THINKING DISTORTIONS

&
HOW TO OVERCOME ON IT
 COMMON COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS

• What’s a cognitive distortion and why do so many people have them? Cognitive
distortions are simply ways that our mind convinces us of something that isn’t
really true. These inaccurate thoughts are usually used to reinforce negative
thinking or emotions — telling ourselves things that sound rational and accurate,
but really only serve to keep us feeling bad about ourselves.
 FILTERING

• A person engaging in filter (or “mental filtering) takes the negative details
and magnifies those details while filtering out all positive aspects of a
situation. For instance, a person may pick out a single, unpleasant detail and
dwell on it exclusively so that their vision of reality becomes darkened or
distorted. When a cognitive filter is applied, the person sees only the
negative and ignores anything positive.
• Example;
• a depressed Admin associate overhears some work colleagues making fun of her best friend. She
becomes furious as her thought dominates: "That's what people are basically like — cruel and
insensitive!"
 POLARIZED THINKING (OR “BLACK AND
WHITE” THINKING)

• In polarized thinking, things are either “black-or-white” — all or

nothing. We have to be perfect or we’re a complete and abject
failure — there is no middle ground. A person with polarized
thinking places people or situations in “either/or” categories, with
no shades of gray or allowing for the complexity of most people
and most situations. A person with black-and-white thinking sees
things only in extremes.
 OVERGENERALIZATION

• In this cognitive distortion, a person comes to a general

conclusion based on a single incident or a single piece of
evidence. If something bad happens just once, they expect it to
happen over and over again. A person may see a single,
unpleasant event as part of a never-ending pattern of defeat.
• For instance, if a student gets a poor grade on one paper in one
semester, they conclude they are a horrible student and should quit
school.
 JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS

• Without individuals saying so, a person who jumps to conclusions knows what
another person is feeling and thinking — and exactly why they act the way they do.
In particular, a person is able to determine how others are feeling toward the
person, as though they could read their mind. Jumping to conclusions can also
manifest itself as fortune-telling, where a person believes their entire future is pre-
ordained (whether it be in school, work, or romantic relationships).
• Example;
• involving fortune-telling is when a person may anticipate that things will turn out badly in
their next relationship, and will feel convinced that their prediction is already an established
fact, so why bother dating.
 CATASTROPHIZING

• Catastrophizing is a way of thinking called a ‘cognitive distortion.’ A person who

catastrophizes usually sees an unfavorable outcome to an event and then decides
that if this outcome does happen, the results will be a disaster.
• some examples of catastrophizing:
• “If I fail this test, I will never pass school, and I will be a total failure in life.”
• “If I don’t recover quickly from this procedure, I will never get better, and I will be disabled
my entire life.”
• “If my partner leaves me, I will never find anyone else, and I will never be happy again.”
 PERSONALIZATION

• A person engaging in personalization may also see themselves as the cause of some
unhealthy external event that they were not responsible for. The personalization
thinking error involves seeing yourself as the cause of everything negative, even
though you are not the one responsible. This often leads to feelings of shame and
guilt.
• For example,
• “We were late to the dinner party and caused everyone to have a terrible time. If I had only
pushed my husband to leave on time, this wouldn’t have happened.”
 FALLACY OF FAIRNESS

• In the fallacy of fairness, a person feels resentful because they think that they
know what is fair, but other people won’t agree with them. As our parents
tell us when we’re growing up and something doesn’t go our way, “Life isn’t
always fair.” People who go through life applying a measuring ruler against
every situation judging its “fairness” will often feel resentful, angry, and
even hopelessness because of it. Because life isn’t fair — things will not
always work out in a person’s favor, even when they should.
 BLAMING

• When a person engages in blaming, they hold other people responsible for
their emotional pain. They may also take the opposite track and instead
blame themselves for every problem — even those clearly outside their own
control.
• For example,
• “Stop making me feel bad about myself!” Nobody can “make” us feel any particular
way — only we have control over our own emotions and emotional reactions.
 SHOULD

• Should statements (“I should pick up after myself more…”) appear as a list of
ironclad rules about how every person should behave. People who break the rules
make a person following these should statements angry. They also feel guilty when
they violate their own rules. A person may often believe they are trying to motivate
themselves with should and shouldn't, as if they have to be punished before they
can do anything.
• For example,
• “I really should exercise. I shouldn’t be so lazy.” Musts and ought are also offenders. The
emotional consequence is guilt. When a person directs should statements toward others, they
often feel anger, frustration and resentment
 EMOTIONAL REASONING
• The distortion of emotional reasoning can be summed up by the statement, “If I feel
that way, it must be true.” Whatever a person is feeling is believed to be true
automatically and unconditionally. If a person feels stupid and boring, then they
must be stupid and boring.
• Emotional reasoning happens when you tend to believe that what you feel is an
accurate representation of what is actually happening. Unfortunately our emotions
are a really poor indicator of what is happening because our emotions are actually
‘outcomes’ of what we think or perceive about a situation rather than something
that determines how we think!
• Example; You find yourself, out of the blue, having feelings of guilt. You conclude that you
MUST have done something wrong or somehow be a ‘bad’ person otherwise you wouldn’t
feel guilty.
 GLOBAL LABELING

• Labeling is a cognitive distortion in which we generalize by taking one

characteristic of a person, and applying it to the whole person. Because I failed a
test, I am a failure. Because she is frequently late to work, she is irresponsible. If
someone responded in a brusque way, he is a jerk. Rather than more objectively
thinking about the behavior, when we engage in labeling, we globally describe the
whole person. As a result, we view the entire person through the label, such as jerk,
and filter out any information that doesn’t fit under the umbrella of the label. This
results in the label feeling more apt a descriptor of the person, and we believe it
more.
 ALWAYS BEING RIGHT

• When a person engages in this distortion, they are continually

putting other people on trial to prove that their own opinions and
actions are the absolute correct ones. To a person engaging in
“always being right,” being wrong is unthinkable — they will go
to any length to demonstrate their rightness.
 WHAT IS OVER THINKING

• Just like it sounds, overthinking is thinking about something too

much or for too long. When you’re searching for a job or
competing with coworkers for a promotion, it is easy to spend a
lot of time considering cover letters, applications and interviews
instead of relaxing and paying more attention to your current job
or your family.
 WHY YOU SHOULD STOP OVERTHINKING
• thinking too much about your problems, mistakes or shortcomings can increase your
risk of health problems. Reducing overthinking can lower stress, help you sleep better
and positively affect your career.
• Stress levels can have a big impact on your work performance. Getting rid of stress can
help you increase your motivation, focus on short- and long-term goals and have better
interactions with your colleagues. When people are more relaxed, they often feel like
they have more control over big decisions and the ways they complete individual
tasks.
• Avoiding overthinking can also help you fall asleep at night as well. Better sleep has
many of the same benefits as lower stress levels, including an improved mood, better
motivation and more focus. Instead of delaying or avoiding asking for a raise, a
promotion or additional training because of overthinking, you should take the actions
needed to improve your career.
 WHAT ARE PERSONALITY
DISORDERS
• Personality is the way of thinking, feeling and behaving that makes a person different from other people. An
individual’s personality is influenced by experiences, environment (surroundings, life situations) and inherited
characteristics. A person’s personality typically stays the same over time. A personality disorder is a way of
thinking, feeling and behaving that deviates from the expectations of the culture, causes distress or problems
functioning, and lasts over time.
• There are 10 specific types of personality disorders. Personality disorders are long-term patterns of behavior
and inner experiences that differs significantly from what is expected. The pattern of experience and behavior
begins by late adolescence or early adulthood and causes distress or problems in functioning. Without
treatment, personality disorders can be long-lasting. Personality disorders affect at least two of these areas:

