15 Common Cognitive Distortions- How Do Our Thoughts Influence Your Mental Health

Ever heard of cognitive distortions? They’re like sneaky mind tricks that convince us to believe things that aren’t entirely true. They can mess with our mental health without us even realizing it. These distorted perceptions of reality fuel negative emotions like anxiety and depression.

But don’t worry; we’re here to explore the 15 most common cognitive distortions and shed some light on how they mess with our emotions. By understanding how our thoughts shape our mental state, we can equip ourselves with the tools to challenge and change these distortions, leading us to a healthier, happier state of mind. So stay tuned as we dive into this super interesting topic!

Experts in Cognitive Distortions: Aaron Beck and David Burns

Studying how cognitive distortions affect us wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging the substantial contributions of two renowned figures: Aaron Beck and David Burns. Beck, the founder of cognitive therapy, and Burns, a disciple of Beck’s work, were pioneers in the field. They identified several common that permeate our distorted thoughts, often leading to mental illness and distress.

Aaron Beck

A psychiatrist hypothesized that people’s emotional responses are shaped not directly by events but by their perceptions or interpretations of these events. His groundbreaking work laid the foundation for cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), a treatment modality that seeks to change dysfunctional emotions, behaviours, and thoughts by challenging and changing unhelpful cognitive distortions.

David Burns,

A student of Beck further popularized this approach through his bestselling book, “Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy”. Burns provided a more detailed list of 15 cognitive distortions and offered practical solutions on how individuals can identify and modify these distortions. His work has been pivotal in making cognitive behavioural approaches accessible to a wider audience, helping millions better understand and manage their mental filtering.

What is a Cognitive Distortion

Cognitive distortion refers to biased or distorted thinking styles that are believed to perpetuate many psychiatric conditions, particularly depressive and anxiety disorders.

These distortions are characterized by consistent errors or misconceptions in processing and interpreting the world around us. They often amplify our responses to events and cause us to perceive reality inaccurately.

This misinterpretation can reinforce negative feelings, creating a vicious cycle that can be difficult to break.

Examples of common cognitive distortions include “all-or-nothing” in thinking patterns, “catastrophizing,” and “overgeneralization.”

Recognizing and understanding these distorted thoughts is a crucial first step in cognitive-behavioural therapy, which aims to replace these thinking patterns with more accurate and beneficial thought patterns.

What Causes Distorted Thinking

Distorted thinking styles can result from various factors. Past experiences, especially during childhood, greatly shape our thought processes.

For example, growing up in an environment where mistakes are harshly criticized can lead to “perfectionism” and excessive self-criticism. Societal conditioning also plays a role, with messages about success, beauty, and worthiness leading to distortions like “comparison” and “labelling”.

Stress, trauma, emotional disorders and mental health disorders can also contribute. Understanding these causes can challenge and move people responsible for replacing distorted thoughts with healthier ones. Remember, internal and external factors influence our thoughts but are not always factual.

What Causes Cognitive Distortions?

Cognitive distortions are often rooted in early life experiences and learned thinking patterns. Childhood trauma, abuse, neglect, or simply growing up in an environment where unrealistic expectations are abundant can all lead to distorted thought processes. These inaccurate thoughts can become ingrained and automatic, making them difficult to recognize and change.

Environmental factors and societal influences also contribute to cognitive distortions. We live in a world where we’re often told how we should think, feel, and act. Mass media, cultural norms, and social expectations can shape our thinking patterns and lead to distortions.

For instance, persistent exposure to idealized images and lifestyles can trigger distortions like “should statements” and “mental filtering.”

Cognitive distortions can be a symptom of other mental health conditions or disorders such as depression, anxiety, or personality disorders. These conditions often involve negative thought patterns that distort one’s perception of reality.

Cognitive distortions can also be a response to high levels of stress or trauma, serving as a defence mechanism to cope with difficult situations. Understanding these underlying causes is crucial to challenging and modifying distorted thought patterns.

