cognitive distortion
Warped thinking pattern
A cognitive distortion is a pattern of biased or irrational thinking that reinforces negative emotions or beliefs.
Common examples include catastrophizing (assuming the worst), black-and-white thinking, and overgeneralization.
The term comes from cognitive behavioral therapy, where identifying these distortions is central to treatment: My therapist helped me recognize the cognitive distortions fueling my anxiety.
- overgeneralizationUnwarranted broad application
- all or nothingExtreme without compromise
- catastrophizingImagining worst-case outcomes
- labelingAssigning identifying markers
- personalizationTailoring to individual needs
anxiety · attribution theory · rumination · fortune telling · jumping to conclusions · automatic · thought patterns · guilt · shame · self-sabotage · metacognition · emotional reasoning · hopelessness · perfectionism · mind reading · avoidance · magnifying · learned helplessness
- Anxietyanxiety, nervousness, panic, worry, generalized anxiety
- thinking patternsrumination, obsession, loop, spiral, cycle
- thought patternsrumination, overthinking, catastrophizing, overgeneralization, magical thinking
- personality symptomsparanoia, suspiciousness, social isolation, odd beliefs, magical thinking
- psychologypsychology, psychologist, therapist, psychiatrist, clinical psychology
- defense mechanismsdenial, projection, repression, suppression, displacement
cognitive distortionclear thinking
cognitive distortionlogical reasoning
Structured thought process
rational thinking · critical thinking · analytical thinking · systematic thinking · sound judgment
cognitive distortioncognitive flexibility
Capacity to shift perspectives
psychological resilience · mental wellness · emotional intelligence · cognitive health · wise mind
recognize, recognition, recognized, cognitive, distorted, distort, distortion, recognizing, recognizable