Cognitive Distortions
Cognitive distortions are perceptions that lead people to see things in inaccurate and often extreme and/or negative ways. We all experience this from time to time however, when a stressful or traumatic event occurs, this can increase our extreme thinking. If this way of thinking happens often or is not managed, it can lead to an increase in anxiety and depression. Many times we aren't even aware of our extreme thinking. It can be helpful to read the list and start to identify the ones you have a habit of using. The first step is to label the thinking “This is all-or-nothing thinking” or “I am catastrophizing”. If you find it difficult to shift this thinking, it might be helpful to seek professional assistance to learn effective strategies.
All-or-nothing thinking: You see things in black and white categories. If you don’t score perfectly on a test, you see yourself as a total failure.
Over-generalization: You see a single negative event as evidence that everything moving forward is going to be bad.
Mental Filter: You focus on one negative detail and ruminate on it exclusively so that you start to see all things from a negative perspective. Think of your negative filter like a drop of food coloring that discolors an entire glass of water.
Disqualifying the positives: Dismissing or discounting positive experiences and maintaining a negative belief that contradicts these experiences.
Jumping to conclusions: Making a negative interpretation of an event despite limited facts or evidence to support your interpretation.
Mind reading: Assuming and acting as if you know what another person is thinking.
The fortune-teller error: You predict that something will turn out badly and you are confident that your prediction will come true.
Magnification (catastrophizing): Predicting the worst-case scenario or exaggerating the importance of a current or future event. You make a small mistake at work and start to think that you will get fired.
Minimization: You shrink the importance of current or future events as well as your desirable qualities or others’ imperfections.
Emotional reasoning: You assume and believe that your emotions reflect the reality of a situation. For example, I feel powerless so that must be true.
Should statements: “Shoulding” is often used to motivate ourselves to feel or act differently. When we say should statements to ourselves, it leads to feelings of guilt. When we use a should statement towards someone else, it can make them feel anger or resentment.
Labeling and mislabeling: This is an extreme form of overgeneralization. Instead of describing an error with fact-based language, you label yourself as “I am a loser” or “I am a terrible mom”. Mislabeling involves labeling an event using highly emotional language “that driver is an idiot”.
Personalization: You take on the responsibility of being the cause of some negative external event, when in fact you are not primarily responsible.