COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS

COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS43 WAYS THAT THE MIND FOOLS US www.spiral2grow.com

COGNITIVEDISTORTIONS43 WAYS THAT THEMIND FOOLS US

www.spiral2grow.com

http://www.spiral2grow.com/


COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS OVERVIEW

In general, cognitive distortions represent the different means by which individuals modify their experiences, thereby creating dysfunctional subjective constructs.

Cognitive distortions, one of the main concepts of Cognitive Therapy (CT) or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) refers to inflated inaccurate thoughts.

Aaron Beck first developed the theory behind cognitive distortions and David Burns made it popular.


THE PROBELM WITH COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS

If these irrational thoughts and beliefs are about ourselves or the world around us they usually reinforce negative thinking.

These biased ways of thinking also lead to problematic emotional states and behavior, like anger, anxiety, low self-esteem, worry, depression as well as relationship problems.


GENERAL SOLUTIONFOR COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS

By challenging and refuting distorted thoughts and replacing them with more accurate ones, we can decrease worry and live life with a more positive outlook and lifestyle.

Identifying these thinking errors and be aware of them, so that we can alter our thinking to more rational and objective thoughts.


Black-or-White Thinking also called Dichotomous Thinking (All-or-Nothing).

It is a categorical way of thinking for the purpose of making a quick judgment.

Black-or-white thinking is a binary way of thinking when you see things in absolute terms.

In this case, you place people or situations in clear categories “either/or”, with no shades of gray.

Examples for thoughts in such categories are: good or bad, right or wrong, fair or not fair. Individuals that utilize this way of thinking use words such as “never”, “always”, and “every.”

When we think in a black or white way, we may form the basis of perfectionism problems, which causes us to fear any mistake or imperfection because it can lead to seeing oneself as a total "loser," that generates feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness.

01. "BLACK OR WHITE" THINKING


Aaron Beck says that “our tendency to amplify the importance of certain situations – believing them to be a matter of life and death over-mobilizes our apparatus for dealing with threats and thus overrides normal functioning.

It has been said that ‘evolution favors anxious genes.’ It is better to have ‘false positives’ (false alarms) than ‘false negatives’ (which miss the danger) in an ambiguous situation.

One false negative – and you can be eliminated from the gene pool. Thus, the cost of survival of the lineage may be a lifetime of discomfort.”

02. SURVIVAL PRIORITY


We use filtering when we concentrate so strongly on one aspect of a task or a situation and avoid other aspects.

We have a very narrow view of the situation that limits our capacity to see the reality in its right context.

Mental filters are driven by our history and experience, in which we project our mental models that already exist in our mind toward the reality.

It is a biased view of reality that keeps us seeing things only within the box and limits our openness to consider other perspectives and possibilities.

03. FILTERING


At times we believe that every thought we have is true when in fact they may not be so.

Steven Hayes explains that most of us tend to look “from” our thoughts instead of “at” our thoughts, since ideas arise convincingly inside our heads in the form of language.

In addition, certain concepts are defended and maintained because they exist in networks – or “relational frames” – with other thoughts.

In this way, ideas become entrenched and we become “fused” with our thinking.

A possible indicator of cognitive fusion is when we say “I’m right and I can give you the reasons.” Remember: You don’t have to believe everything you think.

04. COGNITIVE FUSION


Focusing on the negatives and minimizing or ignoring the positives is another example of a cognitive distortion.

In this case an individual will focus on the one thing that went wrong instead of the things that went right.

We take the negative details and magnify them while minimizing all the positive aspects of a situation.

When we diminish the positives we come up with several reasons why the positive events in our lives don’t count.

For example, one may say, “I just got lucky that my proposal was accepted” or “I got promoted at work, only because no one else wanted it”.

Concentrating on the negative and minimizing the positives will nearly always be disappointing and prevent you from enjoying your accomplishments and achievements.

05. DISCOUNTING THE POSITIVES


Unrealistic optimism refers to an underestimation of the likelihood of experiencing negative events and to an overestimation of the probability of experiencing positive events.

It is a misjudgment based on faulty understanding of real risks.

Believing that all is rosy and everything will turn out fine provides the important benefits of encouraging us to stick with our goals and overcome challenges.

Unchecked optimism can easily detach us from the cold harsh truths of reality.

Don't let optimism exceed the bounds of reality.

06. UNRALISTIC OPTIMISM


Overgeneralization is defined as taking a single or a few selected negative experiences and making them universal or expecting them to be true forever.

An individual practicing this cognitive distortion may say “I didn’t have friends in middle school, I’ll never have friends in high school” or “I wasn’t able to pass the test, I’ll never pass any tests”.

