How Distorted Thinking Affects Bipolar - Part One

Distorted thinking happens to some degree in every human being. We all tend to get just a bit irrational at times. However, with mental illness, there are a few differences. In a life without mental illness, a person is generally able to correct their distorted thinking fairly quickly. A person may do something wrong, but they will realize it, process their feelings, correct them, and move on. A person with mental illness has a much harder time doing this. They dwell on their distorted thoughts. This is called rumination. Their thinking is their reality. It is usually negative thinking, although not always, and it is an unwelcome guest in their head that leads to or worsens depression. The other difference is more serious. A person with mental illness will have distorted thinking that falls further into far left or right field than normal. This makes the fact that it won't leave their head even worse. Where a person without mental illness may recognize they did something and feel bad (even terrible) about it, a person with mental illness will do something and feel the error is unforgiveable. They may feel the need to apologize for no reason. They may assume others are thinking negatively of them with no cause. They may think negatively of themselves for no reason. Both of these differences together leave us wondering, "Is this for real or am I having a bipolar thought and/or reaction?"

We are first going to define the different types of distorted thinking. I have compiled this list from many different sources, and from what I have learned during the two times I have been through out patient programs. You will notice that some are very similar and that can be confusing. I have included examples to try and help (since I get confused half the time myself).

TYPES OF DISTORTED THINKING
Mind Reading - we think we know what other people are thinking. When this happens, there is no concrete evidence that our assumption is true, but it becomes reality in our minds.
Examples:

• We see two people whispering and immediately we think they are talking about us.
• We don't get a response on a text message and assume we are being ignored or someone is mad at us.
• We may think anyone of the gender we prefer is attracted to us just because they say hello.

Fortune Telling - we predict the future, when in actuality, we have no way of knowing what is going to happen. We are going to tend to think that something will not work out. Or, we assume things will work out no matter what.
Examples:

• We have a presentation to give and assume we are going to perform poorly, or fail.
• We meet someone new and assume they will not like us.
• We have an idea we plan to turn into a project and assume everyone else is going to see how wonderful it is and want to buy into it.

Minimization - We shrink everything about ourselves to the nth degree, making things less important than they are. We fail to see or admit our successes. We minimize our good qualities. One negative detail will cloud our entire perspective of a situation, much like seeing a small stain on the carpet and focusing only on the stain.
Examples:

• We may have a good day, but one mistake would make us feel as if the day was unproductive or unsuccessful.
• Someone compliments how we look and our reply is that our outfit is old.
• We complete a project to specifications but don't feel it is good enough no matter what.

Catastrophizing - We magnify everything and blow things out of proportion. It is the inability to see anything but the worst possible outcome. This type of distorted thinking often produces fear or anxiety.
Examples:

• A boss criticizes us, constructively or otherwise, and we fear we are going to get fired.
• We fail one test and fear we are going to fail the entire class, or worse yet, school in general.
• We argue with our partner and fear they are going to leave us.

All Or Nothing  - Very close to catastrophizing but an even more distorted thinking process. Everything falls into a black or white category. We never see gray. With all or nothing distorted thinking, we tend to use words like “always”, “every” or “never”.
Examples:

• We lose a job and think we are a failure that will never be successful, will always be a poor provider, and a worthless person. 
• We feel we are always right, never wrong, and will argue every point that doesn't fall in line with our own.

Personalization - we hold ourselves personally responsible for an event that isn’t entirely under our control. We may take the blame for things no matter what has happened. Sometimes, we even take blame for things that have nothing to do with us.
Examples:

• We see our child struggle and feel like it is our fault.
• We get into an argument with a friend and feel like we are to blame for the argument and the friend has no blame.
• A child may assume their parents are arguing just because of them.

Emotional Reasoning - assuming just because we feel a certain way about ourselves, it must be true. We make assumptions and decisions based on how we feel rather than what is reality.
Examples:

• We say something to embarrass ourselves and think we must be an idiot.
• We have acne and feel we are ugly.
• We think our outfit makes us look fat and therefore we are fat.

Labeling - when we assign ourselves a label in general. A situation does not precede this. Usually "I am" statements.
Examples:

• I am a loser.
• I am worthless.
• I am useless.

Would, Could And Should - second guessing ourselves. We are never satisfied with a situation, or when we make a mistake we think about what we should have done differently in a vague sense and without a concrete plan to change the situation. This produces guilt, which can move into shame.
Examples:

• I should have tried harder.
• I could have not said that.
• I would have been happier if...

Distorted thinking is linked to low self esteem. It is a learned behavior. Research has shown that the more a person dwells on distorted thinking, the lower self esteem will be, and the smaller the trigger will be that leads to distorted thinking. In our next blog we are going to discuss some steps to overcoming distorted thinking.


To balanced and productive days my friends,

Laura