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Cognitive distortions are exaggerated or irrational thought patterns that typically perpetuate the effects of psychological disorders, especially depression and anxiety. Cognitive psychologist Aaron T. Beck laid the groundwork for the study of these distortions, and his student David D. Burns continued research on the topic. Most notably, Burns’ 1989 book, “The Feeling Good Handbook” ^[1] presented important information on these thought patterns along with a proposal of how to eliminate them.

History

In 1972, cognitive psychologist Aaron T. Beck published the book, “Depression: Causes and Treatment.” ^[2] Beck was dissatisfied with the conventional Freudian treatment of depression, and he concluded that there was no empirical evidence for the success of Freudian psychoanalysis in the understanding or treatment of depression. In his book, Beck provided a comprehensive and empirically supported look at depression – its potential causes, symptoms, and treatments. In Chapter 2, “Symptomatology of Depression,” Beck describes certain “cognitive manifestations” of depression. The manifestations that Beck lists are low self-evaluation, negative expectations, self-blame and self-criticism, indecisiveness, and distortion of body image, and these are the pre-cursors to the distortions that Burns would later describe. ^[2]

In 1980, Burns published his book, “Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy,” ^[3] (with a preface from Beck) and nine years later published “The Feeling Good Handbook” in 1989. These books delved deeper into the concept of the definition, development, and treatment of cognitive distortions, specifically in regards to individuals diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorders. This book marked the popularization of cognitive behavioral therapy.

Main Cognitive Distortions ^[1]

All-or-nothing thinking: seeing things in black or white as opposed to shades of gray

Example: A dieter sees eating a bite of ice cream as a total failure that ruined his or her entire diet

Overgeneralization: allowing a single negative incident to lead to a chronic defeatist attitude, using terms like “always” or “never”

Example: A car salesman who has this defeatist attitude is upset by bird droppings on a windshield, and says that always happens to him

Mental filter: in the midst of positivity or neutrality, focusing entirely on negative rather than seeing the whole picture

Example: After receiving comments about a work presentation, a person ignores all of the positive feedback and focuses on the single critical comment

Discounting the positive: positive events are discounted, leaving feelings of inadequacy

Example: Even when a person does a good job, they deny their success and say it wasn’t that good or impressive

Jumping to conclusions: negative interpretation of events without any justification

Mind reading: randomly deciding a person that someone has negative feelings towards you

Fortune-telling: predicting negative outcomes of events

Example: Being convinced of failure before a test

Magnification (“binocular trick”): emphasizing inadequacies and faults while underrating positive qualities

Emotional Reasoning: presuming that negative feelings expose the true nature of things

Example: Feeling that fear of flying in planes means planes are a very dangerous way to travel. OR A man believing his feelings of hopelessness make him actually hopeless.

Should statements: believing things that didn’t turn out as expected should have been different or as anticipated

Example: After a performance, a pianist feels he or she should not have made so many mistakes

Labeling: a more severe type of all-or-nothing thinking; attaching an irrational label, turning a person into nothing more than their actions

Example: Instead of believing that you made a mistake, you believe that you are a loser. OR someone who made a bad first impression is a jerk

Personalization: feeling at fault for incidents that aren’t entire in your control

Example: A mother whose child is struggling in school blames herself entirely for being a bad mother rather than trying to find the real problem

Blame: the opposite of personalization; blaming others for events that aren’t in their control while ignoring potential fault

Example: a spouse blames their husband or wife entirely for marital problems

Treatment

Cognitive Restructuring

Cognitive restructuring is a popular form of therapy used to identify and break down maladaptive cognitive distortions. CR therapies aim to eliminate “automatic thoughts” which create dysfunctional or negative views for individuals. Cognitive restructuring is the main component of Beck’s and Burn’s cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

Other

References

^ ^a ^b Burns, David D. The Feeling Good Handbook: Using the New Mood Therapy in Everyday Life. New York: W. Morrow, 1989. Print.
^ ^a ^b Beck, Aaron T. Depression; Causes and Treatment. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1972. Print.
^ Burns, David D. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. New York: Morrow, 1980. Print.

[burns-1] Burns, David D. The Feeling Good Handbook: Using the New Mood Therapy in Everyday Life. New York: W. Morrow, 1989. Print.

[beck-2] Beck, Aaron T. Depression; Causes and Treatment. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1972. Print.

[burns2-3] Burns, David D. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. New York: Morrow, 1980. Print.

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