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Cognitive Distortions

A distortion* of thinking is something that may have some truth to it, but overall is not valid, objective, and reliable. Cognitive distortions hamper problem solving, reasoning, and decision making by distorting reality during a subjective mental process. It takes the focus off the factors that are actually operating. Synonyms for distortion would include: twisted, contorted, misshapen, and awry

ALL or NOTHING THINKING (Polarized): You see things in black-or-white categories. If a situation is anything less than perfect you see it as a total failure. Phrases include extremes such as “always/never”, “everyone/no one”.

OVERGENERALIZATION: Your see a single event as a never-ending pattern of defeat by using the words always or never when you think about it.

MENTAL FILTER: You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively. One word of criticism erases all the praise you’ve received.

DISCOUNTING THE POSITIVE (Minimizing): You reject positive experiences by insisting they “don’t count.” If you do a good job, you tell yourself that anyone could have done as well. Watch for the word “just”.

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS: You interpret things negatively (or positively) when there are no facts to support your conclusion. Two common variations are mind-reading (you arbitrarily conclude that someone is reacting negatively to you) and fortune-telling (you assume and predict that things will turn out badly).

MAGNIFICATION (Catastrophizing): You exaggerate the importance of your problems and shortcomings, or you minimize your desirable qualities. This is also called the “binocular trick.”

EMOTIONAL REASONING: You assume that your negative emotions reflect the way things realty are: “I feel guilty. I must be a rotten person.”

“SHOULD” STATEMENTS: You tell yourself that things should be the way you hoped or expected them to be. Many people try to motivate themselves with should or shouldn’t as if they had to be punished before they could be expected to do anything. These statements include words such as “should”, “must”, “have to”, “need to”.

LABELING: This is an extreme form of all-or-nothing thinking. Instead of saying “I made a mistake,” you attach a negative label to yourself: “I’m a loser,”

PERSONALIZATION AND BLAME: You hold yourself personally responsible for events that aren’t entirely under you Control.

GRASS IS GREENER: You believe that whatever you have now is unacceptable and that life would be better “if only” you made a change. “If only I worked in X department. . .” or “If only I had X for a supervisor. . .”

Adapted from The Good Feeling Handbook, copyright © 1989 by David D. Burns, M.D. Reprinted by Permission of William Morrow & Co. Inc.

*Merriam Webster FULL DEFINITION (scroll down) of distortion

Accessed 11/04/16: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/distort