Name that distorted cognition (thought/perception)

[ms spock]

@SeanCharles - have a read of this thread, it may be of interest to you!

 

[ms spock]

1. All or nothing thinking Indeed I am doing this! But I am disputing a bit more.

2. Over-generalization pulling myself up gently for this one a bit more.

3. Mental filter -- yes and seeing this in other people drives me crazy, but it is my stuff.

4. Disqualifying the positive -- decades of practice keeps me in contact with this one - but I am improving.

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.)) My goal is stop doing this by 5% today.

6. Magnification and minimization -- yes well I am heading towards the middle way.

7. Emotional reasoning -- I feel it and it ain't necessarily so!

8. Should statements -- You try to motivate yourself with "should" and "should not," yes not impressed but not beating myself up either so improvement.

9. Labeling and mislabeling -- I have many negative labels that I attach to myself. Doing a bit better.


10. Personalization -- I blame myself for the abuse and so many other things that went wrong - when in reality I had no real power at all, and if I hadn't run away my Father would have killed us all - that was what stopped him - it was the scrutiny of my disclosures! But yet despite reality I blame myself for other people's feelings. And this is one of those things that with practicing daily Self Compassion and Radical Acceptance I will get on top of and you - doing a little bit better with this one.

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Overall I have improved dramatically with these distorted cognitions - still a long way to go, or maybe it will become culmulative? Anyway I have improved immensely with all these - picking them up during my days more and more.

Now I am working on DBT, - filling out the sheet each and every day. I still can't find my CBT book - it is time to buy a new one. I have also started SuperBetter and that is really helping.

I am cutting back on people who have too many distorted cognitions in their lives because I am not strong enough to be around those yet. It is survival.

I am proud of my growth and change. I am moving very, very slowly at times, but each day I do more than 40 things to increase my skills, to grow and change.

 

[trying2movefwd]

Help me identify this one... I was irresponsible with my money; although i did with it as my attorney advised. Although it's not my fault, a check I was supposed to recieve before my rent was due will not be coming now. The responsible party called me to verify it was happening, but not my fault. My rent will not be paid on time, I will lose my house, my family, everything. I may as well get it all over with now. After all I lose everything anyway. I fail at everything and life doesn't look like it ever gets better.....how do i change this thinking? What distorted cognitions are in my example?

 

[ms spock]

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.

So you were not irresponsible with the money - you did as advised by your attorney and it didn't work out. It happens. That is Personalisation - you are not responsible @trying2movefwd. That is Personalization -- You see yourself as the cause of some negative external event which, in fact, you were not primarily responsible for.

So that is a thought cascade that you will lose your house, your family, everything - it doesn't sound like that is really possible - just from one late rent payment so that is Magnification you are exaggerating the impact of one late payment of one rent payment.

You can't lose a family from one late rent payment so that is labelling and mislabelling.

What is "everything"? Will you lose planet Earth in this "Everything" that is emotional reasoning. It is also Labeling and mislabeling -- This is an extreme form of overgeneralization.

I may as well get it all over with now - that is emotional reasoning you assume your emotions necessarily reflect the ways things really are - but that is not so - that is just a thought. It is also all or nothing thinking.

After all I lose everything anyway. That is all or nothing thinking, and Emotional reasoning -- You assume that your emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are, as in "I feel it, therefore it must be true.

I fail at everything and life doesn't look like it ever gets better. This is all or nothing thinking, over generalisation, personalisation and emotional reasoning - it is catastrophizing.

You have quite a few distorted cognitions crammed in to a set of pattern of thinking.

You have a lot of fortune teller Error - anticipating that things will turn out badly, convinced that your prediction is is already established fact.

Hope that helps.

 

[Recovery4Me]

During my spirals of depression last week, one of my red flags or clues was the '"all or nothing" stinkin' thinkin'. Often I have to readdress my inner critic to combat shame thoughts over the reemergence. If I do not include self-compassion nor use self awareness techniques, my mind often races into a jump shot of suicide ideation among the other cognitive distortions.

What I have been practicing on is acceptance of those crash and burn moments with less rumination. I will continue to have those seasons- when I become a poster child for cognitive distortions:shy::roflmao: but I am learning the art of navigation. Less condemnation...more focus on success within resilience.

 

[sedna]

I love this thread! I am doing so many of these today, due to quitting smoking and going through withdraw...

Congrats for quitting gizmo! Its totally possible no matter how long you've done it. I never even think about it unless Im drunk or angry, I dont drink anymore but I try to eat candy instead when Im pissed off and that works pretty good. :tup:

 

[Deleted member 12723]

@coco9 I am back to smoking and trying to get ready for another attempt to quit.:oops:

 

[sedna]

@coco9 I am back to smoking and trying to get ready for another attempt to quit.:eek:ops...

It's hard when you've been doing it forever, I started when I was 14. Honestly, if the U.S. wasnt so hostile about smoking Im not sure I'd have quit completely.

I got tired of hiding behind buildings to smoke and having people look at me like I was some kind of wart covered evil goblin when I walked in a room after smoking and they could smell it , WTH is up with that anyway? Jeez.

Quitting is kind of like throwing a fishing line out, eventually one of your attempts will just take and that'll be the end of it.

In England the say " give up smoking " instead of "quit". For me that's a helpful difference. QUIT sounds like something pro active that you take charge to do.

GIVE UP sounds like you just passively ran out of energy for it and failed. Somehow associating quitting smoking wth giving up on something felt like it suited me more and it helped to think of it that way. I didnt quit to be postitive, I gave up on one more thing I thought was helping me. :laugh:

 

[Deleted member 12723]

Thank you @coco9 I really appreciate what you said.

 

[Ronin]

Personifying, magnifying / minimizing, mental filter, emotional reasoning.

 

[Ronin]

How about this: Other people's cognitive distortions are driving me crazy right now.

Yep, every day. Having to keep their thinking in mind just for basic interaction enhances my own & it's not pretty.

 

[ms spock]

I am chipping away at these each and every day! It really is making a profound difference to my daily life!