- Filtering - the tendency to focus only on the negative aspects of a situation and overlook the positive (or vice versa). Personal example: I'm invited to minister in music with the parish youth group. I focus on why I can't support them, rather than the positive of what it means for me to even consider the question in its proper light.
- Overgeneralization - the tendency to draw conclusions that are way beyond the known facts of a situation. Personal example: If my cycling buddies haven't e-mailed about a ride in a while, it must be because they've gotten tired of me falling behind because of being out of form, etc.
- Catastrophizing - the tendency to look at things as much worse than they are. Personal example: Panicking over not being able to find the problematic thought patterns sheet because of the impression it would leave if I lost my first "assignment."
- Mind reading - the tendency to believe you know what other people are thinking or feeling, and to act accordingly without checking out your hunches. (For me, it's more a matter of thinking that I know what people are likely to think or feel, or of assuming that others think or feel the same way I do.) Personal example: At my worst moments, I assume people who learn about my past will despise me. (At my best moments, I merely don't assume one way or the other.) I couple this with catastrophizing.
- Emotional Reasoning - the tendency to believe that what you feel must be true, automatically. Personal example: When Teri stays up late to watch TV regularly, I tend to assume that it's because these shows are more important to her than I am.
- Personalization - The tendency to believe the everything people do or say is some kind of reaction to you. Personal example: See emotional reasoning example.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Problematic thought patterns
So I have this list of different ways of thinking that can change our understanding of reality and interfere with our ability to simply live a fulfilling life. The idea is to look over them and see which ones I might be prone to. Here are the ones I think might fit me, to varying degrees.
Labels:
Therapy
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