Cognitive Distortion Matching Game

Personalisation

Saying "it's all my fault!" when it's not all your fault. Holding yourself accountable for something that isn't completely in your control.

Blame

You and your friend get in trouble for skipping class and you decide that it was all your friend's fault, because it was their idea.

Mind-Reading

You are spending time with someone who seems distracted, uninterested, or annoyed, so you assume that it has something to do with you. For example you think it's because you said something silly or that you're not fun enough.

Emotional Reasoning

You feel jealous and insecure and start to think your boyfriend is cheating on you, even though there aren't any actual facts to support that. You feel lonely and decide that no one really loves you and wants to be around you. You feel scared of a situation and therefore assume that the situation is dangerous.

Fortune-Telling

You might be feeling down one night and think, "When I wake up in the morning I'm going to feel even worse." However, you don't really know for sure that you'll feel worse.

Disqualifying the Positive

You receive a compliment and tell yourself the person only said it to be nice. You think someone is only being nice to you because they don't want to hurt your feelings, not because they actually like you and enjoy spending time with you.

"Should" Statements

You tell yourself that things should be the way you hoped or expected them to be. You say, "I should have done this" or "I shouldn't have done that" and make yourself feel guilty for the shoulds and shouldn'ts.

Magnification

You've invited some friends around for dinner and you order some pizzas. You realize after the pizzas arrive that you forgot one of the toppings that someone asked for. They laugh it off and say it's fine, but you can't stop thinking about how annoyed you are at yourself for messing up the order.

Filtering

Your coach says, "You're a great team player, you have wonderful initiative, and you have creative ideas, although you could work on being more punctual." And you focus solely on the fact that your coach said you could be more punctual and feel bad.

Labelling

Naming yourself or someone else based on their behavior. You call yourself a dummy because you forgot to get a gift for your friend's birthday.

All-or-Nothing Thinking

"I answered a question wrong, so I'm a failure." "I made a mistake, because I'm a bad person."

Overgeneralisation

"My boyfriend broke up with me. No one will ever love me." "I didn't get a good mark on my exam. I will never do well in this class!"

Always Being Right

Being wrong is unthinkable and we will go to any length to demonstrate our rightness. "I don't care how badly arguing with me makes you feel, I'm going to win this argