COGNITIVE PRESENTED BY

DISTORTIONS DR.DRON BHATIA

CONTENTS
1.Introduction
2.Diffrent types of cognitive distortions.
All or Nothing thinking.(Dichotomous thinking)
Overgeneralization.
Selective Abstraction.(Discounting the positive)
Excessive responsibility.(Assuming personal causality)
Jumping to conclusion.(Assumption temporal causality)
Self-Reference.
CONTENTS CONTI..
Emotional Reasoning.
Mental Filters.
INTRODUCTION
A CENTRAL FEATURE OF THE COGNITIVE THEORY OF EMOTIONAL
DISORDERS IS ITS EMPHASIS ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BELIEF ABOUT
THEMSELVES, THEIR PERSONAL WORLD (INCLUDING PEOPLE IN THEIR
LIVES), AND THEIR FUTURE-THE COGNITIVE TRIAD.

WHEN PEOPLE EXPERIENCE EXCESSIVE MALADAPTIVE EMOTIONAL

DISTRESS,IT IS BASED ON THEIR PROBLEMATIC, STEREOTYPIC , BIASED
INTERPRITIONS PERTINENT TO THIS COGNITIVE TRIAD OF SELF (EG.)
CLINICALLY DEPRESSED PATIENTS MAY BE PRONE TO BELIEVE THAT
THEY ARE INCAPABLE AND HELPLESS AND VIEW OTHERS AS BEING
JUDGEMENTAL AND CRITICAL AND THE FUTURE AS BEING BLEAK AND
UNREWARDING.
Cognitive distortions are negative or irrational patterns of thinking. These negative
thought patterns can play a role in diminishing your motivation, lowering your self-
esteem, and contributing to problems like anxiety, depression, and substance use.
ALL OR NOTHING THINKING
All-or-nothing thinking is also known as black-and-white thinking or polarized
thinking. This type of thinking involves viewing things in absolute terms: Situations
are always black or white, everything or nothing, good or bad, success or failure.

An example of all-or-nothing thinking is dwelling on mistakes and assuming you will

never be able to do well, instead of acknowledging the error and trying to move past
it.

Demonstrating events that may be evaluated on a continuum.

(a range or series of things that are slightly different from each other and that exist
between two different possibilities.)
OVERGENERALIZATION.

Overgeneralization happens when you make a rule after a single event or a series of
coincidences.
The words "always" or "never" frequently appear in the sentence. Because you have
experience with one event playing out a certain way, you assume that all future
events will have the same outcome.
Overgeneralization has been associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
and other anxiety disorders.

Exposure of faulty logic. Establish criteria of which cases are similar to what degree.
SELECTIVE ABSTRACTION.

Discounting the positive is a cognitive distortion that involves ignoring or

invalidating good things that have happened to Patient.
It is similar to mental filtering, but instead of simply ignoring the positives, you are
actively rejecting them.
Interpreting circumstances using a negative mental filter is inaccurate and can also
worsen anxiety and depression symptoms. These thoughts may become extreme
enough to trigger suicidal thoughts.

Use the log to identify success that patient forgot.

EXCESSIVE RESPONSIBILITY
Pt. complaints that he is solely responsible for all bad things, failures .
For example, when something bad happens, you see this as "proof" of your own
failures. But when good things happen, you minimize their importance. For example,
a person addicted to pain medication might magnify the importance of eliminating
all pain and exaggerate how unbearable their pain is.

Disattribution technique.
an act or process of invalidating the attribution of something, for example of a work
of art to a particular artist
JUMPING TO CONCLUSION
There are two ways of jumping to conclusions:
Mind reading: When you think someone is going to react in a particular way, or you
believe someone is thinking things that they aren’t. This assumption may stem from one
instance of being correct that makes you believing you always know what others are
really thinking.
Fortune telling: When you predict events will unfold in a particular way, often to
avoid trying something difficult. For example -you’ll be famous without putting in the
hard work. Or you’ll always be a failure, so hard work is a waste of time.

Exposure of Faulty logic. Specify events that could influence outcomes other than past
events.
SELF-REFERENCE
I am the center of everyone’s attention especially the bad performance. Iam the cause
of misfortunes. You falsely believe that everything that someone says or does is a
direct reaction to you. Personalization can convince you that you are being targeted
or excluded. It can also cause you to compare yourself to others.

Establish criteria when patient is the focus of attention and also probable facts that
cause bad experience.
EMOTIONAL REASONING
Emotional reasoning is a way of judging yourself or your circumstances based on
your emotions. This type of reasoning assumes that because you are experiencing a
negative emotion, it must accurately reflect reality. If you feel experience feelings of
guilt, for example, emotional reasoning would lead you to conclude that you are a
bad person.
This distortion is common in people who have anxiety and depression, it is actually a
very common way of thinking that many people engage in.
Patient used emotional reasoning to conclude that she was a worthless person, which
in turn led to binge eating.
MENTAL FILTERS
A mental filter is the opposite of overgeneralization, but with the same negative
outcome.
Instead of taking one small event and generalizing it inappropriately, the mental filter
takes one small event and focuses on it exclusively, filtering out anything else.
Pt. focuses on all of the negative or hurtful things that their partner has said or done in
their relationship, but they filters all the kind and thoughtful things their partner does.
This thinking contributes to feelings of negativity about their partner and their
relationship.
When people believe they have no control over their circumstances, it can reduce
motivation and cultivate a sense of “learned helplessness”.
Journaling is one strategy that might help overcome mental filtering.
THANKS