Name that distorted cognition (thought/perception)

[falling_wave]

I got overwhelmed yesterday because my doctor called and wants to report a seizure I had to the dmv, I got a call that my auto insurance went up drastically, I went to refinance my car for lower payments and was denied, and dealt with a difficult person at work. I was so overwhelmed, anxious until my chest hurt and I was unconsciouly breath holding, and I kept seeing losing both my jobs, not being able get to school, debilitating exhaustion, and losing my new apartment because I couldn't pay without work. I can see and caught pretty quickly several distortions.

All or nothing thinking. Everything is bad.
Over generalizing. This is a pattern. Nothing goes right for long. I must be not doing something right. Etc.
Jumping to Conclusions. I don't really know the whole process but I'm assuming those things will happen.
I know catastrophizing is one and its my big one. Definitely was doing that. Never ending cycle getting worse with each step.

 

[The Albatross]

Okay so, near as I can figure my "pet" cognitive distortions of the basic 10 are:


Over-generalization -- You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.

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.

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

Labeling and mislabeling -- This is an extreme form of overgeneralization. Instead of describing your error, you attach a negative label to yourself.

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


Though better at these than I used to be... it creeps back in when overly stressed, fatigued, or ill. There is a hardwired (eternal?) question mark about whether or not my thought processes are right/fair/just and accurate.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

Today I am struggling with worrying which accomplishes nothing at all except to hurt me. I am feeling fearful and I have to keep telling myself one day at a time. Keep it simple and the Serenity Prayer.

I am really battling these false emotions based on information that is not factual. But I am doing the best I can to overcome.

 

[jaccat]

All or nothing thinking- e.g I do this with my essays. One negative comment means the whole thing is rubbish.

Jumping to conclusions- I have made a mistake therefore everyone will think I am worthless.

Should statements- Applies to pretty much everything.

Magnifying and minimising- a big one for me. My T says it's amazing how I can make massive issues seem like nothing at all!:rolleyes:

 

[ms spock]

I have been doing some All or Nothing thinking and some Labeling and Mislabeling this morning.

 

[The Albatross]

Today (and yesterday) the #3, Mental Filter is kicking my ass. Now I'm wondering if I should do this as a 30/60/90 day challenge. It would be a good exercise I expect to solidify my understanding of my mental/emotional processing... and bringing them into conscious awareness I wonder if/how they might change?

 

[The Albatross]

I'm keeping this in my "watched threads" cuz I think I would do well to frame up a challenge and restart the three right things.

 

[Owl.]

Stuck in a bit of a sh*t-slushie of 3/5/7, especially the "emotional reasoning" part.
Problem with that is, I feel sort of okay sitting in this plonk. It's kind of comfortable in its familiarity.

Guess there's another thing to put on the ole to-do-list.

 

[Kintsugi]

I don't have an example right now, but I wanted to say @Ms Spock this thread is awesome! :woot:

 

[Changing4Best]

I think some of these things could be learned behavior, maybe our parents pass these types of negative adaptations down to us from their parents. It might even go all the way back to Adam and Eve. Who knows! All I know is that when I was a very young child, I was learning about spiritual things in very basic simple ways. Then my parents left the church, also tore me away from my grandmother, and she was the one teaching me about God. You might think that God has nothing to do with all the above types of thinking, but I point out that God created our minds and our spirits, so how could He not have anything to do with our thinking patterns! For me, just in general, I have trouble thinking without at least on some level seeing things from the spiritual viewpoint.

 

[ms spock]

I agree @Simply Simon :D this thread is awesome! If members got into it, it could be really helpful.

Nice to read you @SheilaKathy!

Well I have been engaging in a bit of Number 11 (Magical Thinking) planning to do particular things in the future, as if that means I am doing them. That thinking from is my mother and my father. So I agree with you @KathySheila - some of these distorted thinking patterns are learnt from our parents. So that is one for me to watch.

If you want to do it as a challenge @The Albatross I would be up for it. I was hoping that this would be a thread where people would come and name their distorted cognitive thinking patterns or members could come here and say I am thinking this - any ideas folks and everyone could help out. I am finding that my distorted cognitions have reduced quite a bit since I have been aware of the ten major distortions of thinking. I am still needing to focus on it for a few years - perhaps the rest of my life - because I grew up in depression and distorted thinking styles.

I do a lot of Personalisation around my initial traumas - that is was somehow my fault - if anyone else says it to me about themselves that they are responsible for their child abuse I can refute it - but it feels real to me - so it is distorting thinking feeling and perceptions.

I have been doing Jumping to conclusions -- I have been mind-reading and fortune-telling quite a bit. And I have been ramping up anticipatory stress with that one, which, as I sometimes know, is not at all helpful.

I am also doing Emotional Reasoning as well - it feels like it is so it must be so, but no, it is not so, feelings are not facts.

 

[ms spock]

Stuck in a bit of a sh*t-slushie of 3/5/7, especially the "emotional reasoning" part.
Problem with that is, I feel sort of okay sitting in this plonk. It's kind of comfortable in its familiarity.

Those thinking patterns sometimes feel like home! Interesting insight @owl1982 I will think on that today.