Recognising Thinking Errors

Judging yourself, other people, or situations in two extreme categories, without recognising the possibilities in between. A partial success becomes a total failure.

Giving a negative detail so much attention that it determines your view of the whole situation, while other relevant information fades into the background.

Acknowledging something positive, then finding a reason it does not count. This differs from overlooking the positive: you notice it but explain it away.

Assuming you know what another person thinks or feels, especially about you, without enough evidence or checking your interpretation.

Treating an unfavourable future outcome as established fact when the available evidence does not justify that certainty.

Exaggerating how serious the consequences of a problem would be, so a setback becomes a disaster or appears to ruin everything. This concerns the size of the consequence, rather than how likely it is.

Using an emotion, or its intensity, as proof that your interpretation is true. Feelings tell you about your experience; they do not by themselves establish the facts of the situation.

Drawing a broad rule from one event or a small number of experiences. This includes treating each new setback as another piece of proof that your whole life follows a negative pattern.

Treating a current feeling, difficulty, or circumstance as permanent without sufficient evidence. Not knowing when something will change is different from knowing it cannot change.

Turning a preference, value, or expectation into an inflexible demand. The problem is the insistence that reality must conform, rather than having standards, responsibilities, or reasonable boundaries.

Setting excessively demanding or inflexible standards, then judging your performance or worth harshly when you fall short. Pursuing excellence becomes a problem when adequate work is unacceptable or mistakes become personal failures.

Assigning yourself more responsibility for an outcome than your actions, knowledge, or control justify, while overlooking other people’s choices and surrounding circumstances.

Turning a particular action, mistake, or characteristic into a fixed judgement about an entire person. The label replaces a more accurate description of what happened.

Treating another person’s opinion or treatment of you as the final authority on your identity, abilities, or worth, rather than a perspective that may be incomplete or mistaken.

Judging yourself through a comparison that leaves out important differences in circumstances, resources, experience, or what you know about the other person. Often you compare your private struggles with their visible successes.

Treating discomfort, frustration, or disappointment as impossible to bear simply because it is very unpleasant. This does not mean you should endure danger, abuse, or avoidable harm.

Concluding that because you cannot control the whole situation, nothing you do can affect any part of it. This overlooks limited but meaningful choices, support, or practical action.

Giving extra weight to information that supports an existing belief while dismissing, reinterpreting, or failing to seek information that challenges it. The conclusion becomes difficult to revise regardless of the evidence.