Cognitive Distortions: The Art of Not Believing Everything You Think
Happy Finals Week my fellow college students! Final exams can be super stressful. I’m sure studying at home seems infinitely harder without the typical Finals Week treats provided at college (free Monsters and Redbulls at the library, anyone??).
I wanted to share some information here that’s helped me think positively in stressful moments like these.
Last year, I knew I was stressed. I was down, and I was actively bringing myself down. I took it upon myself to go to Wellness Coaching (a really cool service offered to Georgia Tech students) and attend a group counseling session (yup, let’s stop stigmatizing going to counseling/therapy!) focused on putting “Mind over Mood”. Through Wellness Coaching, I learned how to start motivating myself and be happy with my decisions. I even got a cute notebook to keep track of it all!
Through my group counseling session, I met some super ambitious but super stressed out students like myself who all wanted to take a step in the right direction for their mental well-being. The group session consisted of seven-ish students from different majors, walks of lives, and goals in college. Despite our differences, one thing bound us together - we were way too hard on ourselves. I’m guessing that’s not just something the seven of us in the group shared. I’m willing to bet most college students are the same.
These activities truly altered my perspective on college and stress. I know not everyone has the time or energy to go make use of these services. The toughest part for me was biting the bullet and owning up to the fact I needed help to manage my stress. That’s a tough pill to swallow for students so used to self-motivating and self-learning (bc God knows we skipped every useful lecture before 11am and then had to learn a semester’s worth of Physics the night before the final..RIP).
For that reason, I wanted to summarize one of my favorite takeaways from coaching and counseling - learning about Cognitive Distortions! I was so blown away by this concept that I immediately presented it to my fraternity chapter last Spring and discussed how easily we take small events in life and create made up realities. My chapter really loved the presentation, so I’m sharing an adapted version of it down below.
What are Cognitive Distortions?
Cognitive Distortions are inaccurate thoughts that usually reinforce negative thoughts or emotions.
Common Cognitive Distortions:
- ALL or nothing mentality - Making the situation black & white when it’s likely something in between
- Catastrophizing - Blowing the situation out of proportion
- Mental Filter - Only listening to thoughts and comments that verify your mood and ignoring the rest
- Overgeneralization - To come to a general conclusion only off of a single piece of evidence
- Mind-reading - Assuming one knows what another person is thinking without confirming it
- Personalization - Believing that everything others do or say is some kind of direct, personal reaction to them
By learning what cognitive distortions are, you can start framing your own thoughts more realistically. Knowing that the thoughts racing through your mind are probably not as drastic as you think can be a really nice relief. This has helped me pause and reflect on whether my thoughts had validity or if my stress was creating a warped thought.
I hope this helps you reflect on some of your own thoughts and start bringing your head back to reality. I’d love to know which one of these cognitive distortions you think you commit most often. I think I’m guilty of “mind-reading” and “personalization” the most. If you’d like to discover more on this topic, I’ll leave a few helpful links below. These will be useful in putting a science/method towards fixing the distortions you are creating.
Cheers,
Niki
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