In this cognitive distortion, we come to a general conclusion based on a limited or a single incident of evidence.

A person may see a single, unpleasant event as part of a never-ending pattern of defeat.

07. OVERGENERALIZING


A stereotype is a macro thought or belief that may or may not accurately reflect reality.

The brain memory is organized into schemas which are clusters of knowledge or a general conceptual framework that provide models that were created based on our knowledge, experience expectations about events, objects, people, and situations in life.

This attribute of memory leads us to rely on stereotype, which are simplified and standardized conceptions or images held in common by members of a group.

While stereotypes are an essential feature of human memory, they can cause problems when the attributes associated with the group are incorrectly extended to an individual.

Examples of stereotypes are: All blond women are dumb. All Blacks are great basketball players.

08. STEROTYPING


Jumping to conclusions is defined as making interpretations without actual evidence.

In this case, often individuals will make those interpretations negative.

One may claim, without cause, “I know my teacher doesn’t like me because of the way he looks at me.”

09. JUMPTING TO CONCLUSIONS


We may engage in "Fortune-Telling" when we predict that things will turn out badly.

We imagine that something bad is about to happen, and we take this prediction as a fact even though it's unrealistic.

An example of fortune telling is saying to ourselves “I just know I’m going to have a bad journey.”

10. FORTUNE-TELLING


In this case, we assume we know what people think without having sufficient evidence of their thoughts. “He thinks I’m an idiot.”

It is also about the tendency to attribute positive or negative motives to someone.

It is clearly impossible to correctly know a person's intent for behaving as they do.

We are also unable to determine how people are feeling toward us.For example, a person may conclude that someone is reacting

negatively toward them but doesn’t actually bother to find out if they are correct.

Another example is when a person may anticipate that things will turn out badly, and feel convinced that the prediction is already an established fact.

11. MIND-READING/ASSUME INTENT


Denial is considered one of the most primitive psychological defense mechanisms and is defined as a refusal to accept reality.

It takes place when we deny an event, thought, feeling or memory as if it does not exist or did not happen because it is so painful to accept.

For example, a person who is a functioning alcoholic will often simply deny they have a drinking problem, pointing to how well they function in their job and relationships.

12. DENIAL


“Catastrophizing” takes place when individuals expect the worst scenario to happen. They expect disaster to strike, no matter what the reality is.

“Catastrophizing” is also referred to as “magnifying or minimizing.” We make the issue bigger than it is or don't see the importance of the event when it is required to do so.

For example, a person might inflate the importance of irrelevant events (such as their mistake, or someone else’s success).

Or they may without proportion shrink the extent of significant events until they appear small (for example, a person’s own desirable qualities or someone else’s imperfections).

13. CATASTROPHIZING


People with this distortion label themselves based on mistakes or shortcomings.

They will often use negative language such as “I’m a failure, I’m a loser, or I will never be successful or be anything.”

Personalization is a twist where a person believes that everything others do or say is some kind of direct, personal reaction to them.

We take everything personally rather than seeing that other individuals act because of their own personal issues or “baggage.”

14. PERSONALIZATION


Locus of control refers to the extent to which individuals believe they can control events affecting them.

If we feel externally controlled, we see ourselves as a victim of destiny. For example, “I can’t help it if the level of my work is low, my boss insisted I work on it over the weekend.”

The fallacy of internal control requires us to assume responsibility for things that are beyond our control, such as the pain and happiness of other people. For example, “You are not happy because of my actions.”

This fallacy describes an inappropriate external locus of control. In this error, we see ourselves as helpless and externally controlled as

someone or something else is responsible for our pain, loss or failure. In this view, we remain stuck, unable to affect our own lives or

anything else in the world.

15. CONTROL ERROR


Fallacy of fairness refers to a strong belief and expectations that life and relationship should be governed by some kind of rules, principles and standards.

If life or situations do not happen based on these principles, we feel resentful as we think that it is not fair. The reality is that life was not designed to be fair. Life is the way it is.

People who go through life applying measuring parameters against every situation judging its “fairness” will often be disappointed and angry and will have a negative attitude.

When we have this distortion, it won't be surprising that things will not always work out in our favor, even when we think they should.

16. FALLACY OF FARINESS


Similar to a fallacy of fairness, you have a list of rules and regulations about how we and others should behave.

We criticize ourselves or other people with “shoulds”, “shouldn'ts”, “musts”, “ought tos” and “have tos”.

When individuals use cue words such as should, ought to, and must, it indicates the presence of this distortion

People who break the rules make us angry, and we also feel guilty when we violate these rules.