• Way of thinking about oneself and others

• Way of responding emotionally
• Way of relating to other people
• Way of controlling one’s behavior
 TYPES OF PERSONALITY
DISORDERS
• Antisocial personality disorder:
• a pattern of disregarding or violating the rights of others. A person with antisocial personality
disorder may not conform to social norms, may repeatedly lie or deceive others, or may act
impulsively.
• Avoidant personality disorder:
• a pattern of extreme shyness, feelings of inadequacy and extreme sensitivity to criticism. People with
avoidant personality disorder may be unwilling to get involved with people unless they are certain of
being liked, be preoccupied with being criticized or rejected, or may view themselves as not being
good enough or socially inept.
• Borderline personality disorder:
• a pattern of instability in personal relationships, intense emotions, poor self-image and impulsivity. A
person with borderline personality disorder may go to great lengths to avoid being abandoned, have
repeated suicide attempts, display inappropriate intense anger or have ongoing feelings of emptiness.
 PERSONALITY
• Dependent personality disorder:
• a pattern of needing to be taken care of and submissive and clingy behavior. People with dependent
personality disorder may have difficulty making daily decisions without reassurance from others or
may feel uncomfortable or helpless when alone because of fear of inability to take care of
themselves.
• Histrionic personality disorder:
• a pattern of excessive emotion and attention seeking. People with histrionic personality disorder may
be uncomfortable when they are not the center of attention, may use physical appearance to draw
attention to themselves or have rapidly shifting or exaggerated emotions.
• Narcissistic personality disorder:
• a pattern of need for admiration and lack of empathy for others. A person with narcissistic
personality disorder may have a grandiose sense of self-importance, a sense of entitlement, take
advantage of others or lack empathy.
 PERSONALITY DISORDER
• Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder:
• a pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfection and control. A person with obsessive-
compulsive personality disorder may be overly focused on details or schedules, may work
excessively not allowing time for leisure or friends, or may be inflexible in their morality and values.
(This is NOT the same as obsessive compulsive disorder.)
• Paranoid personality disorder:
• a pattern of being suspicious of others and seeing them as mean or spiteful. People with paranoid
personality disorder often assume people will harm or deceive them and don’t confide in others or
become close to them.
• Schizoid personality disorder:
• being detached from social relationships and expressing little emotion. A person with schizoid
personality disorder typically does not seek close relationships, chooses to be alone and seems to not
care about praise or criticism from others.
• Schizotypal personality disorder:
• a pattern of being very uncomfortable in close relationships, having distorted thinking and eccentric
behavior. A person with schizotypal personality disorder may have odd beliefs or odd or peculiar
behavior or speech or may have excessive social anxiety.
 CONTI..

People with BPD also have a tendency to think in extremes, a phenomenon called "dichotomous" or
“black-or-white” thinking.2 People with BPD often struggle to see the complexity in people and
situations and are unable to recognize that things are often not either perfect or horrible, but are
something in between. This can lead to "splitting," which refers to an inability to maintain a cohesive
set of beliefs about oneself and others.
Because of these extreme patterns of thinking, people with borderline personality are prone to slip
from one side to the opposite side in their thinking. For example, they might one day believe that their
partner is the most wonderful, loving person in the world, and the next thing that they are evil, hateful
and full of contempt. This can harm their potential to hold lasting interpersonal relationships and how
they can interact with others.
For instance, persons with Paranoid Personality Disorders exhibit suspicious thinking and therefore
have difficulty trusting other people. They may misinterpret what other people say or do as intentional
attempts to attack them, hurt them, or take advantage of them. In turn, they end up holding grudges and
may act in ways that are overly defensive, hostile, or even aggressive. You can imagine this thought
pattern will cause a lot of anxiety for the person who is paranoid, and that this type guardedness,
defensiveness, and hostility is very unpleasant for the other people around them. Obviously, this type
of distrust makes close relationships nearly impossible.
People with Schizotypal Personality Disorders exhibit odd beliefs. They might be extremely
superstitious and have unusual beliefs in magic or the supernatural. Other people often find such a
person odd and eccentric, and may feel uncomfortable being around someone who holds such
strange and unusual ideas. People with Schizotypal Personality Disorder sense they are quite
different from others and are often aware that other people seem uncomfortable around them. As a
result, they have chronic feelings of just not "fitting in.“
People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder exhibit distorted thinking when they go back and
forth between over-idealizing themselves, and then completely devaluing themselves. In addition,
they have a tendency to over-estimate the importance or significance of their abilities and talents.
Persons with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder frequently have fantasies of having unlimited
power, success, or special talents. These over-idealized beliefs about themselves can cause them to
behave in ways that are arrogant, ruthless, and entitled. Such behavior frequently causes a lot of
conflict with others. For example, a person with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder may ignore the
social custom of waiting in a queue to purchase a ticket. Instead, they will march to the front of the
queue, believing they are more important than the other people in line and are therefore entitled to
special treatment. Of course, the people waiting politely in the queue do not respond well and
conflict erupts.