8 Self-Defeating Thoughts that Wreak Havoc

I want to help you identify automatic thoughts that you have that can affect how you feel about yourself and others. We call these cognitive distortions. We all have them to some degree. The more you have and the more rigidly you stick to them, the more havoc they wreak in your life.

Here are 8 common cognitive distortions.

The first cognitive distortion is filtering. Filtering is when you focus on the negative to the exclusion of the positive.

Black and White Thinking
Here is where you think things are all good or all bad. And you can’t see the middle grey area. This is very inflexible thinking.

Overgeneralization
With this thinking you exaggerate or take things to the extreme.

Mind reading
With mind reading, you make assumptions about what’s going to happen or you make assumptions about what something thinks.
Emotional Reasoning
This is when you believe your emotions are based in the truth. But emotions are not fact. They are your response to the facts.

Should statements
With this you overfocus on how things should be. You use words like should, ought to and must. This creates unrealistic expectations and ultimately leads to disappointment, resentment and failure.

Catastrophizing
Catastrophizing involves expecting the worst case scenario for any given situation. This is a common distortion used with people who have health anxiety or panic attacks.

Personalization.
With this you think everything is about you.

Do you recognize any of these in yourself? I’ll have a follow up video on how to challenge these thoughts. For now mull these over and think about which ones apply to you so you’ll be ready to address them in the next video.

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Disclaimer: All of the information on this channel is for educational purposes and not intended to be specific/personal medical advice from me to you. Watching the videos or getting answers to comments/question, does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. If you have your own doctor, perhaps these videos can help prepare you for your discussion with your doctor.

Видео 8 Self-Defeating Thoughts that Wreak Havoc канала Dr. Tracey Marks