catastrophizev.
Obsolete. rare. Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
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‘To end a Comedy or the like’ (Cockeram 1623).
Draft additions April 2004
a. intransitive. To conjecture or perceive disastrous implications or scenarios; to regard a relatively innocuous situation as considerably worse than it actually is.
ΚΠ
1962 A. Ellis Reason & Emotion in Psychotherapy iii. 71 More specifically, he should perceive his own tendency to catastrophize about inevitable unfortunate situations—to tell himself: ‘Oh, my Lord! How terrible this situation is; I positively cannot stand it!’
1990 J. Bradshaw Homecoming i. 22 Fear addicts tend to catastrophize and awfulize.
2001 Good Housek. Feb. 115/1 If you tend to catastrophize,..imagine how your current troubles would have seemed to you ten years ago and how they might seem ten years from now.
b. transitive. To interpret as disastrous. Also (Psychology): to perceive (a symptom, esp. one which is relatively mild) as more severe than it actually is.
ΚΠ
1986 D. P. Brown & E. Fromm Hypnotherapy & Hypnoanalysis vii. 265 They may overreact to or even catastrophize everyday hassles.
1991 New Age Jrnl. Apr. 42/1 A pessimist, by contrast, will ‘catastrophize’ the rebuff, concluding that he was dumped because he is a congenital jerk.
1999 Jrnl. Counseling & Devel. 77 210/2 Conversely, the authors have found that individuals with anxiety disorders tend to focus on and catastrophize their physiological and emotional symptoms, thus presenting a more acute picture of their symptoms (more intense, longer duration) than actual monitoring reveals.
Draft additions April 2004
caˈtastrophizing n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1962 A. Ellis Reason & Emotion in Psychotherapy iii. 71 He should perceive his own tendency to catastrophize about inevitable unfortunate situations..and should question and challenge this catastrophizing.
1988 J. Bradshaw Healing Shame that Binds You ii. x. 195 Catastrophizing results from having no boundaries or sense of worth.
2000 A. Wells Emotional Disorders & Metacognition vi. 99 The procedure strengthens hypervigilance and does not contain information that can correct faulty catastrophising appraisals.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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v.1962