The food you served at a dinner party was disappointing. Now, you’re thinking, “What if my friends think I’m a horrible cook? What if they never want to come over for dinner again?”

You’re catastrophizing. You tend to make a molehill into a mountain. You contemplate the worst possible scenarios, which increases your stress and anxiety and makes a situation much more threatening than it really is.

—Stacey Colino
Reviewed by: Steven A. King, M.D

NEXT: Turn mountains into molehills >>