Dr. David Burns, a renowed psychiatrist after conducting more than thirty thousand cognitive therapy sessions in his career has developed Ten toxic beliefs and negative thinking pattern people tend to have:1. All or Nothing Thinking (My way or the highway)
The person who thinks this way sees everything in black-or-white terms. No shades of gray are possible. Perfectionists see their work as either perfect or worthless. The healthy person sees spectrum and variations and exceptions in nearly every area of life.
2. Over generalization
This is the tendency to draw sleeping conclusions for very little evidence. For example, a man who is turned down by one woman afterwards feels all other women will reject him also.
The person who thinks this way sees everything in black-or-white terms. No shades of gray are possible. Perfectionists see their work as either perfect or worthless. The healthy person sees spectrum and variations and exceptions in nearly every area of life.
2. Over generalization
This is the tendency to draw sleeping conclusions for very little evidence. For example, a man who is turned down by one woman afterwards feels all other women will reject him also.
3.Negative Mental FilterThis person filters out any bit of information that is positive or good. She just doesn't hear compliments or words of affirmation or praise. She hears only criticism. The healthy person hears both good and bad.
4. Disqualifying the Positive
This person hears the compliments but discounts it. He explains away words of affirmation or praise. For example, a person who is given a promotion may say, "I don't deserve this. They are just feeling sorry for me because I'm really such a loser." The healthy person receives compliments and praise and uses them to validate his own self-esteem.
5. Jumping to Conclusions
This person believes she knows at all times, with 100 percent accuracy, what other people are thinking about her. The healthy person assumes she isn't a mind reader.
6. Magnification(Catastrophizing) or MinimizationThis person exaggerates the importance of isolated events or encounters. He magnify his own emotions, mistakes, or imperfections, He minimizes, however, any success he may have. A healthy-thinking person maximizes the good points and minimizes the failures.
7. Emotional Reasoning
This person sees an outcome as directly flowing from her emotions. For example, the person may feel hopeless about passing an exam, so she doesn't show up to take it. The healthy person separates current feelings from future events.
8. "Should" Statements
This person has a rigid set of internal rules about what should , must, ought to, can't, and has to be done. The healthy person knows and expresses the fact that there are very few hard-and-fast rules in life.
9. Labeling and MislabelingThis person is likely to give himself or another person negative labels such as "stupid," idiot,""imbecile,""loser,""jerk," or "pig." The healthy person avoids labels. (I like to remind people that the creator gave mankind the authority and responsibility of naming animals, not human beings.
10. Personalization This person blames himself for events over which he has no control or less control than he assumes. I've encountered a number of parents who blame themselves for their teenagers' experimentation with drugs. They become filled with guilt and self-judgement when the fact is, they need to hold the teenager accountable for choices and behavior. The healthy person refuses to take responsibility for someone else's freewill choices.
Please read "In the Mind of Bobbee Bee" every week on the Black Athlete Sports Network on http://www.blackathlete.com/. Leave me a comment, I love to know what you are thinking at graham_34_99_2000@yahoo.com Information taken from Don Colbert,M.D. book Deadly Emotions
