Cognitive distortions are incorrect and unhealthy thought processes which, for many individuals, become a habit of thinking. Whether or not one is self or doctor diagnosed as mentally well or unwell, cognitive distortions make appearances in everyone's life. Nine of the most common thinking errors are referenced within this article. If you are able to draw parallels to your own life, I encourage you to reevaluate your thinking habits and take it easy on yourself, friend. Challenge what you tell your brain. You might notice that you practice some of these cognitive distortions subconsciously, and I hope this shows those that are too hard on themselves that they are not alone and everyone has distorted thinking.
Overgeneralizing
Overgeneralizing happens when we assume one event or outcome will persist, no matter what. For example, if one negative event transpires, we think that any event remotely related will also end negatively. Trump does this in regards to his claim about Mexican immigrants being rapists. Yes, there are rapists. Yes, there are Mexican rapists. But not all Mexicans are rapists, and not all rapists are Mexicans. This isn't a political article, but do we really want someone so ignorant of their own active cognitive distortions running this country?
Ex: "I have
failed at passing calculus, so I will always fail."
Disqualifying the Positive
If someone disqualifies the positive in their life, they claim that whatever "good" happens in their life is luck or some outside force, not due to their hard work or some reason, For some reason, when positive things happen, some of us will disregard them completely or too quickly because it wasn't "enough" or "didn't count."
Ex: You get good feedback from your professor about your improvement over the semester, but instead of feeling good about it, you keep thinking about all the other times you've messed up in the beginning of the year.
Black & White Thinking
Choosing absolutes and thinking in black and white can be very detrimental to one's life. It creates a distinct line in the sand and buries binaries left and right. People who participate in black and white thinking usually use "always" or "never" often in their everyday vocabulary.
Ex: After having
some negative experiences with males, you conclude, "ALL men are
dogs!"
Shoulds
Motivation via "should" and "shouldn't" or "Must" and "ought" create the premonition that there will be punishment if something is done differently, often leading to feelings of guilt or shame.
Ex: "I must work out every day... I shouldn't be so lazy."
Catastrophizing
This is the personification of magnification, and sufferers often imagine the worst case scenario of a situation, as suggested by the label. This can lead to feelings of anxiety and even overreacting to situations that don't necessitate such.
Ex: "It's horrible, I have to babysit my neighbor's bratty kid all month. This is going to be the worst summer of my life."
Labeling:
With this cognitive distortion, instead of describing your error, you attach a negative label to yourself. There is a difference between our behavior and our identity.
Ex: "I am my depression."
Jumping to Conclusions:
This is pretty self-explanatory and probably the most well-known of the cognitive distortions. Although not as unknown, this cognitive distortion is just as unhealthy to practice as the others. When you jump to conclusions, you limit yourself and what can happen around you.
Ex: "I'm not
going to get that job, so why bother applying?"
Emotional Reasoning:
"I feel it, therefore it must be true." This is the most powerful and influential of the cognitive distortions in my opinion. You rely too much on how you feel versus whether or not you have a reason to feel that way, and while validating feelings is important, so is logical reasoning.
Ex: "I feel guilty, so I must have done something wrong."
Filtering:
This is like disqualifying the positive, but instead of only ignoring the positive, one tends to focus only on the negatives of a situation and completely ignore the rest.
Ex: You went to a house party and had hella fun for the most part and met a lot of new people! However, toward the end of the night you asked a girl for her number and she turned you down. Rather than focusing on the night of fun, you beat yourself up over the one thing that went wrong.
By negatively labeling yourself or conducting your behavior in a self-deprecating manner, you are only perpetuating the power these cognitive distortions have over you. By recognizing these ill thought processes in every day situations, hopefully the general public will become more accepting toward other mental health topics. If we can familiarize these cognitive distortions and unhealthy thinking habits, it will gradually help to mitigate the taboo on mental illness.
Credit to Dr. David Burns and Lindsey Southhall for aiding my research and providing me with definitions
