Anxiety Resource: Types of Negative Thoughts and How to Cope

Hi everyone. I know that our anxiety can be increased, especially during this time, and I know that many of us don't have access to therapy. I am a big psychology person and I've lately been working with this concept called cognitive distortions.Put simply, a cognitive distortion is an exaggerated thought our brain tells us when we are anxious. Giving into cognitive distortions can prompt our anxiety to get worse, or bring along other feelings such as loneliness, guilt, hopelessness, etc.

In this post, I thought it would be helpful to go over the types of cognitive distortions, how they can impact our thinking, and how we can cope with them. Our mind can be a dangerous place, however, with hard work and persistence in defining our cognitive distortions, we can increase our quality of living and decrease our anxiety when we find these cognitive distortions overwhelming us.

The list of main cognitive distortions is as follows:

1. Filtering: This cognitive distortion occurs when we are in a situation with potential positive and negative effects, however, our brain "filters" any of the positive outcomes, amplifying the negativity. For example, if we are playing in a basketball game and we miss one shot but end up making a winning shot as well, we can completely filter out that winning shot and dwell on the shot we did not make.

2. Polarized (black and white) thinking: This occurs in many individuals who have lower self-esteem and I find myself growing victim to it many times. Polarized thinking is accompanied with "extreme" thinking- we often tend to put situations and/or people into "either/or" categories- with no shades of gray or allowing for the complexity of a person or situation. This often occurs during tests or assessments and the mindset is generally seen as "I either get an A+, or I fail."

3. Overgeneralization: In this cognitive distortion, we come to conclusions based on little to no evidence at all. For example, if you were broken up with by your boyfriend, this cognitive distortion may proclaim "you will never find love again." If you don't get a job, you may make the assumption that you will never work in your life.

4. Catastrophic thinking: This is definitely one of the most detrimental and severe cognitive distortions. It convinces the person that there will be a disastrous outcome no matter what. This type of thinking prevents people from getting into cars, on planes, etc. They constantly make us wonder: "what if tragedy strikes?" "what if I get hurt?"

5. Jumping to conclusions: (assumption) This is pretty self-explantory, and often can manifest as fortune-telling. They believe their future is already determined- whether it be in school, work, or romantic partnerships. For example, a person may believe that somebody doesn't like them based on miniscule evidence.

6. Personalization: This is a common distortion that occurs during conflict with friends, partners, etc.You may believe that during a fight, everything that your partner does is a direct reflection or attack on you. This is often the cause of the guilt in abusive relationships; where the victim believes they are doing something to cause the abuse.

7. Emotional reasoning: This is extremely significant, and happens to the best of us. Most emotional reasoning is supported by the statement, "If I feel ___, it must be true." So, if you feel stupid, then you have to be stupid. Though it is hard to unlearn, there is a possibility to recognize the severity and falseness of it.

8. Labeling: Labeling is a cognitive distortion where we make global statements about others based on one interaction, and, again, often happens during conflict. Maybe your friend starts texting you with a monotonous energy, and you assume that they hate you.

9. Shoulding/Musting: This cognitive distortion is often shown as "I must..." "I should..." It gives us no leeway, and does not allow for personal growth. Instead, it fuels anxiety by making us feel like we must accomplish something, instead of giving us room.

So, how do we use these? I've found that whenever I have a harmful thought- such as, "Mykenzie, you are stupid because you failed a test," I have to tell myself that it is emotional reasoning and my brain is trying to play games with me.

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Mykenzie- "Don't ever be afraid to show your true colors." 🐣