Have you ever heard the phrase “seeing the world through rose-colored lenses”? This saying references being naive, or seeing things as more positive than they really are. Distorted thinking is essentially the opposite concept, causing our perspective to be more negative.
We all have distorted thinking at times, but for those experiencing anxiety and depression, distorted thinking can become the norm.
Below are 6 of the most common styles of distorted thinking, paired with some examples of how they might look:
Personalization. You think that everything people do or say is some kind of reaction to you.
Example: Your coworker started bringing her lunch instead of going out to eat with you every day. You assume that this is because she doesn’t want to be friends anymore.
Catastrophizing. You have frequent “what if” thoughts and often expect the worst case scenario to come true.
Example: Your boss scheduled an unexpected meeting with you and didn’t clarify what it’s about. You assume that you’re going to be fired.
Polarized Thinking. Also referred to as black or white, all or nothing thinking. Something is either good or bad, right or wrong. There is no gray area.
Example: You delay starting a project because you know you won’t be able to finish it all at once. It doesn’t occur to you to get started and make incremental progress. It has to be done all at once or not at all.
Mind Reading. Without their saying so, you know how people are feeling about you and why they behave the way they do.
Example: You believe that your boss thinks you aren’t doing a good job, although she hasn’t said anything to confirm this.
Overgeneralization. Coming to a general conclusion based on a single incident or piece of evidence. If it happened once, it will always happen.
Example: Your boss gave you negative feedback about your last project. This means that you’re not good at your job and all of your work has been poor.
Filtering. You take the negative details and magnify them, while filtering out all of the positive aspects of a situation.
Example: You receive a very positive performance review at work, but instead of feeling good about the positive feedback that you received, you focus only on the areas for needed improvement.
Distorted thinking can cause a lot of distress and unhappiness. If these thought styles are familiar to you, you may benefit from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, an area of specialty for me. Make an appointment with me today to start feeling better.