Cognitive Distortions

Cognitive Distortions

Cognitive distortions are errors of thinking that can alter the way we process information. They are associated with negative and critical self-talk. This negative view may lead to psychological and emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression. Instead of using the rational information we have available for interpreting a situation, we give attention to the dysfunctional beliefs we may carry with us. This predisposes us to feel in a negative way about some situation. Many of us have one or more of these distortions and we can benefit from their identification and modification.

There are a number of identified distortions:

Magnification: – blowing things out of proportion.

Black and White or dichotomous thinking: thinking and talking in extreme either/or terms.

Selective Abstraction: focusing upon only one feature of a situation, and ignoring other, more salient features.

Over-generalization: making general statements and conclusions on the basis of isolated occurrences.

Global Labeling: assigning generalized and usually negative labels to people, including ourselves.

To discover your cognitive distortions you must monitor your ‘automatic thoughts’. Automatic thoughts are triggered by certain events. By writing down these thoughts and the feelings you can begin to challenge and change them.

Identifying and sorting out our cognitive distortions promotes self-awareness, self-esteem and the development of coping and problem-solving skills.