By John M. Grohol, Psy. D.

What’s a cognitive distortion and why do so many people have them?

Cognitive distortions are simply ways that our mind convinces us of
something that isn’t really true. These inaccurate thoughts are usually
used to reinforce negative thinking or emotions — telling ourselves
things that sound rational and accurate, but really only serve to keep
us feeling bad about ourselves. By learning to correctly identify th a
person can then answer the negative thinking back, and refute it.

1 FILTERING
A person engaging in mental filtering magnifies negative details
while filtering out all positive aspects of a situation. For instance,
a person may pick out a single, unpleasant detail and dwell on it
exclusively. Their vision of reality becomes darkened or distorted.
When a cognitive filter is applied, the person sees only the nega-
tive and ignores anything positive.

POLARIZED THINKING
(B/W THINKING) 2
In polarized thinking, things are either “black-or-white”—all or
nothing. We have to be perfect or we’re a complete failure—there
is no middle ground. A person with polarized thinking places
people or situations in “either/or” categories, with no shades of
gray or allowing any complexity of most people and situations.
A person with black-and-white thinking only
sees things in extremes.

3 OVERGENERALIZATION
In this cognitive distortion, a person comes to a general
conclusion based on a single incident or a single piece of
evidence. If something bad happens just once, they expect
it to happen over and over again. A person may see a
single, unpleasant event as part of a never-ending pattern
of defeat.

JUMPING TO
CONCLUSIONS 4
Without others saying so, a person who jumps to conclusions knows
what another is thinking and feeling — and exactly why they act the way
they do. In particular, a person is able to determine how others are feel-
ing toward the person, as though they could read their mind. The distor-
tion can also manifest itself as fortune-telling, where a person believes
their entire future is pre-ordained (whether it be in
school, work, or romantic relationships).

5 CATASTROPHIZING
When a person engages in catastrophizing, they expect
disaster to strike, no matter what. This is also referred to as
magnifying, and can also come out in its opposite behavior,
minimizing. In this distortion, a person hears about a
problem and uses what if questions (e.g., “What if tragedy
strikes?” “What if it happens to me?”) to imagine the
absolute worst occurring.

PERSONALIZATION 6
Personalization is a distortion where a person believes that every-
thing others do or say is some kind of direct, personal reaction to
them. They literally take virtually everything personally, even when
something is not meant in that way. A person engaging in personal-
ization may also see themselves as the cause of some unhealthy
external event that they were not responsible for

7 CONTROL FALLACIES

This distortion involves two different but related beliefs

about being in complete control of every situation in a
person’s life. In the first, if we feel externally controlled, we
see ourselves as helpless a victim of fate. However, the
fallacy of internal control has us assuming responsibility for
the pain and happiness of everyone around us.

FALLACY OF FAIRNESS 8
In the fallacy of fairness, a person feels resentful because they think that
they know what is fair, even if others disagree. As our parents tell us
when we’re growing up and something doesn’t go our way, “Life isn’t
always fair.” People who go through life applying a measuring ruler
against every situation judging its “fairness” will often feel resentful,
angry, and even hopeless because of it. Because life isn’t fair — things
will not always work out in a person’s favor,
even when they should.

9 BLAMING
When a person engages in blaming, they hold other people
responsible for their emotional pain. They may also take the
opposite track and instead blame themselves for every problem
— even those clearly outside their own control. For example,
“Stop making me feel bad about myself!” Nobody can “make”
us feel any particular way — only we have control over our own
emotions and emotional reactions.

SHOULDS 10
Should statements (“I should pick up after myself more…”) appear
as a list of ironclad rules about how every person should behave.
People who break the rules make a person following these should
statements angry. They also feel guilty when they violate their own
rules. A person may often believe they are trying to motivate them-
selves with shoulds and shouldn’ts, as if they have to be punished
before they can do anything.

11 EMOTIONAL REASONING
The distortion of emotional reasoning can be summed up by the
statement, “If I feel that way, it must be true.” Whatever a
person is feeling is believed to be true automatically and
unconditionally. Emotions are extremely strong in people, and
can overrule our rational thoughts and reasoning. Emotional
reasoning is when a person’s emotions takes over our thinking
entirely, blotting out all rationality and logic.

FALLACY OF CHANGE 12
In the fallacy of change, a person expects that other people will
change to suit them if they just pressure them enough. A person
needs to change people because their hopes for success and happi-
ness seem to depend entirely on them. This distortion is often
found in relationships. For example, a girlfriend who tries to get her
boyfriend to improve his appearance and manners, in the belief
that this boyfriend is perfect in every other way and will make them
happy if they only changed these few minor things.

13 GLOBAL LABELING
In global labeling (also referred to as mislabeling), a person
generalizes one or two qualities into a negative global
judgment about themselves or another person. This is an
extreme form of overgeneralizing. Instead of describing an
error in context of a specific situation, a person will attach
an unhealthy universal label to themselves or others.

ALWAYS BEING RIGHT 14

In the fallacy of change, a person expects that other people will
change to suit them if they just pressure them enough. A person
needs to change people because their hopes for success and happi-
ness seem to depend entirely on them. This distortion is often
found in relationships. For example, a girlfriend who tries to get her
boyfriend to improve his appearance and manners, in the belief
that this boyfriend is perfect in every other way and will make them
happy if they only changed these few minor things.

15 HEAVEN’S REWARD FALLACY

The final cognitive distortion is the false belief that a
person’s sacrifice and self-denial will eventually pay off, as
if some global force is keeping score. This is a riff on the
fallacy of fairness, because in a fair world, the people who
work the hardest will get the largest reward. A person who
sacrifices and works hard but doesn’t experience the
expected pay off will usually feel bitter when the reward
doesn’t come.

Check out psychcentral.com/lib/fixing-cognitive-distortions to find out

how to fix your cognitive distortions!

Illustrations by Sarah Grohol