Abstract
“Days Before” narrative is a type of retrospective discussion, either about the days leading up to an unexpected
catastrophic event or about actual conversations that people had before the event without knowing that it was
approaching. However, due to the strong emotional impact of catastrophic events, people are unlikely to engage
in this type of narrative. These narratives are of interest because people often encounter a dominant narrative
where discussion of a catastrophic event itself is considered to be an unavoidable prerequisite to talking about and
living in its aftermath. The present paper theoretically shows that when combined with “Days After” narratives,
where a hypothetical catastrophic event is talked about as if it has already occurred, “Days Before” narratives can
potentially improve people’s psychological well-being in three major ways. Firstly, “Days Before” narratives help
people realize the completeness of the past and present. Secondly, they effectively lead people to take instrumental,
appropriate actions for preventing future catastrophes. Finally, these narratives positively impact people living in
the aftermath of a catastrophe by ways such as allowing them to acquire new perspectives of their lives that, unlike
flashbacks to the event, are not necessarily negative.
