Checklist of Cognitive Distortions

1. All-or-Nothing Thinking. You look at things in absolute, black-and-white categories. If you're not a complete success, you think you're a total failure. 2. Overgeneralization. You view a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat. You may tell yourself, !his always happens, or I'll never get it right. ". Mental Filter. !his is like the drop of ink that discolors the entire beaker of water. You dwell on one negative detail, such as an error you made, and ignore all the things you did right. #. Discounting the Positive. You insist that your accomplishments or positive $ualities don't count. %. Jum ing to Conclusions. You &ump to conclusions that aren't warranted by the facts. !here are two types' ( )ind-*eading. You assume that people are terribly &udgmental and are looking down on you. ( +ortune-!elling. You tell yourself that something terrible is about to happen' I &ust know I'm going to blow it when I take my test ne,t week. -. Magnification an! Minimization. You blow things way out of proportion or shrink their importance. !his is also called the binocular trick. .hen you look through one end of the binoculars, all your shortcomings seem as huge as )t. /verest. .hen you look through the other end, all your strengths and positive $ualities seem to shrink down to nothing. 0. "motional #easoning. You reason from how you feel, such as I feel an,ious, so I must really he in danger. 1r I feel like a loser, so I must really be one. 2. $houl! $tatements. You critici3e yourself or other people with shoulds, musts, and have-tos. +or e,ample, I4 shouldn't feel so shy and nervous. .hat's wrong with me5 6. %a&eling. You generali3e from a single 7aw or shortcoming to your entire identity. Instead of saying I made a mistake, you label yourself as a loser. !his is an e,treme form of 1vergenerali3ation. 18. 'lame. Instead of pinpointing the cause of a problem, you assign blame. !here are two basic patterns of blame' ( $elf-'lame. You blame yourself for something you weren't responsible for or beat up on yourself relentlessly whenever you make a mistake. ( Other-'lame. You blame others and deny your own role in the problem.
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