Definitions of Cognitive Distortions
Definitions of Cognitive Distortions
Definitions of Cognitive Distortions
1. ALL-OR-NOTHING THINKING: You see things in black and white categories. If your performance falls short of
perfect, you see yourself as a total failure. “ I failed this test, I’m a failure!”
2. OVERGENERALIZATION: You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat. “My life is useless,
the whole world is bad, I will NEVER succeed.”
3. MENTAL FILTER: You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively so that your vision of all reality
becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that discolors the entire beaker of water.
5. JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS: You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that
convincingly support your conclusion.
a. Mind Reading: You arbitrarily conclude that someone is reacting negatively to you, and you don't bother to
check this out. “ The audience is certainly getting bored.”
b. The Fortune Teller Error: You anticipate that things will turn out badly, and you feel convinced that your
prediction is an already established fact. “ The audience will not like it.”
“My parents fight so much, am I so bad that they cannot stop fighting?”