In his book The Feeling Good Handbook, Dr. David D. Burns identifies the 10 common forms of twisted thinking that often, if left unchecked, cause individuals to subject themselves to deep emotional and psychological stresses that may be preventable with a little bit of attention and diligence!
These 10 thinking patterns not only have the potential to ruin one’s day (or the day of others), but if practiced consistently over a long period of time, can develop into a temperament, or worst, a “personality trait” that may threaten to undo, or block, some, or much, of the progress one may desire to make towards an identified goal.
With the recent (and ancient, if one looks carefully enough) research and information that is now being revealed on how one’s thoughts and emotions can affect his/her external reality, it may be beneficial for anyone who is committed to consciously living a joyful life to be mindful of the common forms of distorted thinking that may be going unnoticed in their daily lives so that they can address and fully transform these patterns.
Being able to identify when a thought is out of alignment with one’s desire to succeed, or to improve in some way, is one of the first steps toward making a change, so I have included an excerpt from Burns’ list of the Ten Forms Of Twisted Thinking below for you to read through and be mindful of as you go about your day.
If you catch yourself thinking a thought that is twisting up your mind and emotions, be sure to not simply ignore it; do something creative to untwist yourself.
Part Two of this post will be providing you with a few simple tools/tip that you can use to untwist your “twisted thinking” or support someone else in doing so!
THE TEN FORMS OF TWISTED THINKING*
By Dr. David D. Burns
1. All-or-nothing thinking: You see things in black-or-white categories. If a situation falls short of perfect, you see it as total failure.
2. Overgeneralization: You see a single negative event, such as a romantic rejection or a career reversal, as a never-ending pattern of defeat; by using words such as “always” or “never” when you think about it.
3. Mental filter: You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively, so that your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that discolors a beaker of water.
4. Discounting the positive: You reject positive experiences by insisting they “don’t count.”
5. Jumping to conclusions: You interpret things negatively when there are no facts to support your conclusion. Mind reading: Without checking it out, you arbitrarily conclude that someone is reacting negatively to you.
6. Magnification: You exaggerate the importance of your problems and shortcomings, or you minimize the importance if your desirable qualities. This is also called the “binocular trick.”
7. Emotional reasoning: You assume that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are: “I feel terrified about going on airplanes. It must be very dangerous to fly.” Or “I feel guilty. I must be a rotten person.” Or “I feel angry. This proves I’m being treated unfairly.” Or “I feel so inferior. This means I’m a second–rate person.” Or “I felt hopeless. I must really be hopeless.”
8. “Should” statements: You tell yourself that things should be the way you hoped or expected them to be…Dr. Albert Ellis has called this “musturbation.” I call it the “shouldy” approach to life.
9. Labeling: Labeling is an extreme form of all-or-nothing thinking. ‘- Instead of saying “I made a mistake,” you attach a negative label to yourself “a fool ” or “a failure” or “a jerk.”
You may also label others…This makes you feel hostile and hopeless about improving things and leaves little room for constructive communication.
10. Personalization: Personalization occurs when you hold yourself personally responsible for an event that isn’t entirely under your control.
*David D. Burns The Feeling Good Handbook
~~~
If you are interested in learning more, you can check out Burns’ book for more detailed information on how to untwist your negative thinking! Also, sign up for the Birthing The Spirit Newsletter and visit the blog bookstore or links page for more information on this and similar subjects. You can also, join the Birthing The Spirit Community, where you can share your experiences with creating/becoming your radiant natural self!
Yoga-Meditation Lifestyle Wellness 