Cognitive Distortions

What are they?

Cognitive distortions are, in essence, thoughts not based in fact. Most cognitive distortions have a kernel of truth to them, but that truth has been altered in some type of a way and is now ineffective for us, meaning it leads to uncomfortable emotions, distress, or unhelpful behaviors. An example of a cognitive distortion might be “I’m a screwup, I can’t do anything right.” We could say that this is a distortion (the overgeneralization and all-or-nothing types) because, chances are, you’re actually pretty good at a couple of things. This thought might have come about after making one mistake on something earlier in life, but I have now generalized it to all aspects of my life, and I now hold it as a belief about myself and my abilities in every part of life!

Another example could be “I’m going to bomb in this interview I have coming up.” Sure, there is a possibility that I may not do as well as I would like, but is that statement based on the facts? No! It’s an all-or-nothing and fortune telling type of distortion, as there’s no room for middle ground and there’s an equal chance I do well too!

Cognitive distortions can have major effects over our moods, emotions, and behaviors. If you have the thought that “I’m awful at everything I do”, there’s a good chance you will start to feel shame, self-hatred, or worthlessness, and you may engage in behaviors like over-eating, isolating from others, or using alcohol or other substances to cope with those emotions and negative thought patterns.

What examples of cognitive distortions can you see yourself using in your own life? Write down a few distortions you can spot in your own patterns of thinking.

Types of CDs

So, we’ve established that cognitive distortions are ineffective thinking patterns not based on facts. But what are some different types of CDs? Here’s a list of some examples to watch for in your own thinking patterns. Side note: this is not an exhaustive list but just a few of the more common types of distortions! Also, a lot of your CDs may fall into multiple categories.

• All-or-Nothing/Black-and-White Thinking

  • Thoughts without any “grey space”, “middle ground”, or only seeing the extremes

  • Example: “ALL of this is terrible”; “Either I do it right or not at all”

• Overgeneralization

  • Thoughts that take one example and generalizing that into a pattern

  • Example: Getting negative feedback on a work task and having the thought that “I’m terrible at my job” or “I’m a horrible employee”

• Mental filtering

  • Thoughts that focus on only negative information and excluding any positives. A helpful metaphor can be “seeing the world through a set of grey-colored lenses.”

  • Example: Having the thought that “today is a terrible day” because it’s grey and rainy but forgetting about the delightful conversation you had with a friend.

• Jumping to conclusions:

  • Thoughts that lead us to predicting the future or other people’s experiences, even though we don’t know what might happen. There are a couple types of jumping to conclusion CDs:

  • Mind reading:

    • Imagining we know what others are thinking

    • Example: “They’re laughing over there; they must be laughing at my outfit.”

  • Catastrophizing:

    • Envisioning the worst possible outcome of an event

    • Example: “If I don’t get this project in on time, I’m going to lose my job and then have no money and I’ll lose my home!”

  • Fortune telling:

    • Predicting the future with thoughts not based on facts

    • Example: “I’m running late to lunch; my friend is going to hate me and never talk to me again!”

• Emotional reasoning:

  • Assuming that what we think must be true because we feel a certain way

  • Example: “I feel furious, they must have meant to make me angry!”

• Should statements

  • Using “should”, “ought to”, “must” or “have to” statements that are not based on facts

  • Examples: “I should call my parents”; “I have to go to that friend’s birthday party.”

• Personalization

  • Taking everything personally or taking responsibility for something that isn’t your fault

  • Example: “She must be irritated because of something I said.”

If you wrote down a few of your cognitive distortions earlier, which of these categories do your CDs fall under?

What do I do about them?

So now that we’ve identified what distortions are and maybe even identified a few of your own, let’s talk about what you can do about them to reduce distress and engage in more helpful behaviors.

Use the AAA formula to work with unhelpful thinking patterns: Awareness, Acceptance, Action!

You first must observe or notice the thought. You’re well on your way to doing that by noting the distortions in the steps you took above. After you finish this blog post, try noticing what thoughts you have throughout the rest of your week. Tune into your thinking patterns at various points with a bit of mindfulness (see past blogs posts on how to practice mindfulness in your day!) Try to pay attention to how that distortion may influence your emotions and behaviors and describe its potential impact to yourself. Sometimes using certain “alarm words” can help you build awareness of distorted thinking; alarms words could include words like “always”, “never”, “right”, “wrong”, “should”, “have to”, “must”, “fail”, “good”, “bad”, or attributing certain thoughts or emotions to others without knowing how they think or feel.

Once you’ve noticed the distortion, then accept that it is present in your thinking and acknowledge that you have a decision to make in how you want to respond to it. By acknowledging that we have a choice in how we want to respond to it, you are working to change your relationship with the thought. From there, then take action and respond to your thought! Try a couple of the following techniques to see what helps challenge the distortions you have already noted.

• Defusion techniques: Try to have a conversation with the voice that produced the distortion and tell it that it is not helpful right now. Alternatively, try adding the phrase “I’m having the thought that” to the distortion “no one likes me”. By adding that phrase, it helps us acknowledge the distortion as just a thought, one that does not have to influence our emotions or behaviors. There’s lot of other techniques for defusion, so talk to CPGR to learn more!

• Reframing: Change the content of the thought to be more factual and realistic. An example could be taking the distortion like “I’m useless” and reframing it to say “I didn’t complete that task as well as I would’ve wanted to, and I perform these other parts of my job really well.”

• Reality testing: Try challenging your distortion with facts! If you have the distortion that “I’m never going to get that project done”, try to challenge it with the facts that you can’t predict the future or that while it may take some time, you can accomplish it with small steps and patience.

• Distraction: If a distortion is leading to distress or ineffective behaviors and none of the other strategies listed above have worked, try distracting yourself for a time from the thought. Try engaging in an activity that will require you to move your body and use your mind, like singing and dancing simultaneously, to totally distract yourself!

Remember, practice, practice, practice! The more you practice awareness of your thoughts and these strategies, the easier it will become to manage them!

If you would like to talk more about cognitive distortions, mindfulness, defusion or other ways to manage unhelpful thinking, reach out to CPGR to set up an appointment!