Have you ever felt bogged down by negative thoughts, only to later realize they weren’t entirely true? It’s likely you’ve come across cognitive distortions— these are skewed ways of thinking that tend to intensify emotional stress. Grasping these distortions can be a step toward improving your mental well-being.
What Are Cognitive Distortions?
Cognitive distortions are systematic errors in thinking that influence our emotions and actions. They can make us unnecessarily anxious, depress our mood, and tarnish our self-image. Here are some common types.
- Black-and-white (or all-or-nothing) thinking.
Ex: “I never have anything interesting to say.” - Jumping to conclusions (or mind-reading)
Ex: “The doctor is going to tell me I have cancer.” - Personalization – blaming yourself, making it your fault.
Ex: “Our team lost because of me.” - Should Statements – Believing that things ‘should’ be a certain way.
Ex: “I should be losing weight.” - Mental filter – focusing on the negative, ignoring proof that goes against your existing beliefs.
Ex: “I am terrible at getting enough sleep.” - Overgeneralization – making broad interpretation from a small sample size of events.
Ex: After one bad date, saying “I’ll never find a partner…” - Magnification and minimization (magnifying the negative, minimizing the positive).
Ex: “It was just one healthy meal.” - Fortune-telling – predicting the future.
Ex: “My cholesterol is going to be sky-high.” - Comparison – Comparing yourself to others, framing yourself in a negative light.
Ex: “All of my coworkers are happier than me.” - Catastrophizing – Jumping to the worst case scenario immediately.
Ex: “This spot on my skin is probably skin cancer; I’ll be dead soon.” - Labeling – Applying labels to yourself.
Ex: “I’m just not a healthy person.” - Disqualifying the positive – discounting positive things..
Ex: I answered that well, but it was a lucky guess.
