Emotional reasoning: when emotions cloud thinking

Emotional reasoning is a cognitive process by which we shape an idea or belief based on how we feel. It is possibly the most common form of self-sabotage, the one in which if I feel sad it is because only misfortunes happen to me, the one in which if I feel jealous it is because my partner has the secret intention of being unfaithful to me when I least expect it.

Reasoning based on how we feel is something that we have all done many more times than we can believe. It is a trap, a trick on our brain, which, at certain times, has some difficulty interpreting and managing our own emotions correctly. At the same time, the observed evidence will not matter either, because All objective and rational facts are deliberately ignored or discarded in favor of the “truth” assumed by one’s own feelings.

“If our thinking becomes bogged down by distorted symbolic meanings, illogical reasoning, and erroneous interpretations, we become, indeed, blind and deaf.”

-TO. Beck-

Thus, it will not matter, for example, to know that our work and our home are not the same thing. Because sometimes, when we come home stressed, exhausted and angry and our partner makes an inappropriate comment, we end up dumping our negative emotions on him or her because at the end of the day “everyone is looking for the same thing”: to exasperate us, to make us unhappy.

We could undoubtedly give many more examples, some of them bordering on the most absurd irrationality. Like someone who gets on the most challenging attraction and suddenly has the resounding conviction that they are going to die. Then, with the firm and desperate idea to flee from that risk that in his opinion is real and imminent, he decides to unfasten the safety mechanisms, thus putting his life in real danger.

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Emotional reasoning leads us into a perfect storm, an absolute chaos of distorted thoughts where we are rarely left unscathed…

Emotional reasoning, a very primitive mechanism

We could bring here Paul MacLean’s always interesting theory about the triune brain. We could talk about that second brain, the limbic, which was formed on the basis of the reptilian brain and which controls and shapes our emotional behavior. It is he who for many regulates processes as basic as classical conditioning or operant conditioning, and he who sometimes makes us act in an unlogical and even irrational way.

However, it should be noted that for neuroscience this model is not solid, because our brain is actually a unique, interconnected and sophisticated structure where no specific area suddenly assumes exclusive control over us.

However, what is undeniable is that the vast majority of the time we do allow emotions to reason for us, falling into that very primitive trap where the strength of a feeling gives shape to a conviction that has nothing to do with reality.

Left aside is our capacity for analysis, reflection, induction and that principle of logic so necessary to establish solid relationships and function effectively in a given situation. Likewise, it should be noted that Emotional reasoning is one of the cornerstones in cognitive therapy founded by Aaron Beck in the 70s. Their theories and approaches are very useful to us to better understand this type of unhealthy mechanism.

Let’s see them below.

Aaron Beck: your emotions and the reality around you are not the same thing

Sometimes, when walking at dawn through a forest or on the top of a mountain, we can suddenly see a thick tongue of smoke embrace us. However, that smoke is not the result of a fire, nothing is burning. It’s just fog. The simple fact of fostering in our mind that subtle balance between reason and emotion will undoubtedly allow us to draw much more useful conclusions. and successful in our daily lives.

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However, Whoever lets himself be carried away by the impulse of emotion will be kidnapped by that fear that clouds and deforms everything.. We will see fires where there are only calm meadows. Likewise, this phenomenon gives shape to what Aaron Beck defined at the time as a type of sabotage by our mind, a type of cognitive distortion where we allow ourselves to be carried away exclusively by the most adverse pole of our negative emotions.

Most of us don’t pay much attention to how we feel, nor do we ask ourselves where our reactions come from. Almost without realizing it, we allow automatic thoughts to take full control over our lives.

Another curious phenomenon that occurs in emotional reasoning is procrastination. If there is something that bothers me or worries me or there is something that I think I am going to fail at, instead of facing it I postpone it. This continuous postponement in decision-making is also governed by that purely emotional and instinctive world that seeks to avoid risks at all costs, plunging us into our comfort zone. Sometimes we must add procrastination to an excessive generalization from an anecdotal or very specific fact. For example, “If the person I like has rejected me, it is clear that this love thing is not for me…”.Finally, and as a particularly common characteristic in those people accustomed to reasoning based on their emotions, is the fact that judging the behaviors or emotional states of others based on how they feel at that same moment.

As we can see, people generate real smoke from non-existent fires that completely reduce our quality of life, our personal relationships and our personal growth…

How can we combat emotional reasoning?

Cognitive-behavioral therapy, based on Aaron Beck’s own approaches, is a good approach to try to weaken this type of cognitive distortion. Here are some basic strategies to think about:

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Identify your automatic thoughts. To do this, it is necessary to remember that our thoughts directly influence what we feel, so we must be able to identify them on the one hand and evaluate them on the other. When emotional reasoning governs, feelings are confused with facts. Emotional reasoning makes stress worse, depression deeper, and anxiety more hurtful. It is therefore vital that Every time we experience a negative emotion, we stop to reflect on it, analyze it, channel it, break it down.…Every time you make a judgment, no matter how small, investigate the emotion behind it and the mechanism that led you to form that idea, that assessment.Ask yourself if you are able to think about the current situation in a different way. For example, if you tell yourself that you are naive for having trusted someone who failed you, instead of concluding with the idea that “no one can be trusted,” think that “you are not naive, because today you have already “You have learned your lesson and I am sure you will not make the same mistake again.”

To conclude, we know that and he main problem with emotional reasoning is that once we allow our emotions to transform into assumed truths, it is very difficult to lift the anchor from these islands inhabited by torment. However, it is necessary to assume control of our emotional universes.