Cognitive Distortions

Hello Reader,

As we talked about in previous blogs, at times, our mind creates unhealthy and inaccurate thoughts with the goal to try to protect us and/or save energy. We can’t fully trust this process because, welp, it is not an accurate process. It is efficient but not accurate. That is why the practice of taking care of our mental health is so important.

“If I can’t trust my own mind, what do I do?!?!” - Reader

Well, let’s talk about that!

I’m breaking this up into two different blogs. This first is understanding cognitive distortions and the second is going to be about, first level of perceptions.

First, if we look at cognitive distortions, or unhealthy ways of thinking. There are roughly ten different cognitive distortions that we experience. 1) All or nothing thoughts 2) Overgeneralization 3) Mental filter 4) Discounting the positives 5) Jumping to conclusions 6) Magnification or minimization 7) Emotional reasoning 8) Should statements 9) Labeling 10) Personalization and blaming. Some of which combine and play off of one another.

“Wow, that is a lot of different ways my mind tricks me!” - Reader

Yes, yes, it is, Reader, but that is why it is important to build the skill of checking in on ourselves, and ultimately learning how to respond to life and not just react to life.

First off, you are not your thoughts. Your thoughts are trying to persuade and protect you. You are the observer, the soul, not the thoughts that you are experiencing. Question, have you ever been so angry that you said something harsh and rude to someone else and expressed afterwards, “Wow, I’m sorry. That was not me.” Exactly!!! Even more so, we say harsh and rude things to ourselves! We are not our thoughts. Often, we don’t even recognize that we are having distorted and unhealthy thoughts until it is too late (until we react). We’ll go over each of these cognitive distortions in future blogs to assist with getting a better understanding of how they influence our emotions, behavior, and beliefs. More so, we’ll also explore what different therapy modalities tell us what to do about them.

Are you still with me, Reader??

"I think so. Tell me, if we have these distorted ways of thinking, does my past impact this too?” – Reader

You are asking some amazing questions today, Reader!

The short answer is, yes. The long answer is that our upbringing, traumatic events, our culture, religion, our environment is all very influential on our thoughts but again keep in mind, you are not your thoughts. We often experience all these influences as negative intrusive thoughts or through limiting beliefs so, yes, our past can be very loud and influential, BUT again, YOU. ARE. NOT. YOUR. THOUGHTS. These distorted ways of perceiving the world can lead to anxiety, depression, isolation, resentment, guilt, shame and much more. Rumination can also emerge making it even more difficult to work through these issues. So, if you are struggling with negative intrusive thoughts, that is very understandable. Be kind to yourself as you practice what it means to manage cognitive distortions.

“Why do I even have these dumb and flawed ways of thinking?!” – Reader

Cognitive distortions are often created to try to protect our body and our Ego by influencing us to stay safe and save energy despite the fact that there may not be a realistic danger near us. Being taught unhealthy perceptions and beliefs can emphasize the impact of cognitive distortions but we’ll talk about that on the next blog. For now, practice separating your thoughts as truths and start to see them more as strong suggestions, this gives you the opportunity to choose what a healthy response is going to look like.

We’ll go over, what I call, First Level Perceptions next blog and then dive into each of the cognitive distortions afterward.

Key takeaways:

1)      We experience, in general, ten different cognitive distortions, All or nothing, Overgeneralization, Mental filter, Discounting the positives, Jumping to conclusions, Magnification or minimization, Emotional reasoning, Should statements, Labeling, Personalization and Blaming.

2)      You are not your thoughts, you are not your thoughts, you are not your thoughts!!!

3)      This is a natural response to life’s struggles, and it takes practice to work through them so be kind to yourself in the process.