Errors in Thinking that Create Anxiety
1. All-or-nothing thinking: Looking at things in black-or-white categories, with no middle ground (āIf I fall short of perfection, Iām a total failure.ā)
2. Overgeneralization: Generalizing from a single negative experience, expecting it to hold true forever (āI didnāt get hired for the job. Iāll never get any job.ā)
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 donāt count (āI did well on the presentation, but that was just dumb luck.ā)
5. Jumping to conclusions: Making negative interpretations without actual evidence. You act like a mind reader (āI can tell she secretly hates me.ā) or a fortune teller (āI just know something terrible is going to happen.ā)
6. Catastrophizing: Expecting the worst-case scenario to happen (āThe pilot said weāre in for some turbulence. The planeās going to crash!ā)
7. Emotional reasoning: Believing that the way you feel reflects reality (āI feel frightened right now. That must mean Iām in real physical danger.ā)
8. āShouldsā and āshould-notsā: Holding yourself to a strict list of what you should and shouldnāt do and beating yourself up if you break any of the rule
9. Labeling: Labeling yourself based on mistakes and perceived shortcomings (āIām a failure; an idiot; a loser.ā)
10. Personalization: Assuming responsibility for things that are outside your control (āItās my fault my son got in an accident. I should have warned him to drive carefully in the rain.ā)
Source: http://www.helpguide.org/mental/anxiety_self_help.htm