COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS - CHOOSE HEALTHY (THE MIND)

It is the first day of 2015; you have made the decision to be a healthier YOU! Congratulations! I have no doubt you will achieve your goals this year.

There is nothing wrong with self-improvement.  Improving yourself is perpetual for those with a  thyroid disease, for both the mind and the body.

Throughout my journey of wellness since diagnosis ten years ago, I sought care from an allergist, cardiologist, gastroenterologist, internist, gynecologist, mental health clinician, nutritionist, ophthalmologist, ortho doc, otolaryngologist, podiatrist, physician assistant, psychiatrist and rheumatologist. In some cases, I had gone through multiple specialists, hiring and firing, not wasting time with health care professionals who aren’t even bothering to “practice” medicine, more like...pretending. Yet out of the thorns, I have discovered a few roses.

One such rose came from a mental health counselor who helped me get through the tumultuous times early on after my diagnosis, when I would swing wildly from hypo to hyper. Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism can cause severe mood disorders like depression and anxiety. She said the key to coping with any negative self-talk associated with mood disorders, is to have complete awareness of what is going on, and identify the distorted thinking, so you can understand the irrationalities.  Sometimes, awareness is all you need to help break the cycle of damaging behaviors, thus helping you correct thought patterns, thereby helping to improve conversations with others and to get through stressful situations.

Below are a list of cognitive distortions, these distortions can occur when we are not at optimal levels on the thyroid scale

1.    All- or Nothing Thinking: Viewing situations on one extreme or another. Seeing things in black or white as opposed to shades of gray. Using words like “always”, “every” or “never”.

Example: “If my child does bad things, It is because I am a bad parent.”

2.    Catastrophizing: Predicting only negative outcomes for the future,

Example: “If I fail my final, my life will be over.”

3.    Disqualifying or Discounting the positive: Telling yourself that the good things that happen to you don’t count.

Example: “My daughter told her friend that I was the best Mom in the whole world, but I am sure she was just being nice.”

4.    Emotional Reasoning: Feeling about something overrules facts to the contrary.

Example: “Even though Steve is here at work late every day, I know I work harder than him.”

5.    Labeling: Giving someone or something a label without finding out more about it/them.

Example: “My daughter would never do anything I disapproved of.”

6.    Magnification/Minimization: Emphasizing the negative or downplaying the positive of a situation. In some cases making a mountain of a molehill.

Example: “My professor said he made some corrections to my paper so that must mean I failed the test.”

7.    Mind Reading: Believing you know what others are thinking.

Example: “My house was dirty when my friends came over, so I know they think I am a slob.”

8.    Overgeneralization: Making an overall negative conclusion beyond the current situation.

Example: “My husband didn’t kiss me when he came home this evening. Maybe he doesn’t love me anymore.”

9.    Personalization: Thinking the negative behavior in others has something to do with you.

Example: “My daughter has been pretty quiet today; I wonder what I did to upset her.”

10.    “Should” and “Must” statements: Having a concrete idea of how people should behave.

Example: “I should get all A’s to be a good student.”

Which cognitive distortion do you most identify with while in the midst of a depressive or anxious mood?

_________________________

The top four things you can do to “ride the wave” so to speak, while you or your healthcare provider are working to get your thyroid hormones to an optimal level:

1. Recognize and isolate the thought. Absolute words, like 'always', 'never' or 'can't' are usually clues you've got a cognitive distortion going on. So are strong, negative words directed at yourself like, 'hate,' 'stupid' or 'loser.'

2. Write it down. Yes, take pen to paper. It makes a difference.

3. Then take your distress temperature. Zero to ten. Zero meaning your content and peaceful; ten that your misery is paralyzing.

4. Ask yourself: Is it reasonable to think that thought or is it unreasonable? Say the thought aloud. If a friend said that, would you agree or disagree?

 

 

 

As we take this journey of wellness together in 2015, I hope you can embrace the fact that working towards wellness takes dedication, hard work, and perseverance. I deliberately wrote about cognitive distortions as the first blog post of this New Year because so many of us fail in our minds before we even get started. In addition, we thyroid patients have the added disadvantage because our mood disorders can come as a result of a hormonal imbalance. Awareness of what is going on during this imbalance, can help us fight those pesky thought patterns, preventing us from achieving our goals.

We can do this

Get Ready Set Go....

Healthy Thyroid Lady

 

Here is a thought record template to help overcome cognitive distortions

More Tips to help deal with cognitive distortions


Resource
http://healthypsych.com/psychology-tools-identifying-cognitive-distortions/
http://draletta.typepad.com/explorewhatsnext/2010/06/how-do-i-stop-my-cognitive-distortions.html