Psychology Tools: What are Cognitive Distortions?
November 7, 2013
25

Cognitive distortions, a concept from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), refer to biased ways of thinking about oneself and the world around us.  The model essentially states that there are specific (and common) ways people distort their thinking. These irrational thoughts and beliefs (i.e., distortions) can lead to problematic emotional states and behavior, like anxiety, low self-esteem, depression and relationship conflicts. That’s why you want to be aware of them, so that you can shift your thinking to more rational and objective thoughts whenever possible.  More rational thinking tends to lead to more positive emotional and behavioral experiences.

Below is a list of 10 common cognitive distortions, from Dr. David Burns, author of the best seller “The Feeling Good Handbook.”   All human beings use these cognitive distortions to greater and lesser degrees.  See which ones apply to you.

Once you become aware of the patterned ways of thinking on this list, you can use it in conjunction with other practical psychology tools on healthy psych, including: Identifying Cognitive Distortions or Challenging Cognitive Distortions.

List of Cognitive Distortions

(Source: Burns, David D., MD. 1989. The Feeling Good Handbook. New York: William Morrow and Company)

“1.) ALL-OR-NOTHING THINKING: You see things in black-and-white categories. If your performance falls short of perfect, you see yourself as a total failure.

2.) OVERGENERALIZATION: You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.

3.) MENTAL FILTER: You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively so that your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that discolors the entire beaker of water.

4.) DISQUALIFYING THE POSITIVE: You reject positive experiences by insisting they “don’t count” for some reason or other. In this way you can maintain a negative belief that is contradicted by your everyday experiences.

5.) JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS: You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusion.

A.) MIND READING: You arbitrarily conclude that someone is reacting negatively to you, and you don’t bother to check this out.

B.) FORTUNE TELLING: You anticipate that things will turn out badly, and you feel convinced that your prediction is an already-established fact.

6.) MAGNIFICATION (CATASTROPHIZING) OR MINIMIZATION: You exaggerate the importance of things (such as your goof-up or someone else’s achievement), or you inappropriately shrink things until they appear tiny (your own desirable qualities or other fellow’s imperfections). This is also called the “binocular trick.”

7.) EMOTIONAL REASONING: You assume that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are: “I feel it, therefore it must be true.”

8.) SHOULD STATEMENTS: You try to motivate yourself with should and shouldn’t, as if you had to be whipped and punished before you could be expected to do anything. “Musts” and “oughts” are also offenders. The emotional consequences are guilt. When you direct should statements toward others, you feel anger, frustration, and resentment.

9.) LABELING AND MISLABELING: This is an extreme form of overgeneralization. Instead of describing your error, you attach a negative label to yourself. “I’m a loser.” When someone else’s behavior rubs you the wrong way, you attach a negative label to him” “He’s a damn louse.” Mislabeling involves describing an event with language that is highly colored and emotionally loaded.

10.) PERSONALIZATION: You see your self as the cause of some negative external event, which in fact you were not primarily responsible for.”

(End Source: Burns, David D., MD. 1989. The Feeling Good Handbook. New York: William Morrow and Company)

Certainly every human being can identify with at least a few of the distortions on this list, if not all of them.  The ones I seem to see most often in my Northern California therapy practice are: personalization, jumping to conclusions, all-or-nothing thinking and should statements.  I’d be curious to know if there’s any correlation of prevalence among certain cognitive distortions and cultural backgrounds (and here I’m defining “cultural” in the broadest sense, not just in terms of ethnicity and geography, but in terms of other types of conditioning along the lines of gender, race, class, etc.), seeing that all types of cognitive distortions are learned in some fashion or another.

Psychcentral.com also has a good, expanded list of cognitive distortions adapted from Dr. Burns and Aaron Beck, one of the founders of CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy).

Try the exercise “Identifying Cognitive Distortions” as the next step in applying what you’ve learned here, to help increase your level of happiness, ease and well-being.

 


  1. I really need some help my way of thinking is a mess and causes alot of problems for me especially in relationships

    • Hi Mary, I’m glad you reached out by posting a comment. You may want to look at the other posts and exercises we have on cognitive distortions noted above. If you want to share a bit more, I’m happy to direct you to some other sources on the site or elsewhere that may be of help as well.

      If you prefer, you can also send a private message to HealthyPsych here: https://healthypsych.com/forum/members/healthypsych/

      Note: you need to be registered on the site in order to send private messages. Registration is easy and free.

      Take care.

  2. hey.. im final year student, on going research for my psychology.. i need help about cognitive distortion.. plss contact me back

Leave a reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Thank you for visiting HealthyPsych! 

If you find our site helpful, we invite you to like our Facebook page to get our latest updates.

Take good care in the meantime.

Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Welcome! By using HealthyPsych.com, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Disclaimer: The information and other content provided on this site, or in any linked materials, is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice.  Please consult directly with your medical provider on your specific needs. Your use of this site to locate a Psych Professional or to engage with members of the social network is voluntary and at your own risk.

Data Privacy: this site uses cookies, Google Ads and Google Analytics.  Please see the ‘Do Not Sell My Personal Information’ link at the bottom left of the page to ‘opt-out’ of personalized Google Ads.  You can also opt-out of Google targeted advertising by going here: https://adssettings.google.com/.  Go to https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout to opt-out of data collected by Google Analytics.  Go to https://us.norton.com/blog/how-to/how-to-clear-cookies to learn how to clear cookies from your browser.

Please read our full Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.  If you have any questions, please message us here: Contact Us.