11 distortions that make our lives bitter

People have the feeling that we process the world as it is. It is easy to understand that our senses and our mind create distortions, but it is not so easy for the contrary intuition that we may have to give up or consider lost the battle in the face of this fact.

There are numerous occasions in which we distort our perception. Although it is normal, it is also true that these distortions increase or worsen in the presence of a mental disorder, such as depression.

That is, these erroneous cognitive distortions make us vulnerable to cognitive sadness and depression, and people who frequently suffer from them tend to have low self-esteem.

Therefore, let’s see what the 11 distortions that your mind makes with respect to reality are and define what they consist of and how they manifest to later explain the reason for their appearance.

The 11 distortions that your mind makes regarding reality

Cognitive distortions prevent us from seeing things as they are, That is, they distort reality by focusing only on a certain aspect.

Overgeneralization: TO From an isolated fact we make a general and universal rule: “He didn’t pay attention to me today, everyone doesn’t like me.”Arbitrary inference: Drawing a conclusion without having any reason for it: “If he doesn’t look at me it’s because I look ugly” or “I’m sure I’ll fail the exam even if I study.”Global designation: Automatically using pejorative names to describe ourselves instead of describing ourselves accurately: “I am cowardly, desperate, stupid, weak…”.Polarized or dichotomous thinking: Taking things to their extremes with no middle ground: “It has to be perfect or else it’s not worth it.Self-accusation: Permanently blaming ourselves for things that cannot be our fault: “If I had not hit the road so early, there would have been more light and the accident would not have occurred.”

Personalization: Assuming that everything has to do with us, even if they are foreign situations that have little or nothing to do with our life: “Look at Rosa how she always looks dressed up, while I look like a picture.”Mind reading: Thinking you know what others think and why they behave the way they do: “they think I’m stupid.”Control fallacy: You feel like you have total responsibility for everything or that you have no control over anything: “This is going wrong because of me,” “I can’t do anything to change.”Emotional reasoning: Assume that things are just how you feel them: “I’m going to die”, “All my friends are leaving me.Selective abstraction: Mental filter that makes you ignore everything positive and focus on the negative: “I passed that important exam because I was lucky.”Maximization and Minimization: Events are evaluated by giving them exaggerated or undervalued weight based on real evidence. For example, a case of minimization would be to downplay positive events that have to do with us: “He asked me to marry him, but he would have asked anyone else.”

Explanation of these cognitive distortions

The fundamental elements in Beck’s theory of depression are going to be the schemas, automatic thoughts and cognitive distortions that we have just mentioned.

Cognitive schemas are basic assumptions and beliefs regarding reality. Automatic thoughts are reflexes, irrational, inadequate, involuntary and experienced as plausible.

Finally, cognitive distortions are systematic errors that occur in the processing of information. Therefore Erroneous cognition is a central element in the person’s discomfort.

All of these schemas are formed in childhood and can be activated with a stressful event in adult life that connects with a part of the person. From its activation, we process everything with that negative schema, which causes cognitive distortions and automatic thoughts to appear. This is when the COGNITIVE TRIAD of depression: negative view of myself, the world and the future.

To clarify these concepts let’s look at an example:

“María is a girl who since she was little has witnessed her father’s repeated mistreatment of her mother. On the other hand, her mother has told her that this is normal, since all men are equal once they are married.

María assumes this and will have a negative schema regarding relationships with men that will be activated if she experiences a stressful situation similar to the one that originated that schema. Several years later, her boyfriend yells at her and that “all men are bad and abusive” scheme will automatically be activated.“.

From there all the information will be processed by that scheme, automatic thoughts will appear regarding the nature of what your partner does, Ex: “All the harm he does to me is for my good.” Cognitive distortions will be activated when you process information such as emotional reasoning: “I feel like I’m going to die and I won’t be able to leave him.”

All of this will contribute to activating the depressogenic COGNITIVE TRIAD in María’s mind: a negative view of herself, the situation and the future.

How to treat our depressogenic schemas, thoughts and cognitions

The best way to treat depression that has been caused by this way of processing information is through “Beck’s Cognitive Therapy for Depression.”

Beck’s Cognitive Therapy is very complete, with an educational phase, skills training and application in real life. Many techniques are used to question or dismantle all the erroneous cognitions that the person sets in motion and that are reducing their self-esteem and sinking them deeper and deeper into the pit of depression.

Some of these techniques are reattribution, the search for alternative interpretations, questioning the evidence of these schemes and contrasting the catastrophic predictions that we make non-stop.

In this therapy the patient-therapist relationship will be important. Furthermore, the treatment has been shown to be highly effective, especially the behavioral part: it is good. do things and activate ourselves, even if we feel bad and continue to have these cognitive distortions. Sooner or later, with the energy that movement gives us and the reinforcement for achieving goals, they will fall.

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