How Do You Overcome Harmful Cognitive Distortions? Explore with A Hawthorn Psychologist

Our lives can often feel overwhelming with the amount of conflicting information online. It can lead to us experiencing feeling stress, which leads to the potential of feeling ‘burnt out’.  When we experience stress, our brains may look for ways to reduce this feeling by using internal cognitive filters and look for patterns in our thought processes. While these filters can be beneficial in reducing negative thinking patterns, when you are experiencing harmful cognitive distortions, it may contribute to general unhappiness and a negative self perception. 

Harmful Cognitive Distortions: Unravelling the Patterns

Cognitive distortions, often being irrational and negative thoughts, can act as unhelpful filters in our mental processes. These recurring  and ruminative thoughts may reinforce negative thoughts and feelings, leading to reduced self-esteem, heightened stress, anxiety, and the potential development of self-destructive behaviours. They are prevalent in various mental health disorders, particularly personality disorders and anxiety disorders.

Common cognitive distortions include:

  • Black and white thinking (close to other realities): I never have anything interesting to say.

  • Labelling  (attaching negative labels to ourselves): I'm just not a healthy person.

  • Fortune-telling (trying to predict the future): My cholesterol is going to be very high soon.

  • Personalisation (blaming oneself for everything and making it one’s fault): Our team lost because of me.

  • Overgeneralisation (making a broad interpretation from a small number of events): I’ll never get married.

  • Catastrophising (blowing things out of proportion): This spot on my skin is probably skin cancer; I'll be dead soon.

  • Disqualifying the positive (discounting positive things): I got 98/100 in the exam, but that was just luck.

  • Comparison (comparisons of the self with others, and their negative framing): All of my family members are happier than me.

  • Magnification and minimisation (magnifying the negative aspect of an event while minimising the positive aspect): It was only one good experience. 

  • Should statements (involving thinking that things should or must be in a particular way): I should become more beautiful to be liked.

These distorted negative thoughts may occur automatically and unconsciously, and can influence how you interpret situations that happen in your life.  If you are experiencing similar negative thoughts patterns to the above situations, you might consider seeking support. 


How to find Support: 

The first step is to understand and be aware of our negative thought patterns. From here we can begin to monitor how we perceive situations. Your self-awareness may offer insights into the root issues of experiencing distorted and unhelpful thoughts. 


Just as we exercise to maintain our physical health, we should also nurture and develop positive mental habits. 

By nurturing a constructive, secure, and healthy mindset, you will be able to approach difficult challenges in your life with resilience. 

You will work on building a healthy mindset to feel confident to address and navigate issues, rather than avoid the challenges and problems you may face in life. Seeking support now may assist you in developing an approach to life that works for you. 


Your psychologist can help develop the mental framework you need to challenge cognitive distortions and replace them with healthy strategies. They can help support you in reducing feelings of constant anxiety and negative thoughts. 


For instance, when confronted with personalising thoughts such as 'It's my fault that this problem happened', your psychologist can help you develop ways to challenge this unhelpful thought.


Let’s try a few thought-challenging exercises. 

  • How does it affect your life by personalising this problem? 

  • What did you or other people in your life do that contributes to this problem? 

  • Make a pie chart. Divide up the causes to the problem, assigning percentages of responsibility as follows: self, others, luck, task difficulty, and unknown causes.

  • Were there any positives to what happened? 


This exercise can help you to recognise any positive factors that may have emerged from the problem scenario. This can help you to overcome distorted thoughts by looking into the reality of the situation with a balanced and healthy perspective. 


If cognitive distortions are causing you distress and you would like to seek professional support, reach out to our team of psychologists in Hawthorn. If you're uncertain about what you need, feel free to contact our friendly team at Inner Eastern Psychology. We're here to explore your concerns with you and discuss how we can best help support you. 

Kane Waters