red
15-04-04, 18:58
Hiya
As a past depressive and current (though mild) Health Anxiety sufferer I thought you might all get some benefit from this article that I read the other day. I certainly identified with a lot of it in both of my 'conditions' - it certainly gave me something to think about! If you are willing to read it - I am more than willing to type it!
Hope you find it useful - let me know, because I have loads more!
Errors of thought or cognition (understanding) occur in people who are depressed and / or anxious - this is widely accepted. When we are depressed or anxious our interpretations of what we think can be biased and this bias is almost always negative. So, what are these errors of thought?
1. OVER GENERALISING An example of this is thinking that because an unpleasant thing has happened to you once, it will always happen and therefore you will always feel upset or anxious about it.
For example - a young man who felt lonely, unwanted and rejected thought that he would never be bale to have a girlfriend as girls did not find him attractive. He made this assumption on the basis of asking one girl out in his office who turned him down - and that of course just isn't reality.
Many people make the mistake of gibing themselves a label, or forming an opinion about something simply based on ONE experience of 'failure' and in doing so over generalise. I've seen many, many examples of this in the forums. Correct that negative bias! I can hear "I've tried" I'm saying "Just the once? And that's formed that opinion?" Have another go.
2. PERSONALISING This is explained by thinking that you are soley responsible for a negative or unpleasant event, when often there is little basis for this conclusion.
For example, thinking that the reason a person who has just passed you in the street frowning is doing so because of you, when in fact they could just have been having a bad day - and their frowning has nothing to do with you!
Personalising gives you an unrealistic sense of responsibility and therefore makes you carry unnecessary guilt. You cary the weight for everything that goes wrong; everything is related to some deficiency or inadequacy in yourself. You overlook the part that others may have played and you confuse the possibility that you may have contributed to what has happened with the possibility that it is ALL your fault.
3. BLACK AND WHITE THINKING This is also referred to as all or nothing thinking. For example, you are either a success or a failure - there is no grey area; no room for being anything in between.
Black and white thinking does not allow for degrees of anything. This way of thinning is unrealistic because people or situations are rarely totally one thing or another. It can also lead to perfectionism and the likelihood of never quite meeting the stringent demands that you make upon yourself, so you get caught in a 'no win' situation.
4. CATATROPHISING For example - saying to yourself "I've made a dreadful mistake", or "this is terrible". People suffering with panic attacks are very good usually at thinking catastrophic thoughts and this only serves to add more panic to panic.
In catastrophising you are likely to be blowing a small mistake or fault out of proportion while devaluing the positive aspects of your behaviour or of the situation. You also magnify your faults and minimise your qualities. This biased view and pattern of thought leads to low self-esteem and confidence.
5. JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS This is when you jump to a negative conclusion when there is insufficient evidence to do so, even when there is no evidence at all.
An example of jumping to conclusion would be thinking that someone you know doesn't like you because they failed to say hello to you in the street. In fact they might not have seen you or their eyesight may be bad!
People who are depressed and anxious often jump to unrealistic, negative conclusions about the future, as if they have a crystal ball in which they see only misfortunes. Such statements as "I know I won't get better" are very comm
As a past depressive and current (though mild) Health Anxiety sufferer I thought you might all get some benefit from this article that I read the other day. I certainly identified with a lot of it in both of my 'conditions' - it certainly gave me something to think about! If you are willing to read it - I am more than willing to type it!
Hope you find it useful - let me know, because I have loads more!
Errors of thought or cognition (understanding) occur in people who are depressed and / or anxious - this is widely accepted. When we are depressed or anxious our interpretations of what we think can be biased and this bias is almost always negative. So, what are these errors of thought?
1. OVER GENERALISING An example of this is thinking that because an unpleasant thing has happened to you once, it will always happen and therefore you will always feel upset or anxious about it.
For example - a young man who felt lonely, unwanted and rejected thought that he would never be bale to have a girlfriend as girls did not find him attractive. He made this assumption on the basis of asking one girl out in his office who turned him down - and that of course just isn't reality.
Many people make the mistake of gibing themselves a label, or forming an opinion about something simply based on ONE experience of 'failure' and in doing so over generalise. I've seen many, many examples of this in the forums. Correct that negative bias! I can hear "I've tried" I'm saying "Just the once? And that's formed that opinion?" Have another go.
2. PERSONALISING This is explained by thinking that you are soley responsible for a negative or unpleasant event, when often there is little basis for this conclusion.
For example, thinking that the reason a person who has just passed you in the street frowning is doing so because of you, when in fact they could just have been having a bad day - and their frowning has nothing to do with you!
Personalising gives you an unrealistic sense of responsibility and therefore makes you carry unnecessary guilt. You cary the weight for everything that goes wrong; everything is related to some deficiency or inadequacy in yourself. You overlook the part that others may have played and you confuse the possibility that you may have contributed to what has happened with the possibility that it is ALL your fault.
3. BLACK AND WHITE THINKING This is also referred to as all or nothing thinking. For example, you are either a success or a failure - there is no grey area; no room for being anything in between.
Black and white thinking does not allow for degrees of anything. This way of thinning is unrealistic because people or situations are rarely totally one thing or another. It can also lead to perfectionism and the likelihood of never quite meeting the stringent demands that you make upon yourself, so you get caught in a 'no win' situation.
4. CATATROPHISING For example - saying to yourself "I've made a dreadful mistake", or "this is terrible". People suffering with panic attacks are very good usually at thinking catastrophic thoughts and this only serves to add more panic to panic.
In catastrophising you are likely to be blowing a small mistake or fault out of proportion while devaluing the positive aspects of your behaviour or of the situation. You also magnify your faults and minimise your qualities. This biased view and pattern of thought leads to low self-esteem and confidence.
5. JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS This is when you jump to a negative conclusion when there is insufficient evidence to do so, even when there is no evidence at all.
An example of jumping to conclusion would be thinking that someone you know doesn't like you because they failed to say hello to you in the street. In fact they might not have seen you or their eyesight may be bad!
People who are depressed and anxious often jump to unrealistic, negative conclusions about the future, as if they have a crystal ball in which they see only misfortunes. Such statements as "I know I won't get better" are very comm