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The 13 forms of distorted thinking
that lead to most bad feelings
- based on the work of Aaron Beck

- take the example “I’m a born loser” which most of us have said to or about ourselves at some time or another:

1 all or nothing thinking – looking at ourselves in black and white categories because we see ourselves as total losers

2 overgeneralization – we may have made a mistake or had some back luck but we generalize to our entire being

3 mental filter – we dwell on the bad event and let it discolor our entire view of life, a little like the drop of ink that discolors a glass of water

4 discount the positives – we overlook our many good qualities

5 jumping to conclusions - we generalize from one or two qualities or events into a negative global judgment; if we have one bad interaction with someone in a department, we tell others that the whole department is "a bunch of jerks"

6 magnification – we blow the event out of proportion

7 emotional reasoning – we FEEL like a born loser so we believe we really are one!

8 shoulds – we have a list of ironclad rules about how we and other people should act; people who break the rules make us angry and we feel guilty if we violate those rules (we frequently call this integrity). We may, for example, have the belief that we should always be successful at things and never fail; we may also believe that if we are good and try hard, then life should always go smoothly

9 labelling – we label ourselves as a born loser instead of trying to learn from the situation or thinking about the best way to overcome it

10 blame – we automatically hold other people responsible for our pain or take the other take and blame ourselves entirely for every problem or reversal, when the event (such as a redundancy) might be happening to many others

11 mind reading - without their saying so, we know what people are feeling and why they act the way they do; in particular, we are able to divine how people are feeling toward us; we think that our assumptions about what others are thinking are true.

12 catastrophizing - we expect disaster. We notice or hear about a problem and start 'what-ifs'. What if tragedy strikes? What if it happens to me? We immediately assume the worst possible outcome; this is our style.

13 personalizing - we think that everything people do or say is some kind of reaction to us; we compare ourselves to others, try to determine who's smarter or better looking; we tend to relate everything around you to ourselves.

Click here to Explore Your Belief Systems

Click here for the Six-Step Change Model for changing your thoughts and increasing your happiness

Click here for the ABC Change Model for learning optimism