Why anxiety fills in the blanks.
Your brain is an incredible storyteller.
Seriously.
Give it one missing piece of information…
and it’ll happily write the other six chapters.
Sometimes those stories are harmless.
Sometimes they’re even helpful.
But if you have anxiety… your brain has a habit of turning every unfinished sentence into a disaster movie.
That’s why a delayed text suddenly feels like rejection.
Why your boss asking to talk feels like you’re getting fired.
Why one weird symptom becomes a trip down the Google rabbit hole.
The facts usually stay pretty small.
The story…
That’s where anxiety gets creative.
Your Brain Doesn’t Like Loose Ends
Our brains love certainty.
When information is missing, they don’t like leaving the page blank.
Imagine reading a mystery novel where someone tears out the last three chapters.
You’d want to know what happened.
Your brain feels the same way.
When it doesn’t have enough information, it starts looking for an explanation.
That’s not anxiety.
That’s being human.
The problem is…
Anxiety has a favorite genre.
Thriller.
Anxiety Is a Terrible Screenwriter
If your boss says,
“Can I see you after lunch?”
There are dozens of possible explanations.
Anxiety doesn’t audition all the possibilities.
It casts the scariest one immediately.
“You’re getting fired.”
Then it starts collecting evidence to support its script.
Every neutral look.
Or delayed email.
That awkward pause? OMG… Not only are you getting fired…they absolutely detest you!
Suddenly your brain isn’t looking for the truth.
It’s trying to prove the story it already wrote.
Facts and Stories Are Not the Same Thing
This might be one of the most helpful distinctions I’ve ever learned.
Facts are things you know.
Stories are the meaning your brain assigns to those facts.
For example…
Fact:
They haven’t texted back.
Story:
They’re upset with me.
Fact:
My doctor wants to repeat a blood test
Story:
I’ve got six months to live.
Fact:
My boss wants to talk.
Story:
I’m in trouble.
Do you see it?
The facts are usually pretty small.
The stories are where anxiety goes wild.
Anxiety rarely lies about the facts. Instead, it exaggerates the meaning.
Your Brain Thinks It’s Protecting You
This is the frustrating part.
Your brain isn’t trying to ruin your day.
It’s trying to protect you from being caught off guard.
Thousands of years ago, assuming the rustling in the bushes was a predator was safer than assuming it was the wind.
That protective instinct still exists.
The problem is…
Most of us aren’t running from predators anymore.
We’re running from imagined conversations…
future embarrassments…
and stories that haven’t happened.
Your brain is using an ancient survival system to solve modern problems.
Sometimes it’s incredibly helpful.
Sometimes it’s convinced your delayed Amazon package means civilization is collapsing.
Okay… maybe not civilization.
But it can definitely make a delayed text feel like the end of a friendship.
The Question That Truly Changes Things
The next time anxiety starts spinning a story, don’t ask:
“Is this true?”
Instead, ask:
“What story am I telling myself right now?”
That question is powerful because it creates just enough distance to notice what’s happening.
You’re no longer inside the story.
You’re observing it.
And once you can observe it…
you can challenge it.
You can ask:
“What else could be true?”
“Do I actually know this… or am I filling in the blanks?”
Sometimes the answer won’t make the uncertainty disappear.
But it will keep your brain from treating fiction like fact.
💚 Brash Takeaway
Your brain is always trying to make sense of the world.
When information is missing, it writes a story.
Sometimes that story is accurate.
Sometimes anxiety grabs the pen.
Before you believe the story…
make sure you know who’s writing it.
☕ Overheard in Jane’s Head…
“They haven’t texted back in two hours.”
“Clearly they’ve changed their name, moved to another country, and started a new life to avoid me.”
Read On
Does your brain always jump to the worst-case scenario?
→ Why Your Brain Always Jumps to the Worst-Case Scenario
Do scary thoughts always feel true?
→ Fear vs. Truth: Why Your Anxiety Feels Real
Need a practical way to stop replaying the same thoughts?
→ The Brain Dump Method
Feel like worrying is somehow helping?
→ Why Overthinking Feels Productive
Or schedule a free Clarity Call to see if we’re a good fit.
No pressure. Just a conversation.
Until next time, keep it brash, and keep it true to you!
