catastrophize
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
catastrophe + -ize
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
catastrophize (third-person singular simple present catastrophizes, present participle catastrophizing, simple past and past participle catastrophized)
- (transitive, intransitive) To regard a bad situation as if it were disastrous or catastrophic.
- (transitive, intransitive, psychology) To expose a behaviour pattern of seeking worst interpretation and magnifying disagreeable outcomes (of).
- 1947, Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, University of Michigan Research Center for Group Dynamics, Human Relations:
- Particularly likely to overreact are those who tend to catastrophize (Ellis, 1962) and those who have Type A personalities (Friedman & Rosenman, 1974).
- 2001, David H. Barlow, Clinical Handbook of Psychological Disorders:
- Another way to catastrophize is to jump to an extreme conclusion from an unimportant or irrelevant event.
- 2017, LeeAnne B. Sherwin, Emily Leary, Wendy A. Henderson, “The association of catastrophizing with quality-of-life outcomes in patients with irritable bowel syndrome”, in Quality of Life Research[1], volume 26, number 8, :
- [I]ndividuals who catastrophized reported worse health-related quality of life, higher psychological distress, and perceived more somatic symptoms, worse consequences, and more severe emotional impact as compared to those participants who did not catastrophize.
- (obsolete) To end a comedy.