Carolina Nadel, Illustrations - Books in Progress/CBT/Cognitive Errors

Mistakes in Thinking - Cognitive Errors

Jumping to Conclusions
Concluding things are bad without enough evidence.

Two types:
1. Reading Minds - you assume people are thinking bad things about you. Can you read minds? Then how can you know??
2. Telling the Future - you predict things will turn out badly. Can you predict the future? Then how can you know?

Black and White Thinking
All or Nothing Thinking - something is either ALL GOOD or ALL BAD. No in between. This is so common you won't believe how often you do this!

Focusing on the Negative
Instead of looking at the good AND the bad in a situation, you only look at the bad - even if there is much more good than bad. Two types:
1. Mental Filter - you dwell on the negatives and ignore the positives
2. Discounting the Positive - if you do something good, it does not count. It's the exception, not the rule.

Magnifying/Minimizing
You blow things out of proportion when they are bad and shrink their importance when they are good.

Overgeneralizing
view a neg. event as a never-ending pattern of defeat - seeing something bad or wrong you did and predict that it will continue into the future.

Should statements.
You think things should be a certain absolute way. Talk about World Views here. Also how if you direct it outward, you get angry (link to anger?) if you direct in inward, you get depressed (link to depression?)

Labeling.
You dehumanize someone by taking something they do or say and characterizing them as this thing. Calling someone a Jerk or a Loser or some other bad name.

Blame
you see yourself or someone else as the only cause of a negative event, without enough evidence. Get proof!

Emotional Reasoning
Emo....what? I know, I know. Sounds weird, but it simply means that you FEEL BAD about something and then conclude that something bad must have happened to you to make you feel that way. This MIGHT be true, but not necessarily.


Mistakes in Thinking - Cognitive Errors
	Jumping to Conclusions Concluding things are bad without enough evidence. Two types: 1. Reading Minds - you assume people are thinking bad things about you. Can you read minds? Then how can you know?? 2. Telling the Future - you predict things will turn out badly. Can you predict the future? Then how can you know?
	Black and White Thinking All or Nothing Thinking - something is either ALL GOOD or ALL BAD. No in between. This is so common you won't believe how often you do this!
	Focusing on the Negative Instead of looking at the good AND the bad in a situation, you only look at the bad - even if there is much more good than bad. Two types: 1. Mental Filter - you dwell on the negatives and ignore the positives 2. Discounting the Positive - if you do something good, it does not count. It's the exception, not the rule.
	Magnifying/Minimizing You blow things out of proportion when they are bad and shrink their importance when they are good.
	Overgeneralizing view a neg. event as a never-ending pattern of defeat - seeing something bad or wrong you did and predict that it will continue into the future.
	Should statements. You think things should be a certain absolute way. Talk about World Views here. Also how if you direct it outward, you get angry (link to anger?) if you direct in inward, you get depressed (link to depression?)
	Labeling. You dehumanize someone by taking something they do or say and characterizing them as this thing. Calling someone a Jerk or a Loser or some other bad name.
	Blame you see yourself or someone else as the only cause of a negative event, without enough evidence. Get proof!
	Emotional Reasoning Emo....what? I know, I know. Sounds weird, but it simply means that you FEEL BAD about something and then conclude that something bad must have happened to you to make you feel that way. This MIGHT be true, but not necessarily.