Cognitive distortions. catastrophizing and magnification

Cognitive distortions are faulty or biased thinking patterns that lead us to interpret reality inaccurately, often negatively, and that contribute significantly to emotional distress, such as anxiety.

Catastrophizing and magnification (along with their opposite, minimization) are two of these common distortions.

Catastrophizing. Expecting the Worst

Catastrophizing is the tendency to anticipate or expect the worst possible outcome in a situation, even when the probability of it occurring is low.

The person evaluates a situation and predicts a disastrous outcome, without considering other more realistic or less negative possibilities.

For example, when faced with a minor mistake at work, a person with catastrophic thinking might conclude, "I'm sure I'll get fired and my career will be ruined."

Or, when faced with a minor physical symptom, they might immediately think of the most serious illness possible.

This type of thinking generates great anxiety and a constant sense of threat, since they live in a state of anticipation of future misfortunes.

Magnification. Exaggerating the Negative

Magnification, also known as "tunnel vision" or "magnifying glass," involves exaggerating the importance or severity of negative aspects of a situation, one's own mistakes, or negative qualities in oneself or others.

Negative events or characteristics are taken and given disproportionate weight in one's overall evaluation.

For example, if a person receives a lot of praise for a presentation but also a little constructive criticism, magnification would lead them to focus exclusively on the criticism and view it as evidence of their incompetence, ignoring the positive aspects.

Minimization. Minimizing the Positive

Minimizing is the counterpart to magnification and often accompanies it.

It consists of downplaying or devaluing the positive aspects of a situation, one's own achievements, or the positive qualities of oneself or others.

Following the previous example, the person could minimize the praise received, thinking "they are just saying that to be nice" or "it wasn't that big a deal," while magnifying the importance of the criticism.

This combination of magnifying the negative and minimizing the positive creates a biased and pessimistic view of reality, which fuels anxiety and low self-esteem.

Identifying and challenging these distortions is a key step in cognitive restructuring, seeking a more balanced and realistic perspective that reduces emotional discomfort.