15 Cognitive Distortions to Blame for Your Negative Thinking

What are cognitive distortions?A distorted thought or cognitive distortion — and there are many — is an exaggerated pattern of thought that’s not based on facts. It consequently leads you to view things more negatively than they really are.In other words, cognitive distortions are your mind convincing you to believe negative things about yourself and your world that are not necessarily true.Our thoughts have a great impact on how we feel and how we behave. When you treat these negative thoughts as facts, you may see yourself and act in a way based on faulty assumptions.Everyone falls into cognitive distortions on occasion. It’s part of the human experience. This happens particularly when we’re feeling down.But if you engage too frequently in negative thoughts, your mental health can take a hit.You can learn to identify cognitive distortions so that you’ll know when your mind is playing tricks on you. Then you can reframe and redirect your thoughts so that they have less of a negative i...