Cognitive distortions in anxiety: how do they intensify suffering?

The most common cognitive distortions in anxiety They have a very clear objective: to intensify suffering. The mind falls captive to rigid and negative thought patterns that act as a trap, quicksand in which reason, logic and internal balance sink. The world becomes threatening and every problem, no matter how small, no longer has a solution.

Although these types of psychological dynamics are characteristic of conditions such as anxiety or depression, it is worth noting that We all use cognitive distortions at some point.. Who most and who least has applied, for example, emotional reasoning that results in ideas such as “If right now I feel clumsy and incompetent it is because I am incompetent.”

Now, beyond the fact that our mind has processed certain things in an erroneous and harmful way for ourselves, many of the times we try to maintain control. When we analyze reality in a calmer way, we choose to use slightly more realistic attitudes. (and kind).

Nevertheless, The problem comes when it is not possible, when the emotions do not accompany us., external difficulties are very complex and our psychological resources are at a minimum. In these circumstances it is easy to end up constantly feeding those exhausting negative distortions.

Identifying them, knowing how they act and removing power from them is the best strategy we can learn. Our well-being will notice it.

The most common cognitive distortions in anxiety

“I can’t stand this, it’s unbearable, I’m going to go crazy”, “I’m worthless”, “the only thing we can hope for now is that everything gets much worse; there’s nothing to do”. This type of reasoning generates a type of mental fog in which only anguish and doom can be breathed. If this type of approach is persistently reinforced, the exhaustion will be immense.

Cognitive distortions are, basically, tricks of the mind, systematic ways in which people distort information from the environment, what happens to us and what we see. If we ask ourselves the reason why we use this type of mechanism, the answer is more complex than it seems. Sometimes, it is due to a feedback system between emotions and one’s own thoughts.

I feel bad and therefore I think negative things and those thoughts feed my discomfort even more. Other times, cognitive distortions are schemes that we have almost always used without realizing it. A complicated upbringing or unaffected parents often cause us to tend to interpret things in a draining way. If our self-esteem is also low, it is easy to fall into these types of mental traps.

Let us therefore know what the most common cognitive distortions in anxiety are.

Catastrophization

Think the worst to be prepared. We assume that this is a good strategy when, in reality, all we achieve is a devastating increase in anxiety itself.

Tell us things like: “If I fail this exam, I can already give up my career, so the best thing is to start assuming that I am worthless” or “in view of what is happening, it is clear that things are going to get worse and no one is going to have a job.” already” are examples of this very common cognitive distortion.

Dichotomous or polarized thinking

Any reasoning that begins with the terms “always”, “never”, “everything” or “nothing” You are applying polarized thinking. They are those ways of processing reality in which everything is good or bad, or you are with me or against me, or I get what I want or I fall apart because I am of no use.

This way of attributing such an extreme value to things without there being a middle ground is another form of very pronounced suffering.

Selective abstraction

Sometimes, Our attention has an unusual and twisted tendency: to see the negative side of life in every situation.. Selective abstraction is one of the most common cognitive distortions in anxiety. It happens when we are left only with the darkest part of reality, when we interpret things in the most harmful way for ourselves.

An example of this type of thinking would be “I have invited everyone in the office to my birthday and Claudia is the only one who hasn’t come. “I’m sure she hates me and the others are only here out of obligation.” .

Personalization, one of the most common cognitive distortions in anxiety

“If my boss is arguing with someone in the office it will be because of something I have done,” “If the cashier treats me rudely it will be because I have a tendency to make people dislike me”, “the presentation of the work I have done today has been a disaster and therefore, all of them are going to turn out equally badly because I am not worth it.” nothing”.

This type of reasoning is the result of that negative internal dialogue in which We personalize every fact we see, as if everything were our responsibility or cause.

Arbitrary inference, the evil fortune teller in you

Anxiety has a tendency: to make us believe that we are the Oracle of Delphi. We assume the role of fortune tellers to assume a large number of situations are true. The most common are the following:

We think we know what others think of us. So much so that our mind never stops torturing us with ideas like “he probably thinks I’m a failure, he doesn’t like me, what he feels is pity…”.Likewise, It is also common to fall into that mistake of “forecasting the future”to tell ourselves that I’m going to fail, I’m going to fail, he’s going to say no, what’s going to happen is that everything will go wrong, etc.

To conclude, knowing what the most common cognitive distortions in anxiety are can allow us two things. The first is to detect these thought patterns that feed the discomfort. The second is to realize how the human mind works and how, if we do not control it and set limits, it can become our worst enemy.

Let’s learn to take care of it, to see it as that garden in which only thoughts that help, that motivate, that make us feel like valuable beings can germinate.

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