Name that distorted cognition (thought/perception)

[ms spock]

@Dana1010 this might be of interest for you?

 

[ms spock]

All or Nothing Thinking!

 

[ms spock]

All or nothing thinking
Maladaptive daydreaming - so fortune telling and mind reading

 

[ms spock]

So still with the all or nothing thinking, but I am tackling it a bit more and not getting as stuck, paralysed, frozen, dissociated, depersonalised derealised. It is helping with the ruminations and the maladaptive daydreaming.

My parents are not with me these days, but I have had two minor betrayals and one significant betrayal - but I am not ruminating on them as much as I would have in the past.

Maladaptive daydreaming - so fortune telling and mind reading - but noticing it more, stopping it sooner, distracting myself out, disputing thoughts, changing venue, changing venue actually is so effective - I had no idea that changing venue would have such an impact on me. So I am being more mindful of that. To get out of hypervigilance enough to do the thought disputing is quite the journey. I am getting there a bit more these days. I am also trying to distract myself when my body is feeling the feelings of being raped, or the fears of being raped at night - so I have done every thing that I can think of and my psychiatrist can think of to fix that - and at this time I can't shift it so I am just going for more self soothing, and calming. It is getting access to the feelings to feel them. Or to step out of reliving the past over and over again to be here now. Still a huge challenge, but much improved.

 

[Lionheart]

What exactly is magical thinking? and how is it a problem for people? What is wrong with a little "magic'?

 

[ms spock]

It is not a creative, or artistic magical type thinking @Lionheart777. Bouts of magical thinking are part of the experiences of some people with schizophrenia and delusional disorders.

Magical thinking is not facing up to reality. It is thinking that because you think something it is so.

So it is an important thing to be aware of when disputing distorted cognitions.

In some instances obsessive thoughts cause people to engage in compulsions, rituals, rites, ruminations, or beliefs in an attempt to stave off the thoughts/feelings. People may intellectually know that, repeatedly tapping a door will not keep them safe, but can't resist the urge to do so.

Or worse still people think something is so - and then they cling to that despite evidence to the contrary.

 

[ms spock]

Doing a bit less all or nothing thinking.
Doing less jumping to conclusions and mind reading.
I am outside of my ruminations now, more than I am inside them. I have noticed this shift these last few weeks! I still get caught up in them at times, but I can get outside of them. Bit shift within my recovery process.

 

[ms spock]

Doing less of all or nothing thinking!

 

[Lionheart]

It is not a creative, or artistic magical type thinking @Lionheart777. Bouts of magical thinking are part of the experiences of some people with schizophrenia and delusional disorders.

Magical thinking is not facing up to reality. It is thinking that because you think something it is so.

Thank you for explaining that to me. It helps me to put things into perspective.

Still I wonder could intentional dissociation be considered a type of magical thinking? For instance; I used to "go into" the mirror to escape the reality of my situation when I was a child,.....thinking that it would keep me safe and preserve my spirit. Is that magical thinking too?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[ms spock]

@Lionheart777

Please feel free to start your own thread to get down to the nitty gritty of what you want to know, but that is not the parameters within which this thread was started for. I am trying to be more disciplined in not introducing information or discussion that takes a thread off into a tangent.

This is a thread for actually breaking down the distorted thinking and discussing which distorted thinking styles you are doing, you are improving on, and that you are working to change, which distorted cognitions that you have slipped back into.

I can't even offer to private message you as I am incredibly time poor these with my new training regime.

1) I would enthusiasitically suggest that you read David D. Burns' book "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy". You can borrow it from most libraries, and these days when you join up to libraries, you can down load eBooks at home, and whilst borrowing eBooks and read them on your computer screen at home.

2) You can also read David Burn's website Feeling Good

3) You can also google David Burns on youtube as well. That will give you the background knowledge that you are seeking. Marsha Lineham is also available to watch on youtube as well, and well as many other highly qualified and gifted teachers. You could start a thread asking what other members suggest that you view and consider.

4) Anthony and other members, on this forum, have written about David Burns' top ten distorted cognitions, you can find those by using the search function.

5) The Feeling Good Book is also available as an audiobook, so you could listen to it at home as well.

6) You can also search for other writers and books written about the questions that you are asking, some of them are online for free, and some of them cost, and some of them would be available from your local library.

7) Google is your friend and you can google questions on magical thinking and maladaptive daydreaming to your heart's content.

8) Buy this book secondhand! "The Feeling Good Handbook" by David Burns. Do ALL the writing exercises! Or borrow it from a library or a friend and get a journal and do all the writing exercises! Highly Recommended!

9) Read Sarah Edelman - CBT but a different approach.

10) Keep researching until you find a way that works for you. Refine, practice, perservere, practice, practice, practice.

11) This website is free www.dbtselfhelp.com - my favourite part is the "Instant Mindfulness" page. You can work through the whole DBT program here - easy to read - accessible. All you need is pen and paper, and a routine that works for you, and lots of willingness to practice, practice, practice!

12) @Lionheart777 I participated in dozens of this forum's online challenges, and it really helped to be doing your work, along with people who were also working hard on their own recovery.

@Lionheart777 also look into the "New Cage Movement". Someone else who understands the ‘New Cage Movement’ is harmful. The New Cage Movement is used to describe the more ungrounded, dangerous and simplistic elements of the New Age movement, including:

1) wishful thinking mantras,
2) spiritual bypass
3) premature forgiveness practices
4) perpetual denial of common sense realities
5) superficial healing techniques
6) insistence on inflated, fantastical perspectives
7) On a "relational level", the New Cage connections are often "woundmates," priding and congratulating themselves in their seeming "spirituality", but are unboundaried, ungrounded and attempt to control others,
8) Everything that happens is meant-to-be

Good luck with working on your own distorted cognitions!

 

[ms spock]

I stopped minimising someone's actions, and it enabled me to take a stand. I should have stepped up to the plate immediately on that one, and not been so gutless and people pleasing. The fawning is still a huge issue for me, but also major improvement for me there as well.

I have an over all improvement in each arena of distorted thinking. I have made so much progress! It is a phenomenal achievement for me. I can't believe it. When I started working with these top ten distorted cognitions I was so overwhelmed with how bad I was with them, and how about 80% of my thinking was completely off the wall distorted, it just didn't seem possible that I could ever actually get it together enough to identify one type of thinking, like that was TOO HARD! But I went way beyond that I can now identify them and work on them as well!

 

[Lionheart]

No 11. Magical thinking is a distorted cognition as well. It is a big one for Developmental Trauma/Complex Trauma from childhood abuse. Well it is for me anyway.

This statement is what prompted my curiosity and was not meant to take things off subject or into a tangent. I will explore the subject myself as I want to know if I have been exercising magical thinking or if I was simply dissociating, or both. Seemed like an appropriate question.

I suppose I just needed a definition of magical thinking to help me decide if it is relevant to me.

I appreciate the links and the guidance.