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Decatastrophizing Worksheet

Amanda Knowles

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On this page, we will provide you with a Decatastrophizing Worksheet. It will help you to recognize your irrational thoughts and restructure them into positive thoughts.

What is aDecatastrophizing Worksheet?

Decatastrophizing is a cognitive restructuring technique to treat cognitive distortions, such as magnification and catastrophization. Catastrophic thinking is blowing things out of proportion, thinking about the worst possible situation, and in a minute going through a lot of emotional turmoil. Catastrophizing is like jumping to conclusions and not giving proper time to comprehend and understand the situation completely. You start concluding out of it. 

How a Decatastrophizing Worksheet will help?

When you engage in catastrophizing, you expect disaster to strike, no matter what. You hear about a problem and use what-if questions (e.g., “What if tragedy strikes?” “What if it happens to me?”) to imagine the absolute worst occurring. There are further two types. 

  • Maximization

This is also referred to as magnifying, Overestimating the situation. 

  • Minimization

The opposite reaction to maximization, Thinking nothing will happen, underestimating the magnitude of the situation,

The only way to fight these cognitive distortions is to know about them and understand how they work. Identifying these Cognitive distortions will help you deal with your anxiety and make you a functional, productive individual who can fight through his/her issues. By knowing about them, you will be able to make decisions correctly in the future.

Instructions on how to use this Decatastrophizing Worksheet

Whenever such irrational thought appears, you identify them and then work on your irrational thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts.

You can download this worksheet here.

Other  worksheets you may be interested in

Below are links to a few more worksheets which are closely related to the worksheet above.

CBT Decatastrophizing Worksheet

Free decatastrophizing worksheet

Decatastrophizing Worksheet pdf

Conclusion

We provided you with a Decatastrophizing Worksheet on this page, which hopefully helped you recognize your irrational thoughts and restructure them into positive thoughts.

If you have any questions or comments, please let us know.

Resources

The worksheets on this site should not be used in place of professional advice from a mental health professional. 

You should always seek help from a mental health professional or medical professional. We are not providing any advice or recommendations here.

There are various resources where you can seek help.

You could use Online-Therapy if you feel you need counselling.

If you live in the UK then this list of resources from the NHS may help you find help.

If you live in the USA then you could contact Mental Health America who may be able to assist you further.

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Amanda Knowles

Amanda Knowled is an Applied Psychologist, with a deep interest in psychopathology and neuropsychology and how psychology impacts and permeates every aspect of our environment. She has worked in Clinical settings (as Special Ed. Counselor, CBT Therapist) and has contributed at local Universities as a Faculty member from time to time. She has a graduate degree in English Literature and feels very connected to how literature and psychology interact. She feels accountable and passionate about making a "QUALITY" contribution to the overall global reform and well-being. She actively seeks out opportunities where she can spread awareness and make a positive difference across the globe for the welfare of our global society.