Unmasking Thinking Traps: Identifying Cognitive Distortions

Introduction:

You're becoming adept at noticing and questioning your negative thoughts. Now, let's delve deeper into the patterns these thoughts often follow. Our minds sometimes use predictable shortcuts or biases that can lead to unhelpful and inaccurate thinking. These are called cognitive distortions, or thinking traps. Learning to recognize them is like identifying the faulty wiring in your mental circuits, allowing you to rewire them for healthier thought patterns

Common Cognitive Distortions:

Here are some common ways our thinking can get distorted. As you read through these, see if any of them sound familiar to your own repetitive negative thoughts:

All-or-Nothing Thinking (Black-and-White Thinking):

Seeing things in extreme categories with no middle ground. Something is either perfect or a complete failure.

Example:
"If I don't get this promotion, my career is over."
"If this relationship isn't perfect, it's a total disaster."

Catastrophizing:

Exaggerating the potential negative consequences of events. Jumping to the worst possible conclusion.

Example:
"I made a small mistake; I'm going to get fired and be homeless."
"If I don't hear back from them immediately, something terrible must have happened."

Overgeneralization:

Drawing broad negative conclusions based on a single event or limited information. Using words like "always" or "never."

Example:
"I didn't get the job; I'm never going to succeed at anything."
"That person was rude to me; everyone is unfriendly."

Mental Filtering (Negative Filter):

Focusing only on the negative aspects of a situation while ignoring any positive ones.

Example:
Receiving several compliments on a presentation but dwelling only on the one piece of negative feedback.

Discounting the Positive:

Rejecting positive experiences or accomplishments by saying they don't count or were just luck.

Example:
"I did well on that project, but it was easy."
"They only said that to be nice."

Mind-Reading:

Assuming you know what others are thinking, usually in a negative way, without any real evidence.

Example:
"They didn't say hi; they must be angry with me."
"I can tell they think I'm stupid."

Fortune-Telling:

Predicting a negative outcome as a fact, even though there's no concrete evidence.

Example:
"I know I'm going to mess this up." "I'll never be happy."

Emotional Reasoning:

Believing something is true because you feel it strongly, ignoring objective evidence to the contrary.

Example:
"I feel like a failure, so I must be a failure."
"I feel guilty, so I must have done something wrong."

"Should" Statements:

Having rigid rules about how you and others "should" or "ought to" behave. These often lead to feelings of guilt, frustration, and resentment.

Example:
"I should be more productive."
"They should be more considerate."

Labeling:

Assigning negative and often extreme labels to yourself or others based on mistakes or perceived flaws.

Example:
"I made a mistake; I'm such an idiot." "That person cut me off; they're a terrible driver."

Personalization:

Taking personal responsibility for negative events that are not entirely under your control.

Example:
"The meeting was unproductive; it must be because I didn't speak up enough."
"My friend is in a bad mood; it's probably something I did."

As you become aware of your repetitive negative thoughts, take a moment to compare them to this list. Do any of these thinking traps sound familiar? Recognizing the specific distortion at play can be incredibly powerful in understanding why a thought feels so compelling, even when it might not be accurate.

Review the negative thoughts you've identified in the previous steps. Can you identify any cognitive distortions present in those thoughts? Jot them down. This awareness is the first step towards untangling these thinking patterns.