Last month, I talked about four thought patterns, or cognitive distortions, that are most relevant to suicide, including all-or-none thinking, overgeneralization, jumping to conclusions, and discounting the positive. This month, I want to continue to focus on the power of our thoughts.
In today’s blog post, let’s dig a little deeper into the history of cognitive distortions as well as three thought patterns that fuel stress and anxiety.
In the 1970s, psychologist Dr. Aaron Beck noticed that many of his patients suffering from depression were being impacted by false assumptions and errors in thinking. He hypothesized that, if those patients could change their inaccurate thought patterns, they would reduce their symptoms of depression.
One of Beck’s students, Dr. David Burns, continued his research in his book Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. In it, he explains several examples of cognitive distortions as well as ways to challenge those thoughts.
Now, let’s take a look at three thought patterns that often lead to stress and anxiety and how to overcome them.
Mental filtering
Here, you focus only on one negative aspect of a situation, ignoring all the positive aspects. For instance, at your quarterly review, your employer gives you feedback like, “You’re a great team player with creative ideas. Being prompt to scheduled meetings would improve your output even more.” Rather than taking a moment to appreciate the positive feedback, you focus only on the fact that your boss suggested you need to be more punctual.
To manage this cognitive distortion, make an effort to value the positive aspects of a situation just as much as you value the negative ones. Try re-reading your feedback and take time to reflect only on the positive comments. You can even make a list of positive things about yourself to help you shift your focus.
Magnification
When you struggle with magnification, you tend to emphasize your flaws or mistakes, blowing them out of proportion. Say you got the end time wrong for a child’s birthday party and were 30 minutes late picking up your son. Rather than simply apologizing for the mix-up and laughing it off, you stay awake all night worrying that none of the other moms will invite your son to their children’s parties or want to be your friend anymore. You made a tiny mistake — one that could happen to anyone! — and let it consume you.
To help manage this tendency, ask yourself if the situation will matter in a year’s time as you take a few deep breaths. This simple exercise may help put it into a more realistic perspective.
Magical thinking
Here, you feel the weight of the world, believing that your actions and thoughts are responsible for the course of events in your life. You may believe that wearing your favorite dress will lead to a good first date or eating a certain type of food will mean that your team wins the big game. It can be stressful to feel like your personal choices have such a large impact!
Magical thinking often interferes with daily functioning. For instance, an individual who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder may open and close a door six times in a row because they believe it will protect their best friend from danger.
The first step to overcoming this thought pattern is to learn to recognize it. Identify when your behaviors and beliefs are not based on reality. Pay attention, too, to when these actions begin to impact your day-to-day life.
Discover the possibility of living a meaningful life. Discover the possibility of recovery. Reach out to Dr. Benaaz Russell, PsyD, CEDS-S, today to schedule an appointment!