4 Types of Cognitive Distortions and How to Find Support

In the thirteenth century, there lived a Christian philosopher and theologian named Thomas Aquinas. Due to his meekness and physical size, his fellow students called him “the dumb ox.” Unbeknownst to them, Thomas was compiling brilliant writings on faith and reason that continue to impact the Christian Church today.

Thomas is revered as one of, if not the greatest, philosophical and theological contributors to Christianity as a whole. His ability to use reason to clarify complicated theological and philosophical problems is unmatched. Reading even one sentence of his work is almost like watching a genius solve a mathematical equation due to the conciseness of the reasoning used.

He used reason to explain God and the truths of the Christian faith. Thomas, drawing on knowledge from philosophers before him, used the term “rational soul” to describe humans and to distinguish them from animals and plants. The truth behind this term is that humans are not bound to merely act on instinct or emotion but rather have the ability to make choices based on reason and ultimately to act in the way that Christ calls us to in Scripture.

This long-held Christian belief about the rational human soul is essential to how Christians view mental health in general and specifically, how Christians understand the use of reason in relation to instinct, emotions, and thoughts.

What are cognitive distortions?

To state it simply, a distorted cognition is a thought that is distorted or disordered in some way. Without the support of rationality – the use of reason, thoughts can become distorted. One’s perception of truth and attachment to reality can also become distorted. These distortions can have a wide spectrum of consequences, from harmless to grave.

A harmless consequence might be the stereotypical person who sees a small spider and screams and runs away in terror. The obvious rational thought is, “The spider is not a threat, as I could crush it with my thumb.” However, the distorted cognition is generally something like “That is a spider! Some spiders may be dangerous; therefore, this spider is dangerous.”

The fear response from the distorted cognition is quite harmless, albeit ridiculous-looking. A grave consequence would be an individual who fails a test in school and thinks, “I’m a terrible student. My only value is how good a student I am. Therefore, my life is no longer worth living.”

Instincts and emotions produce thoughts, and thoughts produce actions, so we need to develop awareness of our thoughts. It is also important for us to use our gift of rationality – the ability to use reason – to test our thoughts to ensure that they are congruent with truth and reality.

One way to do this is to learn to identify common cognitive distortions that we all fall into from time to time. In the following paragraphs, we will explore four different cognitive distortions. My source for this information was taken from one of my old textbooks titled “Theories of Psychotherapy and Counseling: Concepts and Cases” (Sharf, 2016, pp. 393-394).

Overgeneralization This distortion takes one truth and generalizes it in a way that is not congruent with reality. The above example of thoughts about a spider is an example of this. Some spiders are poisonous and dangerous (true); however, not all are. The untrue cognitive distortion would go like this: “Some spiders are dangerous. That is a spider, therefore, it is dangerous.”

It is not true that every spider is dangerous. The conclusion drawn is the cognitive distortion of overgeneralization. Another example might be a person who was involved in a car accident and then concludes that all rides in cars will end in an accident.

This is where it begins to get complicated. The complication arises because any compassionate person would recognize that the fear around vehicles is completely understandable, given what the person has been through. On the other hand, this is a cognitive distortion and is not congruent with reality.

The truly compassionate thing to do would be to free that person from the fear of what happened to them. Eventually, leading with compassion and allowing for time, the path would be to identify the truth that harm can come from riding in a vehicle, but emphasizing that it is not true that harm will always come from riding in a vehicle.

All-or-nothing thinking This is when we get stuck in binary thinking when it is not true. Some things in life are binary, but some are not. Another way to word it would be moving from one extreme to another, with no recognition of everything that comes in between.

Imagine a child who strikes out when playing baseball. The all-or-nothing thinking would be exemplified as the child saying, “I’m terrible at baseball. I always strike out. I’m just no good at baseball!” A parent often naturally guides the child away from this cognitive distortion. It usually sounds something like “That was just one strikeout. You had a great play earlier in the game. I loved what a good sport you were!”

