• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Mental Health Resources
    • Depression Resources
  • Blog
    • Coping
    • Medication
    • Self Care
    • Stress and Anxiety
    • Unhelpful thinking
      • Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda
      • Fortune-Telling
      • Guilt and Shame
      • Time Travel
    • Sleep Issues
    • Depression
    • Covid19
    • Suicide & Self-Harm
    • Wellness Tools
      • SMART – Self Management And Recovery Training
      • WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan)
      • Change Triangle
  • Contact

“I Suffer From Depression.” Here’s What I Am Learning.

Turnaround
You are here: Home / Unhelpful thinking / Up Against the Wall – 10 Unhelpful Thinking Styles

Up Against the Wall – 10 Unhelpful Thinking Styles

May 3, 2019 by Depression Is Not My Boss 5 Comments

I’ve been thinking about unhelpful thinking styles.

And I really should, because that is what put me up against the wall.

It was all or nothing, no shades of grey anywhere on the horizon. No visible way forward. That thinking landed me in the emergency room.

Solutions that I thought up I magnified, blowing them out of proportion. Either way, I underestimated the good or way overestimated the bad. Like “how can I talk to family about this, they won’t understand.” Ok, I think I’m back to all or nothing thinking.

In the hospital, one of the workshop sessions I attended covered Unhelpful Thinking Styles. I think the only one I have not used is Labeling. At least I steered clear of assigning labels to myself or others. You know, “I’m stupid” or I’m completely useless.” But nine out of ten isn’t a great score when zero is the goal.

From the hospital handout, here are  10 Unhelpful Thinking Styles:

All or Nothing Thinking – Sometimes called “black and white thinking.”

Mental Filter – Only paying attention to certain types of evidence.

Jumping to Conclusions – There are two types; Mind-Reading (imagining we know what others are thinking) and Fortune-Telling (predicting the future).

Emotional Reasoning – Assuming that because we feel a certain way, what we think must be true.

Labeling – Assigning labels to ourselves or other people.

Over-generalizing – Seeing a pattern based upon a single event or being overly broad in the conclusions we draw.

Disqualifying the Positive – Discounting the good things that have happened or that you have done for some reason or another.

Magnification (catastrophizing) & Minimizing – Blowing things out of proportion.

Critical Words (should and must) – Using critical words like “should,” “must,” or “ought” can make us feel guilty or like we have already failed.

Personalization – Blaming yourself or taking responsibility for something that wasn’t completely your fault. Conversely, blaming other people for something that was your fault.

One of the other unhelpful thinking styles I like to throw around is jumping to conclusions. I’m a great mind-reader. I can tell what you are going to think, how you will respond, and what I will then need to do, all without ever speaking to you. Then I’m justified in whatever it was I was thinking. I just knew what my family would say if I told them I felt depressed and did not see any options. Without ever speaking to them, I cleared up what they were thinking. Talk about crazy!

No wait, that is labeling, and I said I hadn’t used that form of unhelpful thinking. Now I’m 10 for 10. And I had predicted that this was going to be a good day (using my jumping to conclusions style). I can joke about this today, but a week ago, it was dead-serious.

That morning, in my mind, I had three choices. First, I could commit suicide and end it. But I’ve never acted on those thoughts and as I say “I’m too competitive. I want to see 100.” My second choice was to keep doing what I had been doing and hope for a different result. Just before going to the emergency room to seek help, that did not seem like much of a plan.

That left me with choice three, seek professional attention. I only chose that because it was slightly less frightening than choice number two. So, I got a shower, put on clean clothes, and headed for the emergency room.

It was almost 48 hours later that I first began to see a path forward. Up against the wall was easing.

Please share this post if you know someone who would benefit from learning about identifying Unhelpful Thinking Styles.

Filed Under: SMART - Self Management And Recovery Training, Unhelpful thinking, What depression has cost me Tagged With: depression, mental health, mind-reading, unhealthy thinking styles, Unhelpful thinking, unhelpful thinking styles

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. The Real Truth About Depression and My Survivors Guilt - says:
    November 10, 2020 at 10:46 AM

    […] READ MORE: Up Against The Wall – 10 Unhelpful Thinking Styles […]

    Reply
  2. My Depression Is Sneaking Around With It's Unhelpful Thinking - says:
    September 1, 2021 at 9:49 AM

    […] As a refresher, the 10 unhealthy thinking styles are: […]

    Reply
  3. With Or Without Depression, It’s Never Always Rainbows and Unicorns - says:
    March 10, 2022 at 11:15 AM

    […] MORE: Up Against The Wall – 10 Unhelpful Thinking Styles, May 3, […]

    Reply
  4. Depression Never Told Me It's Not All About Me - says:
    June 15, 2022 at 10:01 AM

    […] READ MORE: Up against the wall – 10 unhelpful thinking styles […]

    Reply
  5. What Makes Depression Create Stigma, Unlike a Broken Arm? - says:
    June 28, 2022 at 11:03 AM

    […] As a refresher, the 10 unhealthy thinking styles are: […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

I write My Concealed Depression to create Mental Health AwarenessHello, I am Joel. I have Major Depressive Disorder.  I am genuinely determined to figure out my personal relationship with depression. With 40+ years of living with concealed depression, I write my blog to find answers. 

I once got so carried away searching for answers that I even earned a  certification in  SMART Recovery. 

Get my latest posts, (your email is never sold or rented)

I developed a 38 Page Mental Health Tools Flipbook. Complete the Form and Get Your Free Copy Now.

Privacy Policy

Discover Self-Care, Coping Strategies, Understand Anxiety, Track your Triggers, Mood, and Sleep; Recap Therapy Sessions, and more.

https://myconcealeddepression.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/my-concealed-depression-intro.mp4
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

More to See

The startling truth about coping statements for anxiety and depression

The Startling Truth About Coping Statements For Anxiety and Depression

October 28, 2020 By Depression Is Not My Boss

My 101 Coping Strategies for Anxiety

My 101 Best Coping Statements For Anxiety and Depression

October 18, 2020 By Depression Is Not My Boss

Am I Able to Be Happier, to Feel Joy?

January 24, 2023 By Depression Is Not My Boss

Depression almost kept me from summiting mount Kilimanjaro with unhelpful, all or nothing thinking

What Made Depression Almost Keep Me From Summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro?

January 21, 2023 By Depression Is Not My Boss

You Never Pay More, Yet Clicking These Links And Making a Purchase Helps Fund My Blog

PureFormulas.com-Pure Healthy Goodness, Highest-Grade Natural Supplements! Fast, Free Shipping!
Mosaic 250x250
Blog Meets Brand
Your Page Title

Footer

Contact

Email:  my.concealed.depression@gmail.com

Privacy Policy

Recent

  • Is My Anxiety Because I Am Still Unpacking from Africa?
  • Am I Able to Be Happier, to Feel Joy?
  • What Made Depression Almost Keep Me From Summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro?
  • 3 Years and 9 Months After Admitting Depression, I Can Say Merry Christmas
  • What I Learned Having Skin Cancer Removed from My Face

Search

© Copyright 2020 · My Concealed Depression · All Rights Reserved · Designed by The Marketing Momma