So, I've improved quite a bit over the years and had assumed one of the areas I improved in was black and white thinking. Does it extend into all areas? Because, for example, I noticed while watching movies with a Borderline friend, that they would spend the first half of a movie loving a character, then that character would say, betray someone and they'd automatically hate them. I don't do this, I see in the movie shades of grey. I view them as people who make mistakes, but still have good in them. I also often can see shades of grey in society and politics.

Based on those things, I assumed I had successfully mitigated my black and white thinking.

Recently, as in a couple months ago, I'd reported to my shrink how my SO upset me by cancelling a series of get-togethers. Due to this, my response was to distance myself, talk to them less, and put up emotional barriers. I started getting anxiety and would often report on things with uncertainty. For example, my SO and I plan to get married, but now I was telling my shrink that I wasn't sure if I wanted to go through with it, and saying, "It probably wouldn't happen anyway." Of course, none of that was true, but that's how I was seeing it.

Anyway, 2 weeks ago my shrink gave me the assignment to start writing down things that caused me to get really anxious. Basically, anytime I reached for the anti-anxiety medication, I was to write down what was upsetting me. Well, since then, and I'd say 'magically', things improved. I say magically because I don't remember my SO doing anything to make me feel better, just out of the blue, it was like the statute of limitations had run out on my distancing myself. Therefore, my anxiety disappeared and I haven't had anything to report. And, it's not just relationship stuff that causes anxiety. I also sometimes will start seeing things as all going down hill. I'll believe that I'll fail at something years away, you know, freaking out about stuff that hasn't happened yet and believing that it's already set in stone.

Well, just today, I went in and reported that, for the 2nd time, I had no list to provide. My shrink asks, "Why do you think that is? What's changed?" Well, I thought about it and said, "I'm not really thinking about things that haven't happened yet, and I'm not really thinking negatively, I'm focusing on goals that are here and now." My shrink says, "It doesn't seem like you're thinking as black and white currently."

Frankly, I guess I'm just confused, how does thinking black and white have anything to do with catastrophizing? I just didn't really understand it. I know that you can't exactly speak for my therapist, but any thoughts? Do I have a bad understanding of black and white thinking?