When we are anxious, the facts of a situation can become distorted, too. Cognitive distortions are patterns of thinking that are heavily influenced by our emotions. As you will see when you review the list of cognitive distortions, these distortions tend to follow certain patterns, and many of them overlap with others.

Distorted thinking, also called cognitive distortions, is a pattern of inaccurate, damaging thoughts. Distorted thinking is a common symptom of many different mental health disorders, including both generalized and social anxiety and personality disorders.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the go-to approach for restructuring cognitive distortions. If this sounds like something you’d like to do, you can search for a cognitive behavioral therapist using the American Psychological Association’s Find a Psychologist tool.

What Causes Distorted Thinking. There is little evidence to suggest that cognitive distortions are caused by depression or anxiety. However, it is known that cognitive distortions are more prevalent in those who suffer from depression, anxiety, or other severe mental illnesses.

Examples. Distortion is a word that refers to the ways in which things can get confused or changed until they are hard to recognize. A melted crayon, a deflated balloon, a CD or DVD with scratches that no longer plays correctly — these things have all been affected by distortion.

Everyone falls into cognitive distortions on occasion. It’s part of the human experience. This happens particularly when we’re feeling down. But if you engage too frequently in them, your mental health can take a hit.

The Cognitive Tunnel As soon as you begin to feel anxious for any reason your thinking narrows, creating a cognitive tunnel that forces you to focus on the threat. This is a very powerful response and it’s completely out of our control. It’s just how our brains are wired, and for a long time, it was vital for survival.

Psychologists use the term “cognitive distortions” to describe irrational, inflated thoughts or beliefs that distort a person’s perception of reality, usually in a negative way. Cognitive distortions are common but can be hard to recognize if you don’t know what to look for. Many occur as automatic thoughts.

Thought distortions are a way of thinking that stems from the wells of negativity and self-doubt that are in everyone and are fed by depression, addiction, anxiety, fractured or abusive relationships, or just being Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired (HALT).

Distorted Thinking. Anorexia nervosa is a mental illness that causes thought distortions including obsessive thinking, black and white thinking and the need for perfectionism and control.

distorted thinking. Any of a number of “emotional traps” that prevent a person from dealing with negative emotions, such as all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralisation, mental filtering or personalising blame.

These are some of the common thinking errors: Blaming: When we blame someone or something else for our behaviors or problems. For example, someone might think, “It’s not my fault. Redefining: This is shifting the focus off an issue to avoid solving a problem or being accountable.