Cognitive Distortions – Unhelpful Thinking Styles (Extended)

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)

suggests that how we think affects How could this tool help me?

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how we feel. Everyone has hundreds of
‘automatic’ thoughts each day. These • It will help you to learn about the most common cognitive distortions.

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thoughts can be positive (they lead to • It will help you identify the distortions you tend to experience.
positive emotions like joy or excitement), • Knowing about these biases can help you notice and address them as they

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negative (they lead to negative emotions occur.

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like sadness or anxiety), or neutral (they • Being aware of your unhelpful thinking styles can help you to think in more

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don’t make you feel much at all). accurate ways and improve your mood.
Our automatic thoughts can also be

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biased: not every thought is 100% true.
Because your thoughts affect how you
feel, biased thinking can contribute to
How should I use it?

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emotional difficulties, like anxiety and
depression. Read through the list of cognitive distortions and identify the ones that seem
most relevant to you. People aren’t always aware of their unhelpful thinking
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People think in all sorts of biased ways. styles, so your therapist might help you to do this.

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Therapists call these biases ‘unhelpful
thinking styles’ or ‘cognitive distortions’. Once you’re familiar with these cognitive distortions, try to notice them when
they happen throughout your day.
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Being aware of these distortions can help

you understand why you experience
changes in your mood and behavior.
Knowing about them can also help you to
evaluate how accurate and helpful your
Helpful tips
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automatic thoughts are.

• Most people experience different cognitive distortions in different
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This information handout will familiarize situations. You may find that many of the unhelpful thinking styles are
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you with the most common cognitive relevant to you.

distortions and help you to identify the • Keep the list of cognitive distortions nearby. Whenever you notice a change
ones that are most relevant to you. in your mood or behavior, read over the list and see if you might have
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experienced one or more of them.

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• If you spot a distortion in your thinking, see if you can reverse it. For
example, if you are ‘fortune telling’ ask yourself whether anyone can predict
Cognitive Distortions – Unhelpful Thinking Styles (Extended) Cognitive Distortions

We all have automatic thoughts – thoughts that happen so quickly and effortlessly that we might not even be aware we’ve had them.
When we assume they are true, we feel strong emotions (such as fear, anger, or shame) and can react equally severely. Automatic
Up

the future with 100% accuracy.

thoughts may feel convincing, but they are often exaggerated, biased, or distorted by certain biases, which psychologists call cognitive
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distortions or unhelpful thinking styles. Here are 20 of the most common biases:

All or nothing thinking Magnification and minimisation

You think in extremes about situations, other people, or You exaggerate negative aspects of yourself, other
yourself. Your thoughts might be polarised: things are either people, or situations, while downplaying the positive

• See if there are patterns in your thinking. Do certain situations tend to

‘perfect’ or ‘terrible’. You may also act in just as extreme ways, aspects. Bad things get blown out of proportion, while
veering between extreme effort and none at all. good things seem unimportant.

Arbitrary inference Mental filter

You reach a conclusion without any evidence to support it, You base your conclusions on a single detail taken out of

trigger particular distortions?

or even when the evidence suggests the opposite is true. context, and might ignore or discount other bits of
Thoughts might be about what other people are thinking, information. People tend to filter when they are faced
or about things that will happen in the future. with evidence that doesn’t ‘fit’ with their beliefs.

Catastrophising Mind reading

You jump to the worst possible conclusions. You ask You automatically assume that you know what another
yourself “What if ... ?”, think about the most catastrophic person is thinking, or what they will think. You might
outcomes, and assume these scenarios are likely to occur. assume that other people are judging you negatively or
have bad intentions.

Disqualifying the positive Overgeneralisation

You ignore, dismiss, or discount your positive attributes You make a sweeping judgement or conclusion based
and experiences. Receiving positive feedback might feel on just one experience or a small number of incidents.
strange or uncomfortable to you, so you automatically You believe an isolated event will become a pattern and
reject it. repeat itself in the future.

Emotional reasoning Permissive thinking

You assume something must be true because you feel it You give yourself permission to do things that aren’t
strongly. Your feelings, hunches, or instincts guide how you good for you or for others. You downplay how damaging
interpret a situation. something is, tell yourself that you deserve to do it, or
promise that this will be the last time.

Externalising Personalising
You blame others for negative events and avoid You assume that situations or outcomes are related to
personal responsibility. You might do it to protect you, especially negative ones. You might unfairly believe
your self-esteem, justify your actions, or to cope with that you caused things to happen.
difficult feelings like shame.
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Fortune telling Self-blame

You automatically jump to conclusions about what is going You blame yourself for things that are not your fault or
to happen in the future. Unfortunately, these predictions responsibility. You might self-blame for being a certain
are often negative. type of person, for problems in a relationship, or for
things outside your control.

