Errors in Thinking that Create Anxiety
1. All-or-nothing thinking: Looking at things in black-or-white categories, with no middle ground (βIf I fall short of perfection, Iβm a total failure.β)
2. Overgeneralization: Generalizing from a single negative experience, expecting it to hold true forever (βI didnβt get hired for the job. Iβll never get any job.β)
3. The mental filter: Focusing on the negatives while filtering out all the positives. Noticing the one thing that went wrong, rather than all the things that went right.
4. Diminishing the positive: Coming up with reasons why positive events donβt count (βI did well on the presentation, but that was just dumb luck.β)
5. Jumping to conclusions: Making negative interpretations without actual evidence. You act like a mind reader (βI can tell she secretly hates me.β) or a fortune teller (βI just know something terrible is going to happen.β)
6. Catastrophizing: Expecting the worst-case scenario to happen (βThe pilot said weβre in for some turbulence. The planeβs going to crash!β)
7. Emotional reasoning: Believing that the way you feel reflects reality (βI feel frightened right now. That must mean Iβm in real physical danger.β)
8. βShouldsβ and βshould-notsβ: Holding yourself to a strict list of what you should and shouldnβt do and beating yourself up if you break any of the rule
9. Labeling: Labeling yourself based on mistakes and perceived shortcomings (βIβm a failure; an idiot; a loser.β)
10. Personalization: Assuming responsibility for things that are outside your control (βItβs my fault my son got in an accident. I should have warned him to drive carefully in the rain.β)
Source: http://www.helpguide.org/mental/anxiety_self_help.htm
