Distorted thinking is a form of cognitive distortion in which an individual’s thoughts become skewed and irrational. It is a type of mental distortion or bias that allows an individual’s thoughts and perceptions to become distorted and skewed from reality, which can lead to erroneous conclusions and a lack of understanding of others or oneself.
This type of thinking is typically characterized by the presence of cognitive biases or faulty logic, which can lead to irrational decision-making. Examples of distorted thinking can include jumping to conclusions, magnifying the negative and minimizing the positive, catastrophizing, dichotomous thinking, overgeneralization, selective abstraction and personalization.
Distorted thinking is often caused by a variety of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders. Stress, negative life events, and traumatic experiences can also play a role in the development of distorted thinking.
Distorted thinking can significantly impact an individual’s ability to cope with life’s challenges and can even lead to the development of other mental health issues. It is important to address distorted thinking patterns in therapy in order to help an individual regain insight, understanding, and clarity to make sound decisions and develop healthy coping skills.
What are the 10 cognitive distortions?
1. All-or-Nothing Thinking (Black-and-White Thinking): This cognitive distortion involves thinking in absolutes and exaggerating either the good or the bad in any situation. It is either perfect or a total failure; right or wrong; success or failure.
2. Overgeneralization: This distortion occurs when someone takes one bad experience they have had and applies it to every subsequent experience, believing that it will end the same.
3. Mental Filter: This is when a person takes one negative detail and magnifies it, often dismissing any positive aspects in the process.
4. Discounting the Positive: Dismissing any positive qualities a person has and instead focusing on their mistakes or flaws.
5. Jumping to Conclusions: This usually involves making assumptions about a person or a situation without sufficient evidence. This can happen with mind reading, where someone assumes they know what someone else is thinking.
It can also be fortune-telling, where someone believes they can predict the future.
6. Catastrophizing (Magnification or Minimization): This involves exaggerating or minimizing the importance of an event. It can be positive or negative.
7. Emotional Reasoning: This involves making decisions based on the feelings a person has in that moment, rather than relying on facts or logic.
8. Should Statements (or “Musts” and “Oughts”): This involves rigid rules or expectations that a person puts on themselves or on others, believing that they should or must behave in a certain way. This can lead to feelings of guilt, shame, or frustration.
9. Labeling and Mislabeling: This involves labeling somebody or yourself based on a mistake or one particular trait. It can also involve mislabeling a situation as if it is worse than it actually is.
10. Personalization: This is ascribing blame to oneself for something that is not under their control or responsibility, as well as interpreting events as being related to themselves when they’re not.
This can lead to feelings of guilt and shame.
What is BPD usually misdiagnosed as?
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is often misdiagnosed as other mental health conditions, such as Bipolar Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
BPD can also have symptoms that overlap with other psychological conditions, making it difficult to distinguish them in the diagnostic process. Additionally, individuals with BPD can present with significant and complex emotion regulation problems that can be mistaken for symptoms of other conditions.
For instance, individuals with BPD may appear to be emotionally labile and be misdiagnosed as having Bipolar Disorder. Also, BPD related impulsivity and risk-taking behaviors may be mischaracterized as symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Similarly, BPD related experiences of reactivity and flashbacks may look like those associated with PTSD.
Therefore, for a correct and timely diagnosis to be made, it is essential that healthcare practitioners understand the typical symptoms and presentation style of individuals with BPD, their associated conditions, and how to explore and validate a person’s clinical presentation.
To avoid misdiagnosis and ensure sufficient treatment, it is important that mental health assessments take into account an individual’s medical history and family history, as well as the presence of risk factors.
It is also important to recognize that individuals with BPD can have comorbid conditions, and that this should also be taken into consideration.
Can BPD have psychotic features?
Yes, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can have psychotic features. Psychotic features are thought to be a part of the core pathology of BPD, rather than a comorbid condition, and they can range from simple distortions of reality to more severe forms of psychosis.
People with BPD may experience auditory or visual hallucinations, delusions, depersonalization, and feelings of being overwhelmed or overwhelmed by events or emotions. These psychotic symptoms usually last only a few minutes or hours, but can persist for days or weeks.
In addition, these symptoms often occur in response to stressful life events or in the context of intense emotion dysregulation. People with BPD may also experience dissociative states, which can include disorientation or disconnectedness from the environment and self, out of body experiences, time loss, automatic behavior, and amnesia.
It is important to note that not everyone with BPD will experience psychotic features. However, research suggests that those with BPD who do experience psychotic features may have a worse overall prognosis and a higher risk for suicide attempts.
Treatment for psychotic features of BPD involves working with a mental health professional to identify, manage, and cope with the symptoms associated with psychosis, as well as to address any underlying psychological issues.
How do you get cognitive distortion?
Cognitive distortions, also known as thinking errors or distorted thinking, are irrational thought patterns that can be caused and maintained by many different sources. They typically involve an exaggerated or overly negative view of situations, beliefs about oneself, others, or the world.
Cognitive distortions can be triggered by stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, and other mental health issues. They can also be the result of held beliefs that are not based in reality, or of cognitive biases developed over a lifetime.
Risk factors for cognitive distortions can include one’s upbringing, life experiences, personal relationships, and proximity to traumatic events.
Cognitive distortions often lead to inaccurate conclusions, as well as to distorted assumptions that tend to motivate anxious and/or impulsive behaviors. It’s important to note that while the presence of cognitive distortions can negatively influence how we think, those thoughts can be realigned and readjusted with the proper understanding and assistance.
Psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and lifestyle practices like yoga and meditation are all effective tools for overcoming cognitive distortions.