• 💖 [Donate To Keep MyPTSD Online] 💖 Every contribution, no matter how small, fuels our mission and helps us continue to provide peer-to-peer services. Your generosity keeps us independent and available freely to the world. MyPTSD closes if we can't reach our annual goal.

Name that distorted cognition (thought/perception)

Status
Not open for further replies.
How about this: Other people's cognitive distortions are driving me crazy right now. Catastrophizing, discounting the positives, fortune telling, I have to give myself a mental time out when I'm around it. Breathe and let it be their thing. Also, asking myself why it bothers me so much!

Maybe my reaction is to get sucked in to making it OK for others, fix it, be the one to reassure them. Take it on myself. mmmm......
 
I emailed a friend about how challenging my cognitive distortions is really working for me.

I managed okay with my sister yesterday - started to jump to conclusions and mind read (I was thinking /ruminating that not knowing a place to go and just driving around was making them unhappy) and realised I didn't know if any of that thinking had a basis in reality and I was right, it didn't have a basis in reality.

So I did really well with it all.

So by challenging my thoughts and seeking out a small reality check, I avoided a big drama in myself and potentially with my sister. Yay me! I waited and asked and the reality was that they were delighted to be driven around and to see some of the sights! So those distorted cognitions didn't ruin my day!

***pins medal on own chest***

/First Officer's Log End
 
Last edited:
Should statements -- You try to motivate yourself with "should" and "should not," as if you have to be whipped and punished before you could be expected to do anything.

I caught myself as my inner critic was 'shoulding' me on my progress not reaching a certain stage insofar as my move.

All or nothing thinking -- You see things in black and white categories. If your performance falls short of perfect, you see yourself as a total failure.

I started this next as I read a e-mail where my son suggested I figure out my budget for rent, food and look for a job ...for there, as I am here struggling to get things out of the house.:grumpy: I felt $hit...how am I suppose to budget with an imaginary future job for an future roomshare and figure out my imaginary meals from here. I felt like a total failure surrounded by a busted car and mounds of items to be packed.

Had a 30 second pity party...then :spitdummy: &:stop:. Said bump it... I am what I am.

Jumping to conclusions -- You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusion. (Involves mind-reading and fortune-telling.)

Yeah, that happened too, when my kid told me about a Mental Health Clinic and to consider seeking disability. Alarms went off!:ninja: Still working on slowing down those conclusions...lol I have had PTSD my whole life as I supported his preppy growing butt....wtf!
 
Last edited:
I have been doing

Jumping to conclusions -- You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusion. (Involves mind-reading and fortune-telling.)

I didn't realise how much of this that I do - I am constantly thinking about what other people might be thinking of me.

Magnification and minimization -- You exaggerate the importance of things, or you inappropriately shrink things until they appear tiny.

I am making some things bigger than they are and I am ruminating on them. I am comfort eating and binge eating around them.

All or nothing thinking -- You see things in black and white categories. If your performance falls short of perfect, you see yourself as a total failure.

Yes I have a fair bit of this going on!

Personalization -- You see yourself as the cause of some negative external event which, in fact, you were not primarily responsible for.

Yes I see myself as being very bad and to blame for all the continuing childhood traumas and all the trauma bonding that I did after as a teenager and an adult.

I am doing some of the other ones as well, but that is enough for now.
 
During meditation, I am watching my thoughts pop in for attention that are quite warpy or cognitive distorted. However, as meditation is supposed to be not so judgmental...I have to accept them briefly as floating in (whether right or wrong) and then refocus to the breathing.

Like I am trying to be loving and kind in thought, then the angry thoughts of the x pop in and I go to 'all or nothing thinking' basically thinking the entire realtionship meant nothing. Then I breathe, refocus and in compassion realize that it meant something to me.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top