Cognitive Distortions List

• Mental filter. Magnifying negative information by filtering out or disqualifying the positives.
• Catastrophising. Thoughts or mental imagery jumping to worst case scenarios.
• Labelling. Assigning global negative traits to oneself or others based on limited events.
• Black and white thinking. The tendency to use either/or categories (i.e., good/bad, right/wrong, always/never).
• "Should" statements. Criticising yourself or others with “should,” “must,” or “need to” statements.
• Emotional reasoning. Believing that your thoughts must be true due to the associated emotional response.
• Overgeneralisation. Making broad negative conclusions based on limited information or events.
• Personalisation and blame. Reducing the complex causations of events to either oneself or others.
• Mind reading. Assuming knowledge of other people’s thoughts or intentions.
• Fortune telling. Assuming knowledge and accurate predictions regarding the future.