Common Thinking Distortions

We are all prone at times to ‘distorted thinking’, but when we are either under excess stress, or are depressed, these distortions become more exaggerated.

All-or-nothing thinking

You think in absolutes, as either black or white, good or bad, with no middle ground. You tend to judge people or events using general labels, for example “He’s an idiot”, “I’m hopeless. I’ll never learn to drive”. You may condemn yourself completely as a person on the basis of a single event.

Catastrophising

You tend to magnify and exaggerate the importance of events and how awful or unpleasant they will be, overestimating the chances of disaster, whatever can go wrong will go wrong.

Personalising

You take responsibility and blame for anything unpleasant even if it has little or nothing to do with you. “It’s my fault.”

Negative focus

You focus on the negative, ignoring or misinterpreting positive aspects of a situation. You focus on your weakness and forget your strengths, looking on the dark side.

Jumping to conclusions

You make negative interpretations even though there are no definite facts. You start predicting the future, and take on the mantle of ‘mind reader’. Regularly using the words ’should’, ‘ought’, ‘must’ and ‘can’t’. This leads to unnecessary guilt and disappointment.