What is Catastrophize?
1.
to hyper-imagine negative outcomes to a situation that have no basis in reality. to blow setbacks or problems out of proportion such that you sprial into an emotional catastrophe.
Joe sat, stuck in traffic, and he began to catastrophize missing delivering the perfect sales pitch, losing the commission that he planned to spend on his new outfit that he would wear to the club to meet the perfect girl. He fell into despair as he realized how pointless his life was because of the traffic.
See
2.
A malapropism spoken frequently by a stupid bitch who infamously shit out octuplets on the government dole (AKA "Octomom", "Nadya Suleman").
While describing the circumstances surrounding her firing the nannies for whose services she was not paying:
"Honestly, all of that is a joke; all of that is beyond catastrophized."
While describing a 911 phone call where she repeatedly proclaimed that she was going to kill herself:
"It's completely catastrophized. I was running around the backyard of my house and in the house looking for him..."
See
3.
To Catastrophize is to make a situation seem worse than what it actually is.
After you buddy spends 15 minutes complaining about how "crappy" his day was you can turn and tell him to stop Catastrophizing and get on with it.
A friend who is melodramatic would catastrophize a lot.
See