Hindsight bias “Should” statements

You wrongly believe that an event was predictable or Your style of thinking focuses on “must”, “should”, “ought
forseeable. You might think that you should have done to”, and “have to” statements. It leads to fixed ideas about
something, or known something, that wasn’t obvious at how you, other people, and the world should be.
the time.

Jumping to conclusions Social comparison

You make hasty judgements or decisions based on a You compare yourself with others. Problematic
limited amount of information. You might assume you comparisons tend to draw attention to your flaws and
know what other people are thinking, or use your intuition weaknesses rather than your talents and abilities.
to make snap judgements.

Labelling Thought-action fusion

You give yourself, other people, or your experiences a You believe your thoughts can directly influence
one-word label. These labels are usually fixed, extreme, and the world around you, or that thinking about doing
negative – they stir up strong emotional reactions and stop something is just as bad as actually doing it. This is
you noticing other aspects of your experience. sometimes called ‘magical thinking’.

Copyright © 2023 Psychology Tools Limited. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2023 Psychology Tools Limited. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Distortions – Unhelpful Thinking Styles (Extended) Cognitive Distortions

We all have automatic thoughts – thoughts that happen so quickly and effortlessly that we might not even be aware we’ve
had them. When we assume they’re true, we feel strong emotions (such as fear, anger, or shame) and can react equally severely.
Automatic thoughts may feel convincing, but they are often exaggerated or distorted by certain biases, which psychologists call

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cognitive distortions or unhelpful thinking styles. Here are 20 of the most common biases:
All or nothing thinking Magnification and minimization

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You think in extremes about situations, other people, or You exaggerate negative aspects of yourself, other people,
yourself. Your thoughts might be polarized: things are either or situations, while downplaying the positive aspects. Bad
‘perfect’ or ‘terrible’. You may also act in just as extreme ways, things get blown out of proportion, while good things

wit nlo r:
ou s
veering between extreme effort and none at all. seem unimportant.

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h y ad
Arbitrary inference Mental filter

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You reach a conclusion without any evidence to support it, You base your conclusions on a single detail taken out of
or even when the evidence suggests the opposite is true. context, and might ignore or discount other bits of
Thoughts might be about what other people are thinking, or information. People tend to filter when they are faced with

an
about things that will happen in the future. evidence that doesn’t ‘fit’ with their beliefs.

Catastrophizing Mind reading

You jump to the worst possible conclusions. You ask yourself You automatically assume that you know what another

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“What if ... ?”, think about the most catastrophic outcomes, person is thinking, or what they will think. You might
and assume these scenarios are likely to occur. assume that other people are judging you negatively or
for rk- aid have bad intentions.

Disqualifying the positive Overgeneralization

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You ignore, dismiss, or discount your positive attributes and
experiences. Receiving positive feedback might feel strange
or uncomfortable to you, so you automatically reject it.
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You make a sweeping judgment or conclusion based on
just one experience or a small number of incidents. You
believe an isolated event will become a pattern and repeat
itself in the future.

Emotional reasoning Permissive thinking

You assume something must be true because you feel it
strongly. Your feelings, hunches, or instincts guide how you
interpret a situation.
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You give yourself permission to do things that aren’t
good for you or for others. You downplay how damaging
something is, tell yourself that you deserve to do it, or
promise that this will be the last time.

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Externalizing Personalizing
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You blame others for negative events and avoid personal You assume that situations or outcomes are related to you,
responsibility. You might do it to protect your self- especially negative ones. You might unfairly believe that
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esteem, justify your actions, or to cope with difficult you caused things to happen.
feelings like shame.

Fortune telling Self-blame

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You automatically jump to conclusions about what is going You blame yourself for things that are not your fault or
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to happen in the future. Unfortunately, these predictions are responsibility. You might self-blame for being a certain
often negative. type of person, for problems in a relationship, or for things
outside your control.
Up
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Hindsight bias “Should” statements

You wrongly believe that an event was predictable or Your style of thinking focuses on “must”, “should”, “ought to”,
forseeable. You might think that you should have done and “have to” statements. It leads to fixed ideas about how
something, or known something, that wasn’t obvious at the you, other people, and the world should be.
time.

Jumping to conclusions Social comparison

You make hasty judgments or decisions based on a limited You compare yourself with others. Problematic
amount of information. You might assume you know what comparisons tend to draw attention to your flaws and
other people are thinking, or use your intuition to make snap weaknesses rather than your talents and abilities.
ice

judgments.

Labeling Thought-action fusion

You give yourself, other people, or your experiences a You believe your thoughts can directly influence the world
one-word label. These labels are usually fixed, extreme, and around you, or that thinking about doing something is just
negative – they stir up strong emotional reactions and stop as bad as actually doing it. This is sometimes called ‘magical
you noticing other aspects of your experience. thinking’.

Copyright © 2023 Psychology Tools Limited. All rights reserved.