concept
Catastrophizing
Assuming the worst possible outcome — the headache is a tumor, the late text means it's over.
Origin
Identified as one of the core [[cognitive-distortions]] by Aaron Beck in the 1960s and elaborated by David Burns. The thinking pattern jumps from a small negative signal to the worst conceivable endpoint, skipping every intermediate probability. It is a hallmark of anxiety disorders and a major target of CBT, which teaches patients to ask: what is the actual likelihood, what is the evidence, what would I tell a friend.
Modern usage
Standard self-aware vocabulary. 'I'm catastrophizing' is a common (often pre-emptive) admission in group chats and therapy. The verb form is everywhere; the noun ('catastrophic thinking') is more clinical.
In the wild
He didn't text back for an hour and I had us divorced.— common usage
Tags
anxiety
cbt
thinking