This response offers a different option to the all-or-nothing thinking. It affirms that it wasn’t a good time at bat, but it was only one strikeout, which is not a thorough indicator of how good someone is at baseball. It also brings attention to the aspects of the game that the child is good at. The distortion is that there are only two options: good at baseball or terrible at baseball. The truth is that many different options fall in between good and terrible.

Mind-reading This is when we believe that we know what another person is thinking, though we have no evidence of that belief. This may sound inconsequential, but this distortion can sow confusion, anger, and resentment in any relationship. It often occurs when there is a lack of communication.

It might happen when someone doesn’t respond to a text message, and we immediately assume we know why the person has not responded, such as “they are ignoring me,” “they are mad at me,” or “they are trying to belittle me.”

Or it might come up in a marriage during a time of conflict. On the one hand, it is possible to guess what someone might be thinking. However, on the other hand, it is not possible to know with certainty what another person is thinking without asking them.

It is important to note that there are numerous reasons why someone might resort to mind reading. Perhaps it is driven by anxiety or the fear of the other person being upset. In this case, it is a protective distortion. It is borne out of the person wanting to protect themselves from something.

However, it is still a distortion and not congruent with reality. It tends to lead to miscommunication and resentment in relationships. The honest and just approach to a relationship is to open up communication and invite the other person to share what they are thinking or feeling.

Catastrophizing This distortion comes from the word “catastrophe.” It is when one expects and continually thinks about a situation ending in catastrophe or the worst possible outcome. For those who may struggle with this distortion, even the simplest thing may cause serious stress due to expecting and ruminating on the worst possible outcome.

Consider taking a child to the park to play. Many catastrophes are possible. The child could get hurt on the play structure. They could get hurt playing tag with another child. They could get lost and go missing. The list could go on and on.

On the one hand, all of these outcomes are possible. On the other hand, none of them is statistically probable. It is not congruent with reality to assume that the catastrophe will occur without any supporting evidence. The truth is that in every choice we make, there are risks. The weighing of risk and reward is instantaneous, second nature to most of us. With catastrophizing, the focus is on the risk, without using rationality to contextualize it.

If these sound familiar

If these sound familiar, it is completely normal! We all distort our perception of reality from time to time. However, if cognitive distortions are significant challenges in your life, it might be time to seek the help of a counselor. Interestingly, the categorization of these cognitive distortions came from psychologists who noticed that those whom they were treating for significant psychological symptoms had similar distortions in their thoughts (Sharf, 2016).

Noticing these distortions showing up frequently in your life and feeling stuck in them could be an indicator that you need more support. Overgeneralization often shows up in those who have survived trauma. All-or-nothing thinking often shows up in those who are challenged by anxiety symptoms or depressive symptoms.

Mind-reading is often used when there are underlying struggles in a relationship. Catastrophizing can be brought on by anxiety and can also contribute to anxiety symptoms. These are just a few examples of how these distortions may be related to underlying mental health challenges.

A Final Note on Cognitive Distortions

Our rationality is a gift that we have been given to allow us to experience freedom. We have the freedom to make choices; we are not bound to merely follow instinct and emotions. And, like all gifts, we misuse it or forget to use it. Instincts and emotions are also gifts, and they certainly have a place in our lives as well.

I believe that it is important to keep all things in perspective, especially when we are discussing mental health and real challenges that people experience. Thomas, the brilliant philosopher mentioned above, famous for his use of rationality, is said to have had an experience of Christ toward the end of his life. After this experience, he wrote that all of his philosophical work on Christian faith and reason was “straw” compared to his experience of Christ.

He also composed hymns, and one line he wrote comes to mind: “faith will tell us Christ is present, when our human senses fail.” We all fail. We make emotional choices that hurt others. We don’t listen to our instincts when it would benefit us. We fall into cognitive distortions. Christ is present, especially in this important work of making changes that lead to more freedom to live in truth.