12 Types and Examples of Distorted Thinking

Mind Reading - When you make assumptions about what somebody is thinking or feeling without them telling you. In reality, you are delusional or paranoid.

Catastrophize - when you over think a problem and the effects that they will actually have on you. For example, when you think that losing a relationship means the end of your life when really you can find someone new the next day or down the line.

Filtering - when you only pay attention to one side of things. For example, you only remember the bad times you had in school and not the good ones.

Polarized thinking - when you think of things as either black or white or good or bad. For example, there can only be good or bad people or success or fails.

Personalization - when you take everything too personally. For example, when you think that everything people do or say is some kind of reaction to you.

Blaming - when you hold other people accountable for your problems. For example, you blame someone else  for causing you to make a bad decision. In actuality, you were the one who made the wrong call based on your own judgement.

Being Right - You feel the need to prove that your opinions or actions are correct. For example, you neglect other people’s perspective in an argument.

Should’s - when you place sets of rules on yourself. For example, you think that you should go out whenever your friend asks you to.

Emotional Reading - When you use your emotions to make a decision or judgement. For example, you buy into a product because of how good it was marketed when really the product is not that good.

Fallacy of Change - when you think others should change for you and that yourhappiness depends on them changing. For example, you expect that person to stop being a jerk because you are being nice to them.

Heaven’s Reward Fallacy - when you expect that all your sacrifices or hard work to pay off. For example, you think that if you work hard enough, you should get a reward.

Overgeneralization - when you carry a problem over to other domains. When you fail a math test, you think that you are not good with anything to do with numbers.