This is why focusing on what we “should” or "ought to be," rather than the actual situation we are faced with, will simply anger and stress us out.

17. SHOULDS


The karma error is a mistaken belief that “we will get what we deserve.”

Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.

This is sometimes used to explain situations that fit our belief system or as an excuse to blame the victim; “he got what he deserves.”

Regrettably, when this "karma" doesn’t take place, we feel angry with ourselves and others.

18. THE “KARMA” ERROR


Blaming takes many forms. We might hold other people responsible for our pain, or

at times blame ourselves for problems that we are not responsible for.

If we blame, we focus on separation and move away from personal responsibility.

In blame mechanism, we deny our right and responsibility to assert our needs, say no, or attend to our needs.

When we adapt a blaming attitude, we are stuck in the past and find fault instead of solving the problem.

19. BLAMING


Emotional reasoning is a cognitive distortion process that takes place when individuals believe that what they are feeling is true regardless of the evidence.

This way of thinking relies on the fast track of our emotional system to make a quick decision, while using emotions to interpret the level of perceived threat during events.

Emotional reasoning, contrary to logical reasoning, may happen automatically and amplifies the effects of other cognitive distortions.

For example, "if we feel stupid and dull, then we must be stupid and dull." We assume that our "negative" emotions reflect the way things really are. If we feel we are weak, useless, stupid we just accept it. The underlying statement of such an error is: “I feel it, therefore it must be true.”

20. EMOTIONAL REASONING


This cognitive distortion assumes that other people must change their behavior to fit our needs and for the purpose of making us happy.

We even strongly believe and expect that if we just persuade or put enough pressure on others, they will change.

This way of thinking is considered selfish as it is only about us and about our needs. To change others we might also engage in manipulative behavior to get what we want from them.

21. FALLACY OF CHANGE


Global labeling, also referred to as “labeling” and “mislabeling,” is considered a thinking error characterized by categorizing everything or everybody based on limited (one or two) or specific experiences.

For ex. something bad happens once, it will happen all the time, although it may be a rare occurrence.

This type of thinking omits rationalization that things may occur infrequently or ‘just sometimes.’ For example, a person will attach an unhealthy label to him/herself and instead of saying, “I made a mistake,” tells himself, “I'm a jerk” or “I'm a loser.”

Mislabeling involves describing an event with dramatic language and is emotionally loaded. For example, instead of saying the mother took her kids to daycare every day, a person who is mislabeling might say that “she abandons her kids to strange people.”

22. GLOBAL LABELING


In a being right error we strongly think we are correct in our thinking and self-justification becomes a mission.

We dogmatically hold onto our opinion, belief, or defend our action.

The idea of being wrong is impossible and questioning ourselves is unthinkable. As such, we discount evidence and ideas of others and go to great lengths to demonstrate our rightness.

For example, "I know I am right, and I am not interested in your opinion or in reading your article.

Being right becomes more important than being wise, and it is manifested by having a rigid personality that is defensive and not happy.

23. BEING RIGHT


In reward error thinking, we are attached to the outcome and always expect a "reward" for our actions.

We are not driven by doing the right thing, but rather focusing on doing the things that will lead us to gain the desired reward.

We expect our sacrifice and even self-denial to pay off, as if someone or the universe is keeping score.

Unfortunately, when the reward doesn’t come, we feel bitter and angry with ourselves and others.

24. REWARD FALLACY


In unrealistic comparisons we interpret events in terms of standards that are unrealistic or invalid.

When we say “Others are more successful than I am," we focus primarily on others who do better than us and find ourselves inferior in the comparison.

We compare ourselves to other people, job colleagues etc, and view them as being smarter and happier than we are, and better at handling life than we are.

25. UNREALISTIC COMPARISON


In hindsight thinking we look back at decisions we made in the past and make judgments about the decision we made.

We often think we should have handled things in a different or a better way. But the fact is that in hindsight thinking we know now what we didn't know before and this judgment is not correct nor constructive.

We need to put ourselves in the time of our decision to include our experience, knowledge and what we knew then. In addition, we must add the uncertainty factor that we had during that time.

26. HINDSIGHT THINKING


Similar to hindsight thinking the regret orientation error makes us focus on all the things that we could have done better in the past, rather than on what we can do better now.

“I could have had a better job if I had tried harder.” “I shouldn’t have said that.”

In regret orientation we beat ourselves up about it and hold onto that regret too tightly for too long.

The remedy to a regret orientation is accepting what we have done and what has happened to us and then doing what is within our power to change the consequences.

