By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed.
Does this scenario sound familiar? You bomb a test and it brings down your class grade. That makes you feel bad, so you zone out during the next few classes because you think, “What’s the point? I already failed.” As a result, you struggle to grasp any new material in class, which leads to failing your next test as well.
What’s happening here is called catastrophic thinking. This is a type of cognitive distortion. A cognitive distortion is a faulty thought pattern that messes with our perception of reality. When we catastrophize, our brains quickly imagine the worst-case scenario.
All cognitive distortions (there are many) impact how we think and see the world — and this directly impacts how we act.
For students, this kind of thinking is dangerous and can make school not only seem harder but actually BE harder. Why? Because our distortions influence our actions, which can affect our learning, grades, motivation, and confidence.
But there’s good news: We can train our brains to stop catastrophizing. In this blog post, I explain what catastrophizing is, how it affects your academic performance, and four steps to break the cycle so you can think more rationally and take action after setbacks.
What Is Catastrophizing?
Catastrophizing is when we assume the worst possible outcome without any logical proof that it will happen. It is usually triggered by a minor setback — a setback that could otherwise be handled easily. A student prone to catastrophizing assumes this small setback will lead directly to the worst-case scenario.
(On the other hand, a student NOT prone to catastrophizing would simply handle the setback and move on.)
Common school-related examples of catastrophizing:
- “If I fail this exam, my GPA will drop, and I’ll never get accepted into a good college.”
- “I forgot my homework. My teacher will hate me, and I’ll fail the class.”
- “I bombed a presentation. Now everyone thinks I’m stupid, and that will be my reputation forever.”
To be clear, it’s perfectly normal to have an initial negative response to a setback like a failed exam or bad presentation. Your first reaction to a bad situation—like disappointment, nerves, frustration, or embarrassment—is not a cognitive distortion. Again, this is normal.
However, it becomes a cognitive distortion when your negative feelings don’t go away and if they lead to worst-case-scenario thinking that affects your future actions.
Example of a normal response:
I failed my test and that stinks and now I have to get my grade up somehow.
Example of cognitive distortion:
I failed my test because I’m stupid and now I’ll fail the class and won’t get into college and my whole family will be disappointed.
How Catastrophizing Hurts Your Academic Performance
This kind of skewed thinking has a massive impact on a student’s school experience. When it becomes the default thought pattern (a habit), catastrophic thinking can also lead to the following:
1. Increased stress & procrastination: If you think failing one test means you’re failing your future, why even try? (Don’t know if you’re procrastinating? Here are your tell-tale signs.)
2. Avoidance behaviors: Instead of fixing mistakes, you ignore problems by not checking grades, avoiding studying, not taking re-takes, etc.
3. Reduced motivation: If you believe success is impossible, your motivation to try will crash. It’s hard to stay motivated to achieve a goal we think is impossible in the first place.
4. Decreased confidence: One setback starts to define your academic self-worth. When your confidence tanks, you won’t take the good kinds of risks (like raising your hand in class or signing up for the harder course).
How to Stop Catastrophizing in School
The first step in ending your catastrophizing habit is recognizing when you’re doing it. If at any point when reading this blog post you thought to yourself Eek, that sounds like me — I do that, then you’re already on your way to improving.
(I say this because many students who are stuck in a catastrophizing cycle are unable to acknowledge that’s what’s happening.)
Work through the following four steps the next time you find yourself catastrophizing after a small setback:
1. Ask Yourself: What’s the Evidence?
Instead of assuming the worst, ask: What actual proof do I have that this will happen? Stick to the facts.
Example: You bombed a test. Instead of assuming you’ll fail the class (no evidence), check your syllabus and calculate how much it affects your final grade.
Reality check: Most school-related setbacks are minor and fixable. They only become a problem if you repeat the same mistakes without learning from them.
2. Replace the Worst-Case Scenario with a Realistic Scenario
Worst-Case Scenario: “If I fail this exam, my GPA will drop, and I’ll never get accepted into a good college.”
Realistic Scenario: “This one test is 10% of my grade. I can still improve my class average with the next exam and with homework grades.”
Tip: Focus on what you can ACTUALLY do next, not an unrealistic future disaster. I want you to quite literally ask yourself “What is the very next thing I can do to handle this setback?”
3. Separate Emotions from Facts
It’s normal to feel not awesome after something bad happens. You may feel angry, embarrassed, disappointed, or overwhelmed. But feeling any of these emotions doesn’t mean your situation is actually catastrophic.
Emotion: I feel like my teacher will hate me for missing an assignment.
Fact: Teachers don’t fail students for one late assignment. I can ask for an extension or make up for it with my next grade.
Emotion: I can’t remember anything I study so I feel stupid.
Fact: You’re not actually stupid, and yes you can remember things (if you study using active recall and spaced repetition).
4. Focus on Solutions
We get more of what we focus on. If we focus on negative feelings, we get more negative feelings. If we focus on problems, we get more problems. But if we focus on solutions, we start to see more solutions.
Instead of spiraling into “I’m failing everything”, ask yourself:
- What’s one small thing I can do right now to improve my situation? For example, if you have a bad grade in a class, you could use any of these strategies.
- What steps can I take to prevent this from happening again?
Small actions break the cycle of catastrophic thinking. The moment we can switch our focus from “This is a huge problem” to “I can do this one small thing to make it better,” everything changes. That’s when we stop our brains from spiraling.
When to Get Help
Again, a brief influx of negative emotion is normal in response to a negative event. But if your negative (catastrophic) thinking thinking begins to affect your mental health, motivation, or academics, you might need extra support.
Counselors, therapists, parents, friends and teachers can all help you reframe a bad situation. But they’re only helpful if you open up and share what you’re dealing with. If you find yourself catastrophizing in school or other areas of life—and it’s affecting your academic performance (see ‘How Catastrophizing Hurts Your Academic Performance’)—it’s time to talk to someone. The more you build a catastrophizing habit, the harder it is to break.
If you find it hard to ask for help, you may find this episode helpful:
Final Notes About Catastrophizing: Train Your Brain to Think Rationally
Catastrophizing is a cognitive distortion that makes school harder than it needs to be. When this happens, you are more likely to procrastinate, avoid doing what you’re supposed to do, feel less motivated, and have lower self-confidence. But there’s hope.
The next time you experience a setback and your brain jumps to the worst-case scenario, challenge it with the following questions:
- Is this actually true? Am I viewing the situation for what it really is?
- What’s the most realistic outcome? Not my greatest fear, but the most likely scenario that will come out of this setback?
- What’s the solution? What is one small step I can take in the next day to fix this?
Catastrophizing distorts our perception of reality. But the easiest way out of nearly all setbacks is to face reality head-on. Only when we face reality can we come up with a realistic solution.
