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.

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