We are all susceptible to distorted thinking at one time or another. When it becomes a habit, anxiety and depression could be around the corner. Since the way we think about our circumstances has the power to upset us or to soothe us, it's helpful to have some control over which thoughts grow and which ones slip through our minds like sand through a sieve. In an effort to raise awareness of the types of thinking that are linked to anxiety and depression, clients who are in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) learn about cognitive distortions. They also learn how to change their distorted thinking. The following is a list of common cognitive distortions: All-or-nothing thinking: The person thinks in dichotomous terms, black-and-white. Either good or bad, sad or happy... Overgeneralization: The always/nevers. One setback exemplifies a person's entire life. Mindreading: A person assumes others are reacting negatively to them. We sometimes refer to this as 'taking it personally.' Fortunetelling: It only gets worse from here, folks. Discounting the positives: A person insists their accomplishments or positive qualities don't count. Shoulding all over self and others: Self and other criticism based on 'rules' that are actually preferences (Have to, must...) Labeling: Instead of seeing that he made mistake, he calls himself a failure (same for others). Mental filter: A person dwells on the negatives and ignores the positives. Magnification: A person's perception and reaction is out of proportion to the situation. Emotional reasoning: A person uses their feelings as evidence. 'I feel afraid, so it must be dangerous.' Personalization or blame: A person takes the blame when it is not (all) on them, or they lay the blame on others and do not address to their part. Here are a few scenarios. See if you can identify the cognitive distortions at play. Edward is exhausted after a long day of work. His friend Liz calls him up and asks if he would like to go to dinner. He says he is tired but he will go, and pauses. Liz doesn't immediately reply, so Edward feels awkward and quickly suggests a restaurant. On the way to the restaurant, he reviews the brief conversation to figure out what he did wrong. Why was Liz upset with him? The closer he gets to the restaurant, the more he dreads seeing Liz and sitting through the inevitable awkward silences. Tammy is going on her third first date this month. She has never agreed to go out with someone for a second date. They just don't seem to understand common courtesies. She has had to ask them to call earlier in the evenings, when any reasonable person would know that with her work schedule she would prefer earlier phone calls. And then the activities they choose for the dates...how can they not know what a woman would want to do on a date?! How many losers much she date before she finds the man of her dreams? Liz's friends tell her she's funny and creative. While she appreciates their kindness, she realizes that all people are funny and creative, and that this doesn't really make her special in any way. If there was something exceptional about her, she wouldn't be stuck in a job she hates. She has to get up so early when she's filming, worry about paparazzi, and she never knows who her real friends are. What was she thinking taking on this career? Did you notice that more than one distortion is represented in each example? The upsets created by one distortion provide fuel to the next. The next thing you know you're buried in labels and overgeneralizations. May your thinking be clear and realistic, and your upsets proportionate to the situation. And if that's often not the case, there's always CBT. Want more from the resource I consulted for this blog? See ‘Ten Ways to Untwist Your Thinking’
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AuthorColleen Ann McDonald, at your service. Archives
February 2016
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