The cognitive distortion where a person views events as catastrophic and the worst possible outcome is called

• A. Catastrophizing
• B. Overgeneralization
• C. Personalization
• D. Magnification

Answer: (A)

Catastrophizing is the tendency to imagine the worst possible outcome and treat it as highly likely, blowing things out of proportion and assuming disaster will occur. This makes it the best label for the pattern described, where a situation is viewed as catastrophic and beyond control. While magnification inflates the importance of negative details and overgeneralization extends a single event into broad rules (“always/never”), catastrophizing centers on the belief that the situation will lead to a disastrous final result. Personalization, on the other hand, blames oneself for events outside one’s control.