Lets look at thinking errors - or the CBT standardised ways that we screw ourselves up with our thinking.
The Thinking Errors
Researchers found that depressive and anxious thinking stems from a
quite rigid series of 'thinking mistakes' - erroneous ways and
assumptions / demands we make of the world:
Catastrophic Thinking.
The individual magnifies the impact of negative experiences to extreme proportions.
Hopelessness:
The individual assumes that nothing will ever work out, and that things will always go wrong.
Over-Generalization:
Something goes wrong in one situation, and the individual applies it to all situations.
Black-and-White Thinking:
The individual sees things as “all-or-nothing;” things are either one way or the other.
Oughts, Shoulds, and Musts:
The individual feels life ought to be a
certain way, or he should do something, or things must go the way he
wants them to.
Negative Predictions/Fortune Telling:
The individual predicts failure
in situations yet to happen because things have gone wrong before.
Projection:
The individual makes negative assumptions about the thoughts, intentions, or motives of another person, which are often “projections” of his own thoughts and feelings about the situation.
Mind Reading:
The individual feels that others should know how he feel or what he wants even though he doesn’t tell them.
Labeling:
The individual labels himself or someone else negatively, way, which shapes the way he sees himself or that other person, often for simplistic reasons.
Personalization:
The individual treats a negative event as a personal reflection or confirmation of his own worthlessness.
Negative Focus:
The individual focuses mainly on negative events, memories, or implications while ignoring more neutral or positive information about himself or a situation.
Avoidance:
The individual avoids thinking about emotionally difficult subjects because they feel overwhelming or insurmountable.
Emotional Misreasoning:
The individual draws an irrational and incorrect conclusion based on the way he feels at that moment.
