Cognitive Distortions: Overcoming These Negative Mind Traps

The way you look at things may be making those things feel worse than they really are. Your view of yourself and the world around you can get distorted by negative thinking patterns that are so common that they have a name: cognitive distortions. 

Learning how to spot cognitive distortions like polarized thinking,  overgeneralization, and catastrophizing can lift your mood and help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. 

Contents Overview: Understanding Cognitive Distortions

Cognitive Distortion Definition

Cognitive distortions are habitual ways of viewing yourself and the world that make things look worse than they are. 

Cognitive distortions distort reality.

These thinking errors put a negative spin on things. That negative spin has a negative emotional, psychological, and behavioral impact on the individual who is trapped in the distortion.

Cognitive Distortion Example Statements

Cognitive distortions can cloud our judgment and lead us to make sweeping negative conclusions about ourselves and our circumstances.

Here are some examples of cognitive distortion thoughts, illustrating how these patterns can shape our perceptions and emotions:

"If I don’t get an A on this test, I’m a complete failure."

"I didn’t get the job I interviewed for, so I’ll never find a job I like."

"I received great feedback from my boss, but I can’t stop thinking about that one comment she made about my presentation."

"Sure, I finished the project ahead of schedule, but that doesn’t matter because I made a small mistake."

"I texted my friend, and she didn’t reply right away. She must be mad at me."

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Cognitive Distortions 

The founders of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Aaron Beck and David Burns, were the first in psychology to talk about cognitive distortions.

Beck described cognitive distortions as making people create a negative bias against themselves.

Correcting these errors in thinking have continued to be important components of CBT and general approaches to therapy. 

What are Cognitive Distortions?

Cognitive distortions twist how we see ourselves, others, and the world around us. These thought patterns are often automatic and deeply ingrained, causing us to view situations through a negative, distorted lens without even realizing it.

Cognitive distortions:

• Are automatic negative thoughts (also known as ANTs)

• Are irrational, inaccurate or untrue, and judgy—of yourself and others

• Are patterns of thinking that distort reality, how you see yourself, and how you see others

• Are often included in ruminating

• Convincingly exaggerate how bad something is

• Need to be brought to awareness so they can be taken through a reality check

The Effects of Cognitive Distortions on Your Mental Health and Relationships

Everyone experiences cognitive distortions sometimes, but if left unchecked, they can warp how you see events, yourself, and other people. They can undermine your personal well-being and relationships.

How Cognitive Distortions Hurt You Personally

Cognitive distortions can severely impact your emotional well-being and mental clarity.

Here's a few of the many downsides to these negative thought patterns:

• Exaggerate your mistakes and shortcomings

• Lower your self-esteem

• Feed negative rumination

• Trigger anger and anxiety

• Fuels depression

• Create roadblocks for personal and career growth

They promote a negative outlook on yourself and the world that can contribute to depression, anxiety, anger, and other mental and emotional disturbances. 

How Cognitive Distortions Hurt Relationships

Cognitive distortions can make you think of your partner more negatively than warranted. 

The twisted thinking triggers overreactions, creates misunderstandings, and breeds confusion that damages relationships. 

Negative Distorted Rumination: Fuel for Anxiety Disorders and Depression 

People with anxiety and depression tend to get stuck in psychological distortions. That stuckness shows up as ruminating or dwelling on the negative thoughts. The ruminating creates a consuming whirlwind that will make you more and more panicked, anxious, nervous, worried, depressed, and stressed.

Training your brain to catch, check, and change faulty thinking patterns can reduce your anxiety, relieve your depression, and increase your well-being.

(I'll provide more on the 3-C's cognitive behavioral method for dealing with thinking errors later in this post.)

The Neuroscience Behind Cognitive Distortions

Cognitive distortion negative thinking traps are not just a matter of mindset. They are deeply embedded in the brain’s wiring.

Neuroscientific research has identified key areas of the brain involved in these maladaptive thought processes, particularly the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala.

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the brain’s control center for reasoning, decision-making, and executive function.

The amygdala governs emotional responses, especially those related to fear and stress.

