Cognitive distortions are automatic, biases patterns of negative thinking, which cause people to perceive reality inaccurately.
Common types of cognitive distortions include:
All or nothing thinking, which involves viewing situations in strict, black and white extremes with no middle ground.
Overgeneralization, which involves making a broad, negative rule or conclusion based on a single event.
Mental filtering, which involves dwelling exclusively on negative details while ignoring any positive aspects.
Jumping to conclusions, which involves assuming that you know what others are thinking such as (mind reading) or predicting negative future events (fortune telling).
And emotional reasoning, which involves believing that your physical or emotional feelings reflect objective truth, like "I feel like a failure, so I must be one".
These thoughts with cognitive distortions can fuel chronic anxiety, depression and low self esteem.
And so recognizing these "thought traps" is also a core technique that is used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help reframe a persons negative mental habits.
Cognitive distortions can result in faulty thinking, which is a way of reasoning or processing of information that contains errors, hidden weaknesses, or even logical mistakes, which can lead to an incorrect or unreliable conclusion.
For example, lets say you see a group of people standing around laughing and you think to yourself that those group of people laughing are laughing about you, when in reality they are laughing together as a group about something that was funny such as a joke.
Some key types of faulty thinking include:
Logical fallacies, which are errors in the structure of an argument which make the reasoning invalid, even if the statement sounds convincing.
Examples of logical fallacies, include jumping to conclusions or presenting false either/or choices.
Cognitive Biases, which include mental shortcuts or unconscious patterns that skew how people perceive reality.
Examples of cognitive biases include confirmation bias, (only noticing facts that support what you already believe).
And Cognitive distortions, which are habitual, irrational ways of thinking, which are often negative, that distort how someone views themselves or a situation, like assuming the absolute worse case scenario.
To overcome thinking errors (also known as cognitive distortions), you must identify, challenge, and replace irrational automatic thoughts with balanced ones.
Step 1: Catch and Label the Thought:
Pause and notice: When your mood drops or you feel anxious, stop and find the exact thought causing it.
Name the error: Label the specific trap, such as all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophizing, or mind-reading.
Write it down: Keep a journal or thought record to log the situation, the emotion, and the biased thought.
Step 2: Challenge the Evidence:
Ask for facts: Ask yourself, "Is this thought actually true, or is it just a feeling?"
Look for proof: List the real evidence that supports the thought and the evidence that contradicts it.
Find alternatives: Consider other, more realistic explanations for what happened instead of assuming the worst.
Step 3: Reframe and Replace:
Use the friend test: Ask yourself, "Would I say this harsh thing to a close friend?" If not, treat yourself with that same kindness.
Create balanced thoughts: Replace the extreme thought with a fair, realistic statement grounded in actual evidence.
Practice mindfulness: Stay present in the moment with deep breathing or grounding to stop thoughts from spiraling.