Name that distorted cognition (thought/perception)

[ms spock]

So of the 10 primary cognitive distortions I have improved in all of the below:

1. 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.
2. Over-generalization -- You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.
3. Mental filter -- You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it so exclusively that your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that colors the entire beaker of water.
4. Disqualifying the positive -- You reject positive experiences by insisting they "don't count" for some reason or other. In this way you can maintain a negative belief that is contradicted by your everyday experiences.
5. 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.
6. Magnification and minimization -- You exaggerate the importance of things, or you inappropriately shrink things until they appear tiny.
7. Emotional reasoning -- You assume that your emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are, as in "I feel it, therefore it must be true."
8. 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.
9. Labeling and mislabeling -- This is an extreme form of overgeneralization. Instead of describing your error, you attach a negative label to yourself.
10. Personalization -- You see yourself as the cause of some negative external event which, in fact, you were not primarily responsible for.

It has taken up a lot of time and effort. I can see how I can up the ante and be a little bit better in picking them up. Each day I am getting incrementally better at picking them up, and not buying into them so much any more.

Someone else who understands the ‘New Cage Movement’ is harmful. The psychologists that exploited and abused me believed all of this stuff. And they got me working on this shit for the better part of a decade.

Such a shame I couldn't tell the crazy people apart from the people that were saner. Anyway, I am unpacking all that stuff, and I did six lots of different stuff yesterday.

Usually if I felt that overwhelmed or anxious I would end up on the couch binge watching TV and comfort/eating. I didn't do that, I turned up to each and every one, and I did really well with it all. Likewise the day before. I did six different things with six different groups. I was seriously overbooked for two days - and I paced myself - and didn't give into my distorted thinking, and I got it all done. I am very pleased that I am building up capacity.

 

[ms spock]

• 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 still do a bit of this, but much, much less than I used to - doing the Self Compassion Breaks, and disputing my distorted cognitions, is really helping to not get stuck to this so much. I am aware, much more, of being so hard on myself, and how unproductive that has been.

 

[Chiqui]

Someone else who understands the ‘New Cage Movement’ is harmful. The

Very well said. I was trapped in a New Age cult and it is not easy to clear the thinking path and re walk the rational common sense of thinking .The identification and replacement of distorted thinking it has been the best method for me as far.

 

[ms spock]

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

I have been breaking this one down!

 

[ms spock]

Mental filter -- You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it so exclusively that your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that colors the entire beaker of water.

I am doing this less, and less, every day. I am picking myself up for these issues, and I am doing much better with it.

 

[ms spock]

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

Doing a lot better with this, I am doing less and less minimization!

 

[ms spock]

This might be of interest for you @Nonentity? If not, please ignore @Nonentity!

@SheilaKathy - you asked for suggestions - this might be of assistance?

 

[ms spock]

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.
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Doing better with this! I am still way too hard on myself, but I am improving.

 

[ms spock]

More jumping to conclusions and mind reading. Getting much better at pulling this apart.

 

[ms spock]

Heya @JadesJewel you might find this of interest?

 

[ms spock]

I realised today that I am really gullible in many ways. My jumping to conclusions and mindreading has meant that I have quite toxic people into my life, and close because I was presuming their intentions were noble, despite the fact I noticed the lying, and the manipulation, and the rest. So I was derealised or depersonalised? Or just plain dissociated. So I need to get real about people a lot more than I currently do. I am so naive.

 

[Deleted member 37085]

Having just completed 16 EMDR sessions earlier this year I am now beginning (after a lot of the trauma was numbed) to hear the lies my brain tells my mind. And am I goin' to do this thing called life perfectly? No. I am learning each day from my mistakes. Have a nice day @Disco Dancing Queen. Wishing you a wonderful day! Peace and above all...Love.