Irrational Thinking Styles – Emotional Thinking

Irrational Thinking Styles: Emotional Thinking

Believing that because you feel a certain way, then things must automatically be that way. For example, if you feel ugly then it’s because you are ugly; or if you feel that you can’t cope, then it’s because you can’t really cope, or aren’t coping. The mistake here is that emotions have no validity by themselves. They are neither right nor wrong, neither good nor bad. They just are, and are usually the consequences of our own thinking (which we have seen do not reflect accurately the way that things really are).

Example
” I feel like a total failure today. I’m such a mess and I can’t do anything right”

Instead try
” I feel like a total failure today, although that doesn’t mean that I am. I will try to focus on the good things I’ve done today instead of the bad.”

Black and White Thinking

Catastrophizing

Emotional Thinking

The Fairness Fallacy

Mind Reading

Overgeneralizing

Personalizing

Shoulds

Tunnel Vision