27. REGRET ORIENTATION


In what if thinking, the person considers something as if it was true, and pretty soon, it becomes true.

When this happens, the belief and the phenomenon cannot easily be differentiated.

In this case, we continually ask what if something happens, and are not satisfied by any of the answers.

We might say ". . .but what if I fail the exam?" or "what if I mess up the emergency stop?", "what if I choose a different career?", “What if it happens to me?”, "what if . . .

28. “WHAT IF” ERROR


It is an egocentric perspective when we are concerned always with ourselves.

We attribute personal meaning to everything that happens.

Because we think that the universe revolves around us, we often think that others should care primarily about what our desires are and what interests us.

As such, we hardly ever think about what someone else might want or need. These thinking patterns, attitudes, and behaviors prompt us to lead an extremely self-centered lifestyle.

29. EGOCENTRIC THINKING


This error prevents us from changing the way we think, despite new or additional information.

We reject any evidence or arguments that might contradict our thoughts, especially our negative thoughts.

For example, if we think that we are unlovable, we might say to ourselves "My friends hang out with me only because they must feel sorry for me.”

When we use statements like "No, it is much more complicated than that!" or "You just don't understand," it may be an indication of inability to disconfirm error.

The antidote to this error is to recognize the way our emotions distort our perceptions.

We can also try to reframe the situation and see it in a more objective, realistic way.

30. INABILITY TO DISCONFIRM


When we adopt a judgment perspective, we measure ourselves and others according to arbitrary standards, finding where we and others fall short.

We view ourselves, others and events in terms of evaluations of “good” or “bad,” “right” or “wrong” and “superior” or “inferior,” rather than simply describing, accepting, or understanding.

In this case, we may say to ourselves “I didn’t perform as well as I am supposed to.” “Look how successful he is, I’m not that successful.”

The way to overcome such issues is by suspending judgment until we have the opportunity to understand the situation or the person and also by having compassion and appreciation.

31. JUDGMENT FOCUS


In entitlement error the underlying assumption is that because we want something very much, we ought to have it.

In this case we confuse desire with obligation. An entitled person may say "I want this very badly, and

you are a bad person if you don't provide it to me."Sense of entitlement is an unrealistic, unmerited or

inappropriate expectation of favorable living conditions and favorable treatment at the hands of others.

32. ENTITLEMENT FALLACY


In this case, we may think we see a pattern while in fact the pattern is not there; the outcome or the observation is simply the result of random events and as such the basis for identifying the pattern is not valid.

We think we recognize a pattern that is different from what we actually see.

The opposite can also occur, where we may fail to recognize a pattern that is present.

33. PATTERN DISCERNMENT


Ignorance is an attitude in which we choose a narrow worldview; avoiding to inquire, examine and learn.

We ignore or deny information and evidence that contradict our perspective or beliefs.

We are all ignorant to some degree. Yet, if we stay curious and open, we avoid this form of deliberate ignorance and choose learning and wisdom instead.

34. IGNORANCE


Cognitive dissonance is a state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.

It occurs when two opposing thoughts reside in the same mind, generating inner conflicts and psychological distress.

A tense and uncomfortable contradiction exists unless your actions support your thoughts and beliefs. To bridge the gap and relieve this tension people often revise their thoughts to support their actions.

People who cannot stop drinking persuade themselves that drinking is beneficial.

So, cognitive dissonance is resolved by choosing one thought, idea, value or belief over the other.

35. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE


Dissociation is a psychological term used to describe a mental exit from reality.

Dissociation is when a person loses track of time and/or person, and instead finds another representation of their self in order to continue in the moment.

People who use dissociation often have a disconnected view of themselves in their world.

Their concept of time and their own self-image may not flow continuously, as it does for most people.

In this manner, a person who dissociates can “disconnect” from the real world for a time, and live in a different world that is not cluttered with thoughts, feelings or memories that are unbearable.

36. DISSOCIATION


Compartmentalization is an unconscious psychological defense mechanism used to avoid cognitive dissonance.

Compartmentalization is similar but a lesser form of dissociation, wherein parts of oneself are separated from awareness of other parts and behave as if one had separate sets of values.

An example might be an honest person who cheats on his/her income tax return and keeps the two value systems distinct and un-integrated while continuing to being unaware of the cognitive dissonance.

37. COMPARTMENTALIZATION


The mind does not easily tolerate ambiguity and uncertainty; it creates irrational accounts when plausible explanations are unavailable, however faulty.

Confabulation is the unconscious production of fabricated, distorted or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world , without the conscious intention to deceive.

Its job is to create meanings and explanations and as such assembles beliefs from a number of sources in order to integrate together personal unknowns.

