How Do Cognitive Distortions Affect Us?

In this article, we’re going to take a look at some of the mechanisms that affect us all. They play a very important role in our lives and often go unnoticed. You could even say that they are the perpetrators of the perfect crime. However, before we define cognitive distortions, I would like to share part of a psychologist’s patient testimony:

“Every time I get depressed, I feel like I’ve been hit by a sudden cosmic shock. I’m starting to see things differently. The change can happen in less than an hour. My thoughts become negative and pessimistic. When I think about my past, I’m convinced that nothing I’ve ever done is worth anything.

All happy times seem an illusion. My performance seems about as real as the set of a western movie. Ultimately, I convince myself that my true personality is worthless and meaningless. It’s impossible to get work done because I’m paralyzed by doubt. I cannot stand still, the suffering is unbearable.”

A patient’s story

This is a patient suffering from symptoms of depression. He could also have mentioned anxiety symptoms, but that’s not the point. It is important here that these symptoms are the result of a situation, an event or something that has taken place. Or not.

We tend to say that we feel a certain way because a certain “something” has happened. It’s like something takes us from one point to another and we have nothing to say about it.

That’s because we tend to skip our thoughts and not notice the things we tell ourselves after the incident.

The role of thoughts and internal dialogue is fundamental to understanding our emotional states at any given time. Our thinking patterns affect how we feel as much (or more) as the event itself.

To use a cooking metaphor, the way we chew affects the taste as much as the composition of the food itself.

Our thoughts lead to our emotions

The negative thoughts that invade our minds are the true cause of our emotions. The opposite is also true. If we want to control our emotions well, then our thoughts are the starting point.

I would like to propose a short exercise. Whenever you feel depressed about something, try to identify the thought you have at the moment. Since thoughts create our moods, we can change our mood if we change our thoughts.

Some people will be skeptical about all this. That’s because their negative thinking patterns have become such a big part of their lives that they’re on autopilot.

Many thoughts pass through our minds fleetingly and automatically, and we are not aware of them. They are as natural to us as holding a fork.

It is a neurological fact that before we can experience something, our mind processes it and gives it meaning. It can be conscious or unconscious. In general, our internal dialogue is fueled by thoughts. As the age-old saying goes:

Differences between rational and irrational thinking

Rational means what is true, logical, pragmatic and based on reality. (At least that’s the definition we’ll be using in this article). So rational thinking helps people achieve their goals (Ellis, 1979a).

Irrational, on the other hand, is anything that is untrue, illogical and not based on reality and makes it difficult for people to achieve their goals in life. (Again, that’s the definition we’ll use in this article.) Irrational things interfere with our lives and happiness (Ellis, 1976).

Albert Ellis was a psychologist and forerunner of cognitive therapy. He identified a set of basic irrational ideas that most people had. Let’s take a look at some examples:

The adult human has an extreme need for the love and approval of virtually every meaningful person in his or her community.

It is terrible and disastrous that things do not go as one would like.
Bad luck is caused by external forces. People have limited or no ability to control their distress and difficulties.
Certain people are despicable, evil and terrible. Society should seriously blame and punish them for their bad manners.

There are many more irrational ideas, but we won’t talk about them all. Our focus will be on cognitive distortions.

What are cognitive distortions?

Our culture bombards us with irrational thoughts. We find irrational thoughts in songs, movies and TV shows. We incorporate these thoughts into our personal belief systems or have already incorporated them into our system.

I’m not saying we should stop watching TV or listening to music. Nor am I suggesting that we distance ourselves from society.

But we must ask ourselves what we see and hear. It is important to question these ideas before adding them to our beliefs and values.

Cognitive distortions, or incorrect thoughts, are distorted ideas about the world around us. They are usually automatic and it is difficult for us to notice that we have them.

That’s why it can be so helpful to see a psychologist. Once we identify them, the next step is to exchange the distortions for more “realistic” or adaptive thoughts.

Broadly speaking, cognitive distortions are responsible for our sadness, fear, anger, and so on. If we identify and change them, we will feel better.

Types of cognitive distortions

Think all or nothing

With this kind of distortion, we see everything in extremes. There is no happy middle ground. This is a typical “all or nothing” or “black and white” thinking pattern.

We think it can be good or bad. We are either perfect or a complete failure. For example, “If I’m not successful in everything I do, I’m completely useless.”

Overgeneralization

At that point, we draw general conclusions from specific events. In other words, if something has gone wrong once, we can expect it to happen again and again.

For example, if a girl rejects a guy, he might overgeneralize into thinking all women will reject him in the future.

Filtering

This is when a person chooses a negative detail from a situation and focuses solely on it. Because of that filter he has a negative image of the whole situation.

For example, a wife who always brings out how disorganized her husband is without mentioning all his good qualities. She doesn’t talk about how responsible, hardworking, affectionate and so on he is.

To read minds

It’s about assuming you know the reasons or intentions of others. You consider your interpretation to be the only true one when in reality there are many possibilities. You believe you can guess exactly what others are thinking, but you are usually mistaken.

That means you are drawing premature conclusions. For example, she’s not looking at me, so I’m sure she’s not interested in what I’m saying. This is one of the most common cognitive distortions that appear in relationships.

Personalization

A tendency to involve something external to oneself. In other words, you think everything revolves around you. This causes you to twist the facts.

Another form of personalization is when we compare ourselves to others. For example, if someone makes a general comment about people being irresponsible, we think they have the comment aimed at us. A person who is particularly sensitive to personalization thinks they are the target of constant innuendo.

Emotional reasoning

At the heart of this distortion is the belief that what the person feels must be true. We take our own emotions as proof of truth, although we lack objective information. For example, “If I feel like a loser, it’s because I’m a loser.”

Quickly draw conclusions

Reaching conclusions without having all the information we need. In the end we come to an arbitrary and unfounded conclusion. For example, I’m sure my family won’t like all the food I make.

Magnification and minimization

Magnification happens when we focus on our mistakes, fears or imperfections and exaggerate their importance. Oh my God, I made a mistake. That’s horrible! It’s terrible!

Minimization happens when we minimize our qualities. I’m not good enough or smart enough for math. Getting a 9 on the exam proves nothing.

Should

With this distortion, the person behaves according to inflexible rules. These rules should dictate everyone’s relationship. The words that indicate the presence of this distortion are “should” or “should.”

The person not only judges others by these rules, but also himself. For example, “Other people should understand me, they don’t have to treat me like that.” or “You shouldn’t be doing this like this.”

labels

This is another form of overgeneralization. Instead of identifying the mistake we’ve made, we give ourselves a negative label, like “I’m a loser.” If we don’t like someone else’s behavior, we call them a terrible liar .

The best ways to combat irrational thoughts are the following:

Realize when we feel bad.

Identify the thoughts in our mind right now.
See if they match any of the cognitive distortions we mentioned.
Replace those thoughts with healthy thoughts. Change our language and internal dialogue.

We have all been victims of these cognitive distortions at one time or another. Or maybe we’re victims right now. The better we understand them and how they affect us, the better we can control their effect and use them to our advantage.

Bibliography :

David D. Burns (1980), Sentirse bien. Una terapia contra las depresiones, Barcelona: Paidos.
Isabel Caro Gabalda (2007), Manual teórico-práctico de Psicoterapias Cognitivas , Bilbao: Descleé de Brouwer.
Albert Ellis (1992), Manual de Terapia Racional Emotiva , Bilbao: Descleé de Brouwer.
J. Jesús Montes Cortés (2006), Manual para el manejo de pensamientos irracionales , Guadalajara: Universidad.