Are Some Events Truly Awful?

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Photo credit, fair use

Over the past several days, thunderstorms have pounded the city in which I live, Austin, Texas, and other areas. At the time this blogpost is being drafted, one source claims, “At least 90 people have died in connection with flooding in several Texas counties, local officials have confirmed.”

Many of the Texas counties in which storms have developed, events that have been accompanied by flash flooding, appear to have sustained significant damage. Having made news across the globe, one source states of children who’ve perished as a result of these storms:

Camp Mystic, the girls summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas, has confirmed that 27 children and counsellors died in the flash floods that have wreaked devastation on the area since Friday [7/4/2025].

Many of the girls who died appear to be quite young in age. One of the adolescent girls reportedly fled to safety, about which one source states:

A 13-year-old who escaped the deadly flooding at Camp Mystic says she knew something was terribly wrong when she heard military helicopters flying over the Texas campground.

Stella Thompson, 13, and her fellow campers have been left traumatized after floods ravaged the Christian summer camp, killing 27 people, and forcing evacuations.

The Biblical Texas floods have killed at least 91 across the state, with 75 bodies having been recovered in hard-hit Kerr County alone.

Survivors have described the floods as a ‘pitch black wall of death’ and said they received no emergency warnings.

Take a moment to imagine the experience of these children. One source describes the event in the following way:

Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ camp perched on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas, was a place of laughter, prayer and adventure just days ago.

But just before daybreak on Friday [7/4/2025], the Fourth of July public holiday, the river rose 26ft (8m) in about 45 minutes amid a torrential downpour.

Many of the hundreds of girls at the camp were sleeping in low-lying cabins less than 500ft (150m) from the riverbank.

The bunk beds are now mud-caked and toppled, the detritus of a summer camp cut tragically short.

Envision being awakened from your sleep in a cabin adjacent to the riverbank. Approximately 45 minutes later, among the cloak of darkness and with screams heard all around, water from the river is 26-feet high and washing you away. Your final moments are filled with sheer terror.

How would you describe this scenario? Is it illogical and unreasonable (collectively “irrational”) to label this experience as “awful” (extremely disagreeable or objectionable)? Now, consider how the American Psychological Association (APA) defines “catastrophize” (also “awfulize”):

[T]o exaggerate the negative consequences of events or decisions. People are said to be catastrophizing when they think that the worst possible outcome will occur from a particular action or in a particular situation or when they feel as if they are in the midst of a catastrophe in situations that may be serious and upsetting but are not necessarily disastrous.

The tendency to catastrophize can unnecessarily increase levels of anxiety and lead to maladaptive behavior. The verb, as well as its synonym awfulize, was coined by Albert Ellis. —catastrophizing.

The late psychologist Albert Ellis, mentioned by the APA, is the developer of the psychotherapeutic modality that I practice, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). Notably, in his book How to Control Your Anxiety Before It Controls You, Ellis stated (page 59):

Awful means that it [event] would be so bad that it absolutely must not occur. But if it does occur, it has to occur. I certainly won’t like it. But I’d better not define it as awful.

Given colloquial use of the word “awful”, and the APA’s description of “catastrophize” and “awfulize” (often used synonymously), I argue that some events can truly be awful. Noteworthy, in his book Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors, Ellis stated (pages 17-18):

Awfulizing. People see certain events as bad or unfortunate for achieving their goals, and therefore healthily try to change them or make themselves somewhat happy in spite of them. But they also frequently view these happenings as awful and terrible and thereby create much more frustrating and painful feelings.

When they awfulize, they tend to view frustrating conditions as totally bad, as bad as they could possibly be, and sometimes as more than bad. “This unfortunate condition (e.g., not getting something that I want) is completely bad, is the end of the world, is totally devastating, is the worst possible thing that could happen, and makes my life totally devoid of all possible pleasure!”

Awfulizing is also a form of generalizing. When they awfulize, people see something that has unfortunate qualities as completely bad and not at all beneficial; it is therefore a form of overgeneralizing.

Humans take something that they wish were not happening and claim that therefore it absolutely must not happen and that it therefore is horrible if it does. It is a very “hot” cognition, as Robert Abelson indicates, and has a strong emotional quality. It practically compels people to escape and avoid “awful” conditions (and thus creates phobicizing) and to indulge in short-range hedonistic activities (such as compulsion and addiction).

Unless I’ve misinterpreted Ellis’s description of awfulizing, there are indeed some events which are terrible, horrible, or awful. I maintain that awaking in the night and drowning approximately 45 minutes later as debris in rapidly rushing flood water pummels you would be awful.

According to one REBT source, “Ellis made the clear distinction between that which represented what was truly awful, horrible, terrible, or the worst, from what was bad, unfortunate, a hassle, or difficult. Something is awful or horrible only if you can truly imagine nothing worse.”

I suspect that matters at Camp Mystic could’ve been worse if a tornado dropped into the flash flood. However, I contend that being able to “imagine nothing worse” doesn’t negate the fatal outcome experienced by children and counselors at the camp. How about you? Thoughts?

Are some events truly awful, or should, must, or ought a person not to consider anything “awful” in life? Granted, the termination of one’s job, a divorce, not receiving a reply text, or being stuck in traffic doesn’t qualify as “awful” by anything other than colloquial use of this term.

Self-disturbing with irrational beliefs about such matters actually qualifies as catastrophizing or awfulizing. Nevertheless, drowning in a flood at nighttime when you’re only nine-years-old (or so) seems pretty awful to me. Of course, I’m open to disputation of my belief in this regard.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

References:

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