Negative thinking
Negative thinking involves:[1][2][3]
- Filtering. Magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filtering out all the positive ones.
- Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself.
- Catastrophizing. Believing that the worst will happen in situations.
- Overgeneralization. Believing that negative things always happen to you and positive things never happen to you.
- Ungrateful attitude. Discounting the good that happens in one's life.
- Magnifying. Making mountains out of molehills.
- Overly emotional. Believe that just because you feel something is true that it must be true. Ignore the facts and other plausible explanations.
- Limited thinking. Failing to have a growth mindset. Defeatist thinking by saying you can't do something when it merely will require effort, problem solving, creativity, and persistence.
- Blaming. Not taking personal responsibility for your wrong actions.
- Hasty jumping to conclusions. Engage in "mindreading" and catastrophizing.
- Saying you "should" or "must" do something when it isn't true or beating up yourself excessively for failing to do things
- Perfectionism
- Polarizing all or nothing thinking. You see events/matters in starkly good or bad terms in terms of consequences when there is middle ground or bad/good aspects of events/matters.
- ↑ Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress
- ↑ 10 Common Negative Thinking Patterns and 5 Steps for Change, Family Center
- ↑ The Toxic Effects of Negative Self-Talk by Elizabeth Scott, PhD