http://matt.blogs.it/ RSS feed for topic behaviour Copyright 2011 Matt Mower. Some rights reserved. Squib/0.5.0.382 self@mattmower.com self@mattmower.com en-gb http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00003026.html Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:29:19 +0100 <p>I've just read an excellent article from the PsychCentral blog on <a href="http://psychcentral.com/lib/2009/15-common-cognitive-distortions/">15 Common Cognitive Distortions</a>. A <em>cognitive distortion</em> is anything our mind convinces us of that isn't really true. In general we use them to beat ourselves up and keep ourselves feeling bad.</p> <p>Reading through the list and thinking about them I can easily see how I apply 10 of them on an almost daily basis right now. For me the list is:</p> <ul> <li>filtering</li> <li>polarized thinking</li> <li>overgeneralization</li> <li>jumping to conclusions</li> <li>catastrophizing</li> <li>personalization</li> <li>fallacy of fairness</li> <li>blaming</li> <li>shoulds</li> <li>fallacy of change</li> <li>always being right</li> </ul> <p>Wait, that's 11. Well there you go. I suspect the other 4 are there and I just don't see myself using them quite so clearly.</p> <p>What's more difficult, and the article doesn't really delve into this, is how to avoid these distortions short of full-blown CBT. In the first case I think being aware of, and reflecting upon, how you may be distorting your view of things is probably a good start. It might make a good beginning of a daily mindfulness practice.</p> http://matt.blogs.it/entries/00003026.html