NEGATIVE FUTURE PREDICTION: COGNITIVE ERRORS

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Some people have a "crystal ball" that prophesies continuous misfortunes, difficulties and difficult situations. They imagine in advance that something bad will happen, although this assumption may be completely unrealistic. These negative prophecies lead to intense anticipation, helplessness, hopelessness, disgust, and withdrawal from any activity. Sometimes it happens that due to the fact that a person negatively prophesies, he actually fails in a certain situation. Such a crystal ball is formed from cognitive errors:

Selective abstraction - this is focusing on the details that are taken out of context, and ignoring other, more important characteristics of the situation. “I could not understand this statement - I am not able to understand the whole lecture. Although she praised me, she still found a mistake - she praises me to cheer me up, but this whole text, given her behavior, is worth nothing.

Overgeneralization Is a generalization of rules or conclusions based on individual experience and the use of this generalization in a situation that is only approximately connected with the initial state of affairs, and sometimes not at all. A minor unfortunate episode can be generalized and carried over to the whole situation, and in some cases, to the whole life. Criticism is perceived as rejection. “I could not cope with this task - I will not cope with the next one - I will not cope with anything! He reproached me for my behavior - he reproaches me all the time - he doesn't love me - no one loves me."

Exaggeration and understatement - this is a tendency to inadequately assess situations with a tendency to maximize negative experience, or, conversely, to minimize possible success. Exaggeration occurs when it comes to something negative (fear, depression, injustice, failure, inability, stupidity). "I made a mistake, it's terrible, I completely destroyed my reputation."

Personalization - this is the ratio of external events to oneself, even if they have nothing to do with a person. Personalization fosters guilt. Personalization often manifests itself in a situation where a person arbitrarily concludes that what happened is his fault or reflects his inadequacy in situations for which he has little or no responsibility. “The child didn't do his homework - I'm a bad mother. Personalization can lead to growing feelings of guilt. A person can feel responsible for almost the whole world, so we feel paralyzed.

Dichotomous black and white thinking (“All or nothing”) - manifested by the assessment of the entire experience in only two categories - as negative or ideal. Dichotomous thinking is the basis for perfectionism. Fear arises with every mistake or failure, because this leads to a feeling of total inability. In extreme cases, a person stops doing anything at all in order not to make a mistake. “I didn't pass the test - I failed completely. I can't do it like him - I can't do it at all. I failed to do it perfectly - I failed to do it at all. Either I do everything at 100, or I am a complete zero."

There are no absolute things. If our thinking is focused on absolute categories, we will probably be constantly depressed because the world will become unrealistic for us.

Black glasses filter - a tendency to choose negative aspects from situations, question them, seek negative interpretations, or ignore and not notice positive aspects. When comparing oneself with other people, the “pink filter” is used for others (others are happy, smart, resourceful, creative), and when looking at oneself, the “black filter” is used.“I would never have been able to perform like that, she speaks well, but I would stutter, nothing would come to my mind. I would have gotten into a puddle and everyone would have laughed at me."

Underestimating the positive is the replacement of neutral and even positive phenomena with negative ones. Success is underestimated, every positive experience is questioned or viewed from a negative point of view. "I did it because they helped me, but in fact I couldn't handle it myself, I am insignificant."

The statement "I must" - permanent motivation of himself, the person says: "I must / must, I must do this and that." This is stressful, and many people immediately feel irritated and tired. Instead of being motivated to act, these "I must, must, must, must …" discourage. The more and more often you say: “I have to”, the more disgust grows towards it. An incessant “I must” leads to tension and discomfort, on the other hand, the guilt from unfulfilled “I must” can create a vicious circle that leads to depression, insomnia, sexual dysfunction and other negative consequences.