Types
cognitive distortion that involves jumping to conclusions by predicting that something will happen in the future
Fortune-telling
cognitive distortion that involves jumping to conclusions by assuming what another person is thinking or feeling
Mind reading
cognitive distortion that involves blowing things out of proportion (making a mountain out of a molehill)
Catastrophizing (aka magnification)
Maria and Jackie go to a party together. Their friend, Carla, asks Maria if she wants a soda but does not ask Jackie if she wants one. Jackie thinks Carla hates her because she did not offer her a soda.
Catastrophizing/magnification
Brianna’s boss sent an email to congratulate her on the results of her most recent scientific experiment. Brianna deleted the email, thinking her boss was just trying to flatter her or believed the results were better than they actually were.
Disqualifying the positives
cognitive distortion that involves assigning labels to yourself and/or others (e.g., I'm a loser; they're stupid")
Labelling
cognitive distortion that involves seeing the world in black or white categories with no gray area
All-or-Nothing thinking (aka polarized thinking)
cognitive distortion that involves making a general conclusion about a situation based on 1 specific incident or experience related to it; if something bad happens once, you expect it to happen again
Overgeneralization
Michael started making dough for pizza but thought it was too lumpy, so he threw it away and started a second batch. He thought the second batch was still lumpy, so he threw it away too. Michael felt upset that he couldn’t make his dough perfectly.
All-or-nothing thinking
Kyle gave a speech in front of his class. He received generally positive feedback, but he could only focus on 2 negative comments that his classmates gave him.
Mental filtering
cognitive distortion that involves denying that something is a problem when it is
Minimization
cognitive distortion that involves disregarding positive things that you have done
Disqualifying the positives
Sam looked forward to going to the Beyonce concert all year. It took him hours to pick an outfit to wear. Once he got to the stadium, he immediately wanted to leave because he thought people were judging him for his clothes.
Mind reading
While writing a paper, Stacy misspelled a word. She called herself an idiot for making that mistake.
Labelling
cognitive distortion that involves focusing only on the negative aspects of a situation while ignoring positive details
Mental filtering
cognitive distortion that involves using a specific critical word that makes you feel guilty; typically related to unrealistic self-expectations
Shoulds
Greg went grocery shopping. When he walked by a woman in the frozen food aisle, the woman slipped and fell. Greg immediately felt guilty and thought he caused the woman to fall.
Personalization
Alex’s friends invited him out to see a movie on Friday night. Alex declined, stating that there are always crowds and long lines at the movie theater on Friday nights.
Overgeneralization
cognitive distortion that involves a tendency to take things personally that are not connected to you and/or blame yourself for circumstances that are not your fault
Personalization
cognitive distortion that involves believing your emotions must be true or factual
(e.g., "I feel guilty so I must have done something wrong;" I'm lonely so I must be bad at making friends")
Emotional reasoning
John’s younger brother, Max, asked to borrow John’s car. John knew Max was a bad driver but allowed Max to drive his car anyway. When Max returned it, the back bumper was dented. John was angry, but later felt guilty for his anger. He thought that feeling angry meant he cared more about his car than his brother.
Emotional reasoning
Tori made an appointment to see her doctor at 2:00. At 2:15, Tori got frustrated with her doctor because she thought people should be on time if they make appointments.
Shoulds