15 Styles of Distorted Thinking

Hello my lovely peeps, I am sharing with you the 15 Styles of Distorted Thinking, where you can have a read through and perhaps identify whether you relate. The aim of this post is for you to be honest with yourself and to consciously be aware. The best thing after this is that you have the awareness and power to change how you think.

Just to make it super clear, these are not ways to promote positive Mental Health.






 1. FILTERING

You take the negative details and magnify them while filtering out all positive aspects of a situation.


 2. POLARIZED THINKING 

Things are black and white, good or bad. You have to be perfect or you're a failure. There is no middle ground.

 3. OVERGENERALIZATION

 You have come to a general conclusion based on a single incident or piece of evidence. If something bad happens once, you expect it to happen over and over again.

 4. MIND READING

 Without their saying so, you know how people are feeling and why they act the way they do. In particular, you are able to divine how people are feeling toward you.

 5. CASTASTROPHIZING

You expect disaster, you notice or hear about a problem and start 'what if's. What if tragedy strikes? What if it happens to you.

 6. PERSONALIZATION

 Thinking that everything people do or say is some kind or reaction to you. You also compare yourself to others, trying to determine who's smarter, better looking, etc...

 7. CONTROL FALLACIES

 IF you feel externally controlled, you see yourself as helpless, a victim of fate. The fallacy of internal control has you responsible for the pain and happiness of every one around you.

 8. FALLACY OF FAIRNESS

 You feel resentful because you think you know what's fair but other people won't agree with you.

 9. BLAMING

You hold other people responsible for your pain, or take the other tack and blame yourself for every problem or reversal.

 10. SHOULD

 You have a list of ironclad rules about how you and other people should act. People who break the rules anger you and you feel guilty if you violate the rules.

 11. EMOTIONAL REASONING

 You believe that what you feel must be true-automatically. If you feel stupid and boring, then you must be stupid and boring.

 12. FALLACY OF CHANGE

 You expect that other people will change to suit you if you just pressure or cajole them enough. You need to change people because your hope for happiness seem to entirely depend on them.

13.GLOBAL LABELLING

You generalise one or two qualities into a negative global judgement.

14. BEING RIGHT

 You are continually on trial to prove that your opinions and actions are correct. Being wrong is unthinkable and you will go to any length to demonstrate your rightness.

15. HEAVEN'S REWARD FALLACY

You expect all your sacrifice and self-denial to pay off, as if there were someone keeping score. You feel bitter when the reward doesn't come.