Unhelpful Thinking Styles
What Are Unhelpful Thinking Styles?
Unhelpful thinking styles are often automatic patterns of thinking that are inaccurate or unhelpful. They are associated with certain mood states; feeling anxious or depressed, for example, can make certain thoughts stronger and more frequent.
We tend to be unaware of unhelpful thinking styles, they act like background music we don’t notice. However, when these types of thoughts happen consistently, they can cause a lot of emotional distress.
Unhelpful thoughts often lead to unpleasant emotions like anxiety and despair. These thoughts are usually irrational and inaccurate, amplifying the emotions. This is common, as it's how the human brain interprets the world.
Our brains often take shortcuts, missing or misinterpreting information. We wear blinders and see the world through lenses shaped by our experiences, which influence how we view ourselves and others.
What You Think is How You Feel
These lenses lead us to misinterpret situations and create inaccurate and distorted thinking. For example, we may jump to the worst-case scenario, blame ourselves for situations that are not our fault, or exaggerate the negative aspects of a situation while ignoring the positive aspects.
Please see these CBT Denver blog articles on all-or-nothing thinking and magnification and minimization for more information on specific types of unhelpful thinking styles.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) proposes that the way you feel about an event is based on how you think about it. Your perception of an event is based on inaccurate beliefs and beliefs, which lead you to process information in a biased way, resulting in an unhelpful thinking style or cognitive distortion.
Distressing emotions are therefore often the result of unhelpful ways of thinking.
Examples of Unhelpful Thinking Styles
All or Nothing Thinking – Binary appraisals based on extreme or absolute judgments. For example, “I am a complete failure or successful.”
Catastrophizing – Assuming the worst possible outcome is likely to occur. This often takes the form of “What If” thoughts. For example, “What if my stomach pain is cancer?”
Disqualifying The Positive – Ignoring or dismissing positive attributes or aspects of a situation. For example, “There is nothing good in my life.”
Emotional Reasoning – Basing predictions or conclusions on your feelings. For example, “I feel afraid so I must be in danger.”
Jumping to Conclusions – Quickly drawing an inaccurate conclusion that is not based on facts or the full picture. For example, “Those people laughing must be laughing at me because they think I am stupid.”
Magnification and Minimization – Exaggerating certain aspects of a situation while ignoring others. For example, “I lost my train of thought during my presentation. I will never progress in my career.”
Mental Filter – Appraising a situation based on a single detail which is often taken out of context or magnified while ignoring other information. For example, thinking “I’m a horrible student” after getting a C on one assignment even though you got several A’s over the semester.
Mind Reading – Assuming other people’s thoughts, feelings, or intentions without a factual basis. For example, “She thinks I am an idiot.”
Overgeneralization – Making broad conclusions about yourself, others, or the world based on isolated events. For example, “A person was rude at the grocery store. All people are rude.”
Personalizing – Interpreting situations in a self-referential and negative way. For example, “My colleague at work didn’t say much to me this morning because they don’t like me.”
Should Statements – Rules, or should statements, about how you, others, or the world is supposed to operate. For example, “I should call my parents every week and I am a bad person if I don’t.”
Why We Think in Unhelpful Ways
Different psychological theories are used to understand unhelpful thinking styles.
One theory is that unhelpful thinking styles result from core cognitive beliefs developed during childhood. It suggests that we have individual beliefs and assumptions related to specific unhelpful thinking styles. For example, the tendency to catastrophize may be related to the assumption that it is helpful to assume the worst in life.
Another theory is that unhelpful thinking styles are a part of reinforcing loops of thought that are associated with depressive models of cognition, or mental framework. This framework creates negative meanings which then create negative automatic thoughts/unhelpful thinking styles. These thoughts then reinforce negative meanings and depressive mental frameworks strengthening the reinforcing loop.
An additional theory is that unhelpful thinking styles have an evolutional basis. For example, jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst possible outcome may be adaptive if you are truly under threat or attack and need to fight or escape to survive.
For more insight into what constitutes unhelpful thinking styles, take a look at this PsychCentral article offering a clear overview. To learn more about unhelpful thinking styles and how to effectively cope with them, please contact us at CBT Denver.