You mentioned having a weird office politics that brought on headaches.
Catastrophizing
Is a term created by DOD to explain what some of us do in highly critical or prolonged chronic stressful situations. Some in the military do very well in stressful situations, but need help when our natural sleep patterns are interrupted, we get physically sick or injured, or when the very support network is part of the problem.
Catastrophizing happens when the flight or fight mechanism kicks in. This brain has a hiccup that can't tell when a threat is real or imaginary. The FF mechanism is perfectly fine when the threat is real. When the threat is imaginary, or in your head, this becomes a problem. The brain cannot tell sometimes the differences. It is helpful then to determine if the threat is real or in your head.
The brain slows down the frontal lobes and middle brain takes over. Cortisol and adreneline get dumped into the body. The eyes focus on the threat. Blood gets pumped to your arms or legs. You start sweating. You may start pacing and pumping your hands or slapping them.
This is a real problem if the threat is in your head. You can do deep diaphragmatic breathing to come back to center, talk to yourself in an effort to look for the positive and reenergize the frontal lobes, cool off by removing clothing and drinking cold water, etc.
Forms of catastrophizing
Downward spinal
Each negative thought leads to an ever downward thought that becomes worse in your head.
Example
Problem: you just lost your job with no notice.
Downward spiral: "I just lost my job, I'm a failure, we are going to loose the house, my wife is going to leave, the kids will hate me, I'm going to commit suicide, my wife will take the insurance money and find a new sugar daddy, my kids will spend the insurance money after I'm dead on drugs and alcohol".
Scattershot catastrophizing
Each thought reinforces negative thoughts and are a wide range of issues to varying degrees.
Example: I just lost my job with no notice
"I just lost my job, my oldest is going to freak out, the electric is going to get turned off, I can't get that surgery I needed, my wife will think I'm a loser, I can't get those new chrome 24" rims, I'm going to commit suicide".
Circular
Problem drives thought and then back to the problem again.
Example: I just lost my job with no notice
"I just lost my job, I'm going to loose everything cause I just lost my job and I'm going to loose everything cause I lost my job I'm a loser, etc."
Read up on positive psychology and coping mechanisms. figure out the problem, figure out the most likely outcome, figure out what you can control and influence, and focus on what you can control. Work on what you can actually influence, and completely shelve the circle of concern. Leaders use fear to rile people up as a technique of influence (and control). A fearful person is very easy to infuence. Stop listening to office workers that you don't have repore with, and focus on what you can positively influence.
Hope it helps. Mental toughness is a skill that takes education, awareness, and actual practice to get better at. I've met some Soldiers that were hard core fighters that latter in life are completely broken psychologically. Don't fall victim of not being mentally tough. I feel it is the single defining tool, if highly developed, gives the best chance of survival.
"You can do everything right and still fail, chance and the enemy get a vote"
