We have.
An email goes unanswered. Someone says, “Can I have a quick word?” A loved one is later home than expected.
And suddenly our brain gets busy.
It fills in the gaps, makes assumptions, predicts what might happen next and can create an entire story before the facts have even arrived.
In The Dark Side of the Brain, Soraya Shaw and Tracy Filler explore one of the fascinating contradictions of the human brain: the very system designed to protect us can also create fear, worry and catastrophic thinking.
We look at why our brains naturally pay attention to threat, why uncertainty can feel so uncomfortable and how our experiences, childhood environments, language and repeated patterns can shape the stories we tell ourselves.
We also challenge the idea that some people simply have a “negative brain”.
We don’t have positive brains and negative brains. We have brains that have learnt patterns.
And learnt patterns can change. Through neuroplasticity, curiosity and greater awareness, we can begin to notice when our brain is making a useful prediction and when it has crossed the line from healthy caution into catastrophising.
We explore the difference between:
“I need to prepare.” and
“This is going to be a disaster.”
We ask why one criticism can stay with us longer than ten compliments, whether we sometimes search for evidence to prove a story we have already written, and how much of that voice inside our head is genuinely ours.
Join Soraya and Tracy for another curious Brainy conversation as they unpack the neuroscience, challenge some familiar thinking and share practical ideas you can put to work immediately.
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