ANTS
ANT is an abbreviation for __________.
What is … Automatic Negative Thoughts.
All-or-nothing thinking
What is … black & white thinking: extreme thinking with no room for anything in the middle.
Example: “What’s the point in studying, I’m going to fail either way.”
Magnification/Catastrophizing
What is …. blowing things out of proportion; making small things seem bigger than it really is.
Example: “I accidentally fell down in front of a group of people - I’m never going to get over this.”
T/F: Our thoughts can only be negative.
What is … false (can also be positive or neutral).
Jumping to Conclusions
What is … forming an opinion without enough evidence (includes mind-reading & fortune telling).
Example: “My friend didn’t call me because she doesn’t like me.”
Should statements
What is … focusing on how you would redo past events, interactions, etc.
Example: “I should have worn jeans instead of sweatpants to school today.”Meaning of automatic negative thoughts (ANTS)
What is … thoughts we typically have when we’re feeling anxious or nervous & are generally exaggerated, unrealistic, & illogical.
Emotional Reasoning
What is … assuming that because we feel a certain way, what we think must be true.
Example: “I feel awkward, so others must think that I’m awkward.”
Judging Yourself Unfairly
Example: “I can’t do anything right.”
ANT or not: Everyone is going to laugh at me.
What is … ANT!
Over-generalizing
What is … seeing a pattern based upon a single event.
Example: “I can’t do anything right.”
Accepting Helplessness
What is … deciding to give up instead of trying again.
Example: “It doesn’t matter what I say, my family won’t believe me.”
ANT or not: There are a lot of people here.
What is … NOT an ANT.
What is … only paying attention to our failures but not our successes.
Example: “I’m a terrible student (even though I passed most of my exams).”
Perfectionism
What is … beating yourself up over small mistakes.
Example: “My handwriting looks bad, so I need to re-do my entire assignment again.”