List Of 15 Cognitive Distortions – The Top 15 Cognitive Distortions

1. All-or-Nothing Thinking: You view things in absolute, black-and-white terms.
2. Overgeneralization: Generalizing from one negative experience and expecting it to hold forever.
3. Mental Filtering: Focusing on the negatives while filtering out the positives.
4. Discounting the Positives: Ignoring or invalidating any positive aspects.
5. Jumping to Conclusions: Making negative interpretations without actual evidence.
6. Magnification and Minimization: Blowing things out of proportion or shrinking their importance inappropriately.
7. Emotional Reason: Assuming your negative emotions reflect the way things are.
8. Should Statements: Using “should,” “ought to,” and “must” to motivate oneself, then feeling guilty when you fail to live up to these unrealistically high expectations.
9. Labelling: Assigning labels to oneself or others based on mistakes and perceived shortcomings.
10. Personalization and Blame: Holding oneself personally responsible for events that aren’t entirely under one’s control.
11. Catastrophizing: Expecting the worst-case scenario to happen.
12. Mind Reading: Believing we know what others are thinking, assuming negative thoughts without any objective evidence.
13. Fortune Telling: Predicting the future, often seeing the outcome as unfavourable, with no real reason to believe so.
14. The fallacy of Fairness: Feeling resentful because you think you know what is fair, but others won’t agree.
15. Control Fallacies: Feeling externally controlled or internally helpless. This list of 15 cognitive distortions can be implemented to eliminate polarized thinking.

Cultural Impact On Our Thinking

Culture profoundly impacts our thinking, shaping our beliefs and values that influence how we perceive the world. Take collectivism, for example. In certain societies, collective well-being outweighs individual rights or needs.

This cultural emphasis can give rise to cognitive distortions like “personalization and blame,” where individuals feel guilt for prioritizing their own needs or not meeting group expectations.

Let’s bring this to life with an example. Imagine a student from a collectivist culture studying at a Western university. This student might be guilty when choosing a major based on personal interest rather than what would benefit their family or community back home.

Even when their choice is valid and crucial for personal growth, they might constantly fret about being selfish or letting their group down. It’s fascinating how cultural factors can lead to cognitive distortions and profoundly impact our thought patterns.

Polarization or all-or-nothing thinking

Polarized or all-or-nothing thinking is a cognitive distortion where things are viewed in extreme, “black and white” terms. This type of thinking involves seeing only the good or bad in a situation without any grey areas or middle ground.

For example, make a minor mistake at work. You might think you’re entirely incompetent rather than acknowledging that everyone makes mistakes is referred to as a polarized thinking pattern.

Oversimplification can lead to unrealistic expectations, high-stress levels, and a failure to recognize the complexities inherent in most situations. Acknowledging and addressing this way of polarized thinking can lead to a more balanced, realistic worldview.

How to recognize you are affected by cognitive distortions?

Recognizing that you are affected by cognitive distortions often begins with self-awareness and observation of your thoughts. Here are a few signs and examples:

1. Persistent Negative Thoughts: Finding yourself frequently trapped in negative thinking or expecting the worst might be a sign of cognitive distortions. For example, you may consistently believe you will fail at tasks, even when evidence suggests otherwise.
2. Absolute Thinking: Look for thoughts characterized by words such as “always,” “never,” or “every.” These indicate all-or-nothing or black-and-white thinking. For example, if you make a small mistake and think, “I always mess everything up,” that’s a distortion.
3. Self-blaming is a sign of personalization if you often blame yourself for things outside your control. For instance, if a friend cancels plans and you assume it’s because you’ve done something wrong, you’re personalizing the situation.
4. Mind Reading: If you frequently believe you know what others think about you, and it’s often negative, this could indicate cognitive distortions. For example, assuming that a colleague’s brief email response means they’re upset with you is a form interpretation.
5. Catastrophizing: This is a sign of catastrophizing if you often exaggerate the potential adverse outcomes of situations. For instance, you’re catastrophizing if you’re worried about making a presentation and imagine you’ll be fired if it doesn’t go perfectly. How Negative Thoughts Influence Emotions

Negative thoughts have a significant influence on our emotions, leading to feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress. Known as cognitive distortions, these skewed thoughts can magnify a situation’s negativity, leading us to overestimate negative aspects and the likelihood of a negative outcome.

