catastrophizer
Assumes the worst
A catastrophizer is someone who habitually imagines the worst possible outcome or blows problems out of proportion.
The tendency involves spiraling from minor setbacks to disaster scenarios: She's such a catastrophizer—one missed call and she's convinced someone died.
The related verb is catastrophize; the tendency itself is catastrophizing.
One expecting negative outcomes
- doomsayerPredictor of catastrophe
- fatalistBeliever in predetermined outcomes
- worrywartHabitual fretter, informal
- naysayerHabitual dissenter
defeatist · cynic · alarmist · negativist · doubter · skeptic · worrier · killjoy
Troubled mental state
- fearEmotional response to threat
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
hypervigilance · overthinking · rumination · spiraling · magnifying · what-ifs · obsessing · fretting
Overstating beyond reality
- magnificationDegree of visual enlargement
- overreactionDisproportionate emotional response
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
- dramatizationConverting events to performance
overstatement · inflation · amplification · snowballing · escalation · overestimation · distortion · all-or-nothing
pessimist
One expecting negative outcomes
- doomsayerPredictor of catastrophe
- fatalistBeliever in predetermined outcomes
- worrywartHabitual fretter, informal
naysayer · defeatist · cynic · alarmist · negativist · doubter · skeptic · worrier · killjoy · wet-blanket
worry
Troubled mental state
apprehension · hypervigilance · overthinking · rumination · spiraling · magnifying · what-ifs · obsessing · fretting · agonizing
exaggeration
Overstating beyond reality
- magnificationDegree of visual enlargement
- overreactionDisproportionate emotional response
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
dramatization · overstatement · inflation · amplification · snowballing · escalation · overestimation · distortion · all-or-nothing
- worriersworrier, fretter, overthinker, worrywart, worry wart
- cowardscoward, chicken, wimp, milquetoast, poltroon
- grumpsgrouch, grump, curmudgeon, sourpuss, crank
catastrophizeroptimist
Habitually hopeful person
Pollyanna · sunny disposition · utopian · idealist · wishful thinker
catastrophizerrealist
One accepting hard truths
pragmatist · minimizer · rationalizer · downplayer · denier
catastrophizing, catastrophize, catastrophizes, catastrophized