The mind is fascinating, complex, complicated and, sometimes, a bit of a trickster. It can have a lot of fun creating thought patterns that can lead to increased emotional distress. ...
guilt families. This is the mother of all Thinking Traps. Finding ourselves trapped in this cycle completely undermines our resilience. effective communication because we can find ourselves not hearing what someone is saying because you think you already know what they think but are not saying.
Which psychological traps do you most frequently suffer from?
Emotional reasoning
Mistaking our emotions as evidence for the truth is one of the most common mental traps we fall into. Example: “I feel like my ideas are worthless, therefore I shouldn't share them in this meeting.”
Below is a list of common thinking traps. Thinking only of possible outcomes at either extreme (really good or really bad) and not seeing all the possible outcomes in-between (or the “grey”). Most of life is somewhere in the middle. One friend gets angry at you » “Nobody likes me, I'm totally unlovable and selfish.”
These processes are what are known as types of thinking and, in general, include analytical, creative, critical, concrete, abstract, divergent, convergent, sequential and holistic.
Otherwise known as cognitive distortions, thinking traps are often deeply ingrained in our psyche. By twisting our thoughts, they can make us easily jump to conclusions and make bad decisions – preventing us from seeing the bigger picture.
Identify which thinking trap (s) you often fall into, if any. Acknowledge, accept and name them. Set up an experiment to challenge the way you think about the situation and your assumptions, dispute the unhelpful thoughts or beliefs and prove your hypothesis is wrong. Start with low risk/stakes situations.
Most overthinking is relatively harmless. Eventually, something draws our focus and our thinking shifts. But at other times it can be debilitating. A person finds the entrance to a thought loop but is unable to find the exit.
1. All-or-nothing thinking - Thinking of things in absolute terms, like "always", "every" or "never". Few aspects of human behavior are so absolute. “If I don't ace this test, I'll never get into graduate school” “If I'm not perfect, then I'm worthless.”
Example 1: You were raised in a cult from a young age. Everyone around you lives the same kind of life and has the same beliefs, so you don't consider that there could be any other options.
Example 2: Your partner has always abused you, just like your mom abused your dad.
What is all-or-nothing thinking? All-or-nothing thinking is a cognitive distortion often linked to negative thinking, anxiety, and low mood. A cognitive distortion is a pattern of thoughts that most often is not based on facts. It may make you see your world more negatively than it really is.
Thinking traps can really challenge your ability to be resilient. Noticing you are falling into a trap and redirecting your thinking pattern in the moment can help you to be more flexible, accurate and thorough in your thinking. And that is a great start into your road to resilience.
Step 1: Acknowledge the two selves. First, you need to become aware of and acknowledge that you and your thoughts are two distinct entities that are entangled inside. ...
Step 2: Begin Practicing Meditation and Mindfulness. ...
The original four C's are communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. These create a solid base for interaction and mental exploration that can foster a positive learning environment for any age group. The final two C's add perspective to this process: citizenship/culture and character/compassion.
4 Ways to Escape Mental Traps That Sabotage Your Success You're neither perfect nor fatally flawed, regardless what the voice in your head is telling you.
Invest time in activities that counter imposter syndrome. ...
Become aware of, and stop buying into, your confirmation bias. ...
Sometimes the cause is bad luck or poor timing, but more often than not bad decisions are the result of biases that as humans we bring into our decision making processes. The two most common traps that impact decision making are known as confirmation bias and overconfidence bias.