This line of thinking tends to filter out any positive aspects of a situation, resulting in a feedback loop of negative thinking and emotional distress.

For instance, consistently believing you will fail at tasks (a cognitive distortion) can induce feelings of hopelessness or fear. Similarly, if you often blame yourself for things outside your control, you’ll likely experience guilt, frustration, or self-doubt.

Negative thoughts, through cognitive distortions, effectively colour our emotional responses, often making situations seem more negative, feeling dire or hopeless than only the truth they are. Recognizing and challenging these distortions can pave the way towards improved emotional well-being.

Overgeneralization

Overgeneralization is another common cognitive distortion where one negative experience leads to a broad conclusion that all similar situations will result in the same outcome. This mindset can trap individuals in a cycle of negativity and pessimism, hampering personal growth and development.

For instance, if a person fails a math test, they might conclude they are bad at all numbers-related subjects.

This generalization lacks concrete evidence and overlooks the potential for learning and improving from the mistake.

Jumping to Conclusions – Mind Reading

It is a more extreme form of jumping-to-conclusions cognitive distortion where one presumes to know the thoughts, feelings, or intentions of others without any factual basis.

For instance, one might assume that a friend is upset with them due to a late reply to a text message, even though there could be various other reasons for the delay.

This distortion can lead to unnecessary anxiety and tension in relationships. It is crucial to remember that we cannot honestly know what someone else is thinking or feeling without them communicating.

Our assumptions are merely projections of our thoughts and biases and do not necessarily reflect reality.

Challenging these faulty assumptions and confirming facts before jumping to conclusions can help reduce stress, improve communication in relationships, and prevent psychological damage.

Changing Your Thinking: Examples of Techniques to Combat Cognitive Distortions

Combatting cognitive distortions begins with acknowledging and understanding erroneous thoughts. Here are a few techniques to help change distorted thinking:

1. Cognitive Restructuring: This technique involves identifying and challenging distorted thoughts and replacing them with more balanced and accurate ones. For example, instead of thinking, “I always mess things up,” you can reframe your thought to, “Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, and I can learn from this.”
2. Mindful Meditation: This practice can help you focus on the present moment, reducing the tendency to interpret events in negative or distorted ways. Regular meditation can cultivate a more balanced perspective and reduce stress levels.
3. Visualizing Positive Outcomes: Instead of catastrophizing, practice visualizing positive or neutral outcomes. This technique can help to counteract the bias towards negative thinking.
4. Reality Testing: This strategy involves checking your assumptions against facts. For instance, if you assume a friend is upset with you because they haven’t replied, you could ask them directly rather than guessing their feelings.
5. Self-Compassion: Practicing self-compassion can counter self-blaming cognitive distortions. Acknowledge your feelings, remind yourself that everyone has struggles, and be gentle with yourself when things don’t go as planned.

Discounting the positive

Discounting the positive is a common cognitive distortion where we downplay or ignore the good stuff and focus solely on the negative aspects. It’s like wearing negative goggles that make us see only the bad while disregarding the positive.

For example, imagine getting a performance review with mostly positive feedback, but you only fixate on the one area that needs improvement, completely discounting the good feedback.

Magnification (Catastrophizing) or Minimization

Magnification (Catastrophizing) or Minimization is a cognitive distortion where an individual blows things out of proportion or diminishes their importance inappropriately. Catastrophizing involves magnifying the opposing facet of a situation or an event to such an extent that they appear disastrous or unbearable.

For example, assuming that a minor mistake at work would lead to firing or equating a low test score with inevitable academic failure. On the other hand, minimization involves downplaying or dismissing significant events or emotions.

Emotional reasoning

Emotional Reasoning is another prevalent cognitive distortion that assumes that it must be true because we feel a certain way. This distortion blurs the lines between feelings and facts, leading individuals to treat their emotions as evidence of truth.

For example, if someone feels unloved, they might conclude that nobody loves them, despite the presence of caring individuals in their life. Similarly, feeling like a failure doesn’t mean one is a failure.

It’s important to understand that emotions, while significant, are not always accurate reflections of reality.

To combat emotional Reasoning, individuals must question their emotions, seeking objective evidence before accepting the feelings as facts.

Doing so can prevent their emotions from dictating their perception of themselves and their world.

Global labelling

Global Labeling is a cognitive distortion where we generalize one or two qualities into a negative global judgment. Describing situations or behaviours involves using absolute terms like ‘always’ or ‘never’. For instance, if we perform poorly at a task, we might label ourselves as ‘failures’, overlooking our accomplishments in other areas.

Challenging global labelling involves recognizing that a singular event or behaviour does not define our entire character or future. It helps to remember our successes, understanding that everyone has strengths and weaknesses and that failing at one task or aspect does not make us a failure as a whole.

Control fallacies

Control Fallacies represent another category of cognitive distortions where individuals falsely believe they have no control or complete control over situations and events.

There are two types: External Control Fallacy and Internal Control Fallacy.

External Control Fallacy

is when an individual perceives themselves as a helpless victim of fate, attributing too much control to external forces. For example, someone might believe that they can’t succeed because ‘the system is against them,’ thereby absolving themselves of personal responsibility.

Internal Control Fallacy

is when individuals can feel guilty or overly responsible for the feelings and actions of others. For instance, a person may believe it is their fault if their partner is unhappy. Control Fallacies can cause feelings of helplessness or burden, leading to stress and anxiety. It’s important to distinguish between what we can and cannot control to combat these distortions.

Recognizing personal agency or circle of control and influence while acknowledging control limitations can help foster emotional well-being and resilience.

Personalization

Personalization is a cognitive distortion where individuals attribute external events to themselves without a logical basis. This often leads to guilt, shame, and feelings of inadequacy.

Combatting personalization involves understanding that not everything revolves around us and recognizing that many factors contribute to any situation’s outcome. Developing a more balanced perspective can help alleviate self-blame.

Should Statements

Should statements are a cognitive distortion that can cause distress. They are self-imposed rules about how we and others should behave. Strict expectations of ourselves and others can lead to guilt, disappointment, frustration, and resentment. Challenging these statements and adopting more flexibility can reduce stress and promote emotional well-being.

The fallacy of fairness

The Fallacy of Fairness is a cognitive distortion that creates unnecessary stress and disappointment by setting unrealistic expectations about life being always fair. Individuals caught in this distortion often feel resentful and bitter when their expectations of fairness are not met.

They might think, for example, “It’s not fair that I work so hard but don’t get the recognition I deserve,” or “It’s unfair that they are successful while I’m not, despite my efforts.”

Life is complex and doesn’t always align with our perceptions of fairness. Understanding that everyone has different experiences is essential, and comparing oneself to others can lead to dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

Overcoming this fallacy of fairness distortion requires acknowledging that fairness is subjective and factors beyond our control frequently influence life’s outcomes.

Always being right

Always Right is a distortion where individuals feel compelled to prove their views correct, even when faced with contradictory evidence. This can hinder communication and strain relationships by shutting down dialogue and dismissing alternative perspectives.

Overcoming this distortion only requires recognizing the value of differing opinions and embracing the opportunity to learn and grow. Cultivating humility, openness, and curiosity leads to more constructive exchanges and a richer world understanding.

The fallacy of change

The Fallacy of Change is a distortion where we believe we can change other people’s behaviour or traits based on our expectations. It’s like thinking, “If I can make them more ambitious, our relationship will be perfect!”

But here’s the thing: people have unique qualities and paths of personal growth. We can’t force them to change unless they decide to do it themselves. So, instead of getting frustrated, we should accept people as they are, recognize our limits of influence, and focus on the only change we can truly make – changing ourselves.

Facts or Opinions?

Facts and opinions are two terms we encounter frequently, especially in discussions or debates. They represent two fundamentally different concepts. Facts are indisputable truths based on evidence, data or reality. They are objective and are not influenced by personal feelings or beliefs.

For example, “water boils at 100 degrees Celsius at sea level” is a fact. On the other hand, opinions are personal beliefs or judgments that are not necessarily grounded in evidence or reality.

They are subjective, varying from person to person’s life. For instance, “chocolate is the best ice cream flavour” is an opinion. Understanding the distinction between facts and opinions is central to rational thinking and discourse. It is essential in forming balanced views, making informed decisions, and engaging in productive discussions.

Does the evidence back up your negative thought?

Often, we tend to let negative thoughts get the better of us, which can lead to feelings of stress, anxiety, or depression. It is essential, therefore, to question whether these thoughts are indeed a reflection of reality. This can be done by seeking objective evidence that either supports or refutes them.

For instance, if you believe “nobody likes me,” consider concrete instances that challenge this thought – perhaps there are friends who frequently check up on you or colleagues who appreciate your contributions at work.

Challenging negative thoughts with factual evidence can help us develop a more balanced, realistic view of ourselves and our circumstances, promoting better mental and emotional health.

Thinking about your thoughts

The concept of metacognition, or ‘thinking about your thoughts‘, is a critical skill that can help improve our understanding and management of cognitive distortions. It involves self-reflection and the ability to evaluate our thoughts and thought processes.

Metacognition encourages us to question our thoughts, assess their validity, and determine whether they serve our best interests. Implementing metacognitive strategies can help us recognize when we’re falling into cognitive distortions and provide us with the tools to challenge and change these harmful thoughts.

By actively engaging in metacognition, we can foster healthier ways of thinking, thereby enhancing our overall emotional well-being.

Heaven’s Reward Fallacy

The Heaven’s Reward Fallacy is another cognitive distortion that can create undue stress in treating depression and disappointment. It is the belief that one’s struggles, sacrifices, and self-denial will surely be rewarded.

An individual might think, “I’ve worked tirelessly without complaint, so I’m due for a promotion,” or “I’ve sacrificed so much for my family; they should be more appreciative.”

However, life does not always adhere to such a merit-based system. The Universe, nature, or others may not necessarily recognize or reward our efforts according to our expectations.

Overcoming this distortion involves understanding that good deeds should be performed for their intrinsic value, not for the expectation of a reward.

We should also recognize that external factors beyond our control often influence outcomes. By adjusting our expectations and finding satisfaction in our actions, we can lead a more balanced, less resentful life.

Automatic Thought Record

An Automatic Thought Record is a cognitive therapy toed to identify and challenge cognitive distortions. It involves tracking and analyzing our thoughts to identify patterns and triggers.

To create an Automatic Thought Record, you start by describing the situation that led to your negative thoughts. Then, you record the automatic idea that arose from this situation, along with any associated emotions.

Next, the task is to objectively evaluate the evidence for and against your automatic thought. This process helps to highlight cognitive distortions and develop healthier, balanced ideas.

Finally, you identify a more rational alternative thought and note how it makes you feel. By repeatedly practising this exercise, you can gradually retrain your thought process, improving your emotional health and resilience.

Cognitive therapies

Cognitive Therapies, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), play a crucial role in treating cognitive distortions. CBT helps individuals identify and challenge harmful thoughts, while MBCT incorporates mindfulness practices to increase awareness and acceptance of thoughts and feelings. These therapies, used individually or together, can greatly improve mental and emotional well-being by mitigating the impact of cognitive distortions.

Cognitive Distortions: Worksheets (& PDF)

https://www.idrlabs.com/cognitive-distortions/test.php

https://arfamiliesfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Cognitive-Distortions.pdf

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