Cognitive Distortions

Author: Katie Leoni, Psy.D.

What Are Cognitive Distortions?
The idea behind CBT is that all of us sometimes think in ways that are inaccurate or irrational. We call these cognitive distortions, and they occur when our mind convinces us of something that is not actually true and we unknowingly reinforce this belief over time. It is normal to have cognitive distortions, no one is immune from them. The difference is in the quantity and the impact these distortions have on a person’s life. When a person is anxious or depressed, they tend to have more irrational thoughts and cognitive distortions. When you’re less anxious or depressed, you tend to have more rational thoughts. This makes sense from a CBT perspective as thoughts, feelings, and behaviors affect one another. The goal of treatment is to teach clients how to recognize certain thoughts that might be getting in the way of living the life they want to live as well as teaching clients how to modify those thoughts to be be more rational.

Common Cognitive Distortions
Identifying cognitive distortions that you engage in is an important first step to balanced thinking. Once you know what they are, you are better able to challenge them and question their truth. Below are common cognitive distortions. Remember, this list exists because we all experience cognitive distortions on a daily basis!

• All or Nothing/Black and White Thinking
  • ​Viewing the situation in only two categories instead of on a continuum.
  • “If I don’t succeed, then I am a failure.”
• Over-generalizing
  • Seeing a pattern based upon a single event, or being overly broad in the conclusions you draw.
  • ​“I did a horrible job on this project, I am a bad employee.”; “I will never be able to speak in public because I once had a panic attack before giving a speech.”
• Mental Filter
  • Only paying attention to the negatives as opposed to the whole picture.
  • “Because I got one low rating on my evaluation, it means I’m doing a poor job.”
• Disqualifying the Positive
  • Unreasonably discounting the positive things that have happened or that you have done.
  • ​“I got promoted at work but only because no one else wanted it.”; “I didn’t have a panic attack today, but it’s only because I was too busy to be worried.”
• Jumping to Conclusions
  • ​Mind reading: Assuming that you know what someone else is thinking.
    • “He thinks that I don’t know what I’m talking about.”
  • Fortune telling: Assuming you can predict the future.
    • ​“I know I will draw a blank during my presentation tomorrow."
• Magnification/Minimization
  • When evaluating yourself, another person, or a situation, you unreasonably magnify the negative and/or minimize the positive.
  • “Getting a mediocre evaluation proves how inadequate I am.”
• Catastrophizing
  • Blowing circumstances out of proportion and making things out to be a lot worse then they are without considering other, more likely outcomes.
  • ​“I will be so upset, I won’t be able to function at all.”; “He’ll never want to be friend after what I said to him."
• Emotional Reasoning
  • Interpreting your experience of reality based upon how you are feeling, ignoring or discounting evidence to the contrary.
  • ​“I feel so embarrassed so I must be an idiot.”
• “Should” and “Must” Statements
  • The tendency to make unrealistic and unreasonable demands on yourself or others. 
  • “I should never make a mistake.”; “I must work out every day this year.”; “She should have been considerate and left earlier like I did.”
• Labeling
  • Making global statements about ourselves or about others based on situation specific behavior.
  • ​“I’m a loser”; “They’re such an idiot.”
• Personalization
  • Blaming yourself or taking responsibility for something that wasn’t completely your fault. Or, blaming other people for something that was your fault.
  • “The waitress was rude to me because I did something wrong.”

If you are interested in learning more about cognitive distortions and the way they are impacting you, please contact us to set up a phone consultation.