Thought Distortions
One of the strategies of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is to help the client identify and question thought distortions. We all have a few thought distortions that may lead us to questionable conclusions and behaviors. The distortions most often focused on in CBT are those we have about ourselves.
It is simpler to explain distortions in thinking with examples. The following are some common thinking patterns people use.
Emotional Reasoning: We may confuse a feeling with a fact. Because feelings are often intense we place quite a lot of emphasis on them, and begin to believe that if we feel it, that makes it so. For example, the fear people experience during a panic attack leads them to believe they are having a heart attack or they are “going crazy”. In fact, the fear is caused by an adrenaline rush to the body. The fear response most often has no connection to what may be happening, it is a faulty alarm bell in the brain.
All or Nothing Thinking: This is a favorite of many people. Perhaps your doctor has suggested some weight loss and exercise would be beneficial, but you resist since you believe the work involved is just too much. You know to establish a new eating and exercise routine is very complicated, and it seems overwhelming so you give-up before you even begin. However, even small steps toward a goal is moving toward the goal. Simply making a small change, like parking farther away from the entrance to the store, is a start. It is small, but a start. Simply reducing the amount of bread you eat is a start. The list is seemingly endless of the ways we avoid doing something using the All or Nothing Thinking strategy.
Jumping to Conclusions: Humans seem to be wired to try to anticipate what is coming next, but in this strategy the anticipation is focused on the negative. Thoughts like, “I’ll never get that raise, why ask.” Well, for sure you will not get the raise if you don’t ask, but asking does cover one of the possible reasons you may or may not get the raise.
Along with jumping to conclusions is mind reading or fortune telling. An often used thought distortion with couples. Many times in counseling with couples one person will tell the other what they are thinking and even predict the outcome of a particular situation.
Catastrophic Thinking: Many of us have negative thoughts here and there, but catastrophic thinking moves negative thoughts to the worst case scenario. Whether it is a less than stellar exam in school (I am going to flunk out of college), a cough that lingers on too long (I must have lung cancer), or an angry boss (I am sure to be fired now), people using catastrophic thinking will no doubt assume the worst.
Personalization: In this style of thinking, we tend to take everything personally. If anyone is crabby its’ your fault. If so-and-so does not return your call or text in a timely manner you think, “What did I do wrong?”
The list above includes a few of the typical thought distortions. Others include: Ignoring the positive, mental filtering, over generalization, and rejecting evidence.
What do you do about thought distortions?
- Identify the distortion.
- Examine the evidence in support of your thoughts.
- Take a survey of trusted others.
- Honestly evaluate the evidence and others’ opinions.
- Take a cost benefit analysis of maintaining a particular way of thinking.
- Change the thinking distortion by replacing it with a realistic view.