Type
Drawing conclusions without checking the facts
Jumping to conclusions
Automatically assuming the worst possible outcome
Catastrophizing
She broke up with me last night and now I'll never find anyone
Over-generalizing
"I will never be happy"
"I may be unhappy now but that will pass." "I have been happy before and I will be happy again."
Name one of the methods for challenging cognitive distortions
Asking questions (socratic method), gathering the evidence, or behavioral experiment
Focusing on the negatives and ignoring or discounting the positives
Negative filter
Deciding what people are thinking and feeling without any real evidence
Mind-reading
They did not say anything about my new haircut. They think I'm ugly!
Mind-reading
"I should give my friend money because he asked me for it"
"I wish I could loan him money but I cannot afford it" "I want to give my friend money because it makes me happy and I have enough to spare"
"I should have just tried harder" is an example of which cognitive distortion?
Musts/shoulds
Viewing things in absolute or black and white terms
Polarized thinking
Expressing wishes and preferences as rigid demands
Musts/Shoulds
It's all my mom's fault I have an ED!
Blaming
"She didn't say hi to me this morning so she must be mad at me for something I did"
"There are many reasons for why she may not have said hi to me. It's probably not personal." "I will check in with her later and make sure everything is ok."
This is a technique of challenging a distortion in which you "test out " your distorted thought to see if it is actually realistic or not
Behavioral experiment
Interpreting feelings as factual judgements
Emotional reasoning
Expecting sacrifice and self-denial to pay off and feeling bitterness when the pay off doesn't happen
Reward fallacy
Ifeel insecure about my relationship, so I know my partner is going to breakup with me.
Emotional reasoning
"I know I'm going to have a panic attack when I go to the party tomorrow so I should just cancel my plans now"
"I can practice my coping skills if I start to feel anxious and I can leave if I start to panic but I should atleast give it a try" "I have been to these types of parties before and I've never had a panic attack. I will probably be fine"
What is a cognitive disorder that falls under the same category as mind-reading but refers to thinking you know the future?
Prophesizing
Assuming that things should always change to make us happy or suit our needs
Change fallacy
Demanding unhelpful standards of exactitude and viewing anything less than 100% as a failure
Perfectionistic thinking
I accidentally called him by the wrong name. I'm so stupid!
Labeling
"I have had a headache for two days. I must have a brain tumor."
"Headaches are common and happen occasionally. There is no need to worry" "If my headache doesn't go away in a day, I will make an appointment to see my PCP to check it out" "I am under a lot of stress and my body is probably telling me to take it easy"
What is the difference between mental filtering and discounting the positive?
Mental filtering only focuses on the negatives- you don't see the positives. When we are discounting the positives, we are acknowledging the positives, but make excuses for why they "don't count"