When someone experiences a cognitive distortion, like catastrophizing or all-or-nothing thinking (more on those in a minute), the brain's emotional centers, especially the amygdala, can dominate the more rational parts of the brain. This imbalance can make it hard to think logically in stressful situations.

Research: Stress and Its Effect on Logical Thinking

A profound take-away tidbit from a continuing education mental health counseling class I took a few years ago gave me: The anxious brain is not a problem-solving brain. 

Research shows that stress can get in the way of your brain's ability to be logical. Stress can decrease prefrontal cortex activity leading to three negative outcomes:

• Impulsive or exaggerated emotional responses

• Difficulty challenging negative thoughts

• Problems regaining emotional balance after distressing events

Research: How Negative Thinking Strengthens Worry Networks

Researchers studying brain activity reveal that chronic negative thinking can strengthen the brain's worry networks.

Repetitive distorted thinking stimulates the default mode network (DMN), which is involved in thoughts about ourselves and our experiences.

DMN hyperactivity has been linked to ruminating on negative thoughts. Over time, this can create neural pathways that make negative thinking habitual, reinforcing cognitive distortions.

Common Cognitive Distortions List

Lists of cognitive distortions range in number (some having more than a dozen) but I tend to focus on 5 of the most common when I'm working with clients to relieve anxiety, reduce depression, and improve their relationships. (I think that the expanded lists can be difficult to digest.)

Here are the five cognitive distortions I see most often: 

1. Catastrophizing or Awfulizing: dwelling on an exaggerated worse-than-worst-case scenario

2. Overgeneralizing: a kernel of truth gets exaggerated to cover more circumstances than are warranted

3. Magnification and Minimization: blowing up negative stuff and minimizing good stuff

4. Filtering: a selective filter filters out the positive things that happen and keeps the negative things

5. Polarized Thinking: black and white, all-or-nothing, dichotomous thinking

Why “Always” and “Never” Are Red Flags for Cognitive Distortions 

It is noteworthy that a common thread with distorted cognitive processes is a tendency to think in absolutes:

• always
• never
• all
• none

Absolutes are almost always wrong.

When they're wrong, absolutes make things feel worse than they really are. "My partner is always late" feels worse than "My partner is sometimes late" or "My partner is late this time." It even feels worse than "My partner is often late."

Describing things or people in extreme terms will make you feel like those things or people are globally bad, rather than seeing the isolated things that might be bad. 

Absolutes also make you think that things will never be better, rather than allowing you to recognize that while something might be bad now, it may be better in the future. 

What to Do: Begin to notice when terms like always, never, all, or none are part of your thoughts. Ask yourself if the term really fits. What would be a better description of how often the thing happens?

CBT Technique for Cognitive Restructuring: Catch, Check, Change

It’s possible to shift your thinking and break free from cognitive distortions.

The CBT technique of the 3 C's—Catch, Check, Change—offers a straightforward approach to challenge and reframe those negative thoughts.

It's a form of cognitive restructuring: a therapeutic process used to identify, examine, and change negative or distorted thought patterns. It helps rewire your brain over time, forming healthier mental habits and breaking cycles of negativity. 

While this method is simple, it requires you to consciously engage with the 3-step method as you build new neural pathways and weaken the old ones.

Cognitive distortions can be challenged using the 3 C's: Catch, Check, Change.

1. Catch

Identify the thought that came before a painful emotion or was spinning in your head as you began ruminating on something negative.

2. Check

Reflect on how rational, accurate, and useful the thought is. Question whether it is based on overreactions or cognitive distortions.

3. Change

Replace the thought with something more accurate and useful.

Cognitive Distortions Worksheets

Two of my print workbooks include information and exercises for identifying and overcoming cognitive distortions. Each of these books provides different opportunities for working with your cognitive distortions and using the Catch, Check, Change method to challenge them:

Building Skills to Uplevel Life: Silver Lining Emotional Intelligence Workbook

Becoming Calm: Silver Lining Anxiety and Stress Resilience Workbook and Journal

Note: This post should not be taken as therapy. It is always advisable to seek individualized care with a mental health professional.  

← Previous Post Next Post →