In this error we create a seemingly probable story to account for unexpected events or behavior.

This is why people often for unconscious reasons fill memory gaps with fabrications that they believe to be real.

38. CONFABULATION


Magical thinking is the idea of believing that the laws of the universe, physics, economics, or cause and effect, don't apply to us.

Magical thinking is also described as the belief that thoughts and reality are connected and that thinking can influence the actual world.

For example, believing in miracles, being superstitious (example, “I’m feeling better this morning, but if I tell anyone the pain might get worse”) or trusting that wishful thinking will cause the outcome we are hoping for.

Magical thinking especially comes out when a high degree of chance, accident, hope, fear, and danger are perceived.

39. MAGICAL THINKING


Reaction formation is a defensive process in which "unacceptable" emotions, which are anxiety-producing, are mastered by exaggeration of the directly opposing tendency.

It is the alteration of unwanted or dangerous thoughts, feelings or impulses into their opposites.

For instance, a woman who is very angry with her husband and would like to leave the marriage may instead be overly kind and generous toward her husband and express her strong desire to stay in the marriage forever.

She is incapable of expressing the negative emotions of anger and unhappiness with her husband, and instead becomes overly kind to publicly demonstrate her lack of anger and unhappiness.

40. REACTION FORMATION


Projection, a human psychological defense, is the act of attributing one's own feelings, thoughts or traits onto another person and imagining or believing that the other person has those same feelings, thoughts or traits.

Projection is especially used when the thoughts are considered unacceptable for the person to express, or they feel completely uncomfortable for having them.

For example, a spouse may be angry at their significant other for not listening, when in fact it is the angry spouse who does not listen.

Projection is often the result of a lack of insight and acknowledgement of one’s own motivations and feelings.

41. PROJECTION


Tunnel vision is the tendency to only see or focus on limited perspective or priority while neglecting or ignoring other important priorities or elements that are part of a bigger picture.

Many of the reasons for tunnel vision are boil down to causing - strong and uncomfortable feelings like fear and pain.

Ultimately, moving out of the tunnel is about finding clarity, even if it feels scary and overwhelming. To do that, we have to face what is actually going on instead of ignoring the reality.

We have to find the courage to face our feelings and our current reality, and moving from where we are toward the life we envision.

42. TUNNEL VISION


Escapism is a way of attempting to negate our personal responsibility and to avoid the discomfort of existential worry or fear that we all must deal with.

We are trying to avoid “spending time” with parts of ourselves and parts of our reality that we deny or disown.

Our fantasies act as a means of dissociating our minds from the “I” that possesses these qualities.

Escape to fantasy is sometimes practiced by people who present a facade to friends, partners and family members. Their true identity and feelings are commonly expressed privately in an alternate fantasy world.

43. ESCAPISM/FANTASIZING


Cognitive Distortions are exaggerated and irrational thoughts.

The distortions amplify during times of stress, overload, or threat, as we tend to resort to a simplistic, primal form of thinking that incorporates many of these fallacies.

Contemporary psychologists and psychiatrists such as Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck and David Burns assert that our emotional suffering is largely attributable to automatic thinking that is distorted in some way.

SUMMARY


If we can conquer our distorted thinking we can relieve our emotional suffering.

Conquering our cognitive distortion requires us to refute these patterns of negative thoughts and irrational feelings by what is called cognitive restructuring and is the basis for a type of therapy called Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy or CBT.

Identifying thinking errors and cognitive distortions and after that challenging and restructuring our thinking are critical steps towards improving our stress resistant thinking and building a healthy mental state that leads to realism, optimism and happiness.

SUMMARY CONTINUE


Aaron T. Beck and Gary Emery, Anxiety Disorders and Phobias: A Cognitive Perspective

Beck, A. T., Cognitive Therapies and Emotional Disorders Burns, D. David., Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy Leahy, L. Robert., Cognitive Therapy: Basic Principles and

Applications Lynn, et al., Rendering the Implausible Plausible Piaget, The Essential Piaget Steven C. Hayes, Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life Spence Donald, The Mythic Properties of Popular Explanations Stuart A. Vyse, Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition Theodore R, Sarbin, Believed-In Imaginings: A Narrative Approach Yurica, C. L., Inventory of Cognitive Distortions

REFERENCES


Moshe Ratson (MBA, MS MFT, LMFT) Licensed Marriage Family Therapist 260 Madison Avenue Suite 8023 New York, NY 10016

Phone : (917) 692-3867Email : [email protected]

http://www.spiral2grow.com/

mailto:[email protected]

COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS

Health & Medicine

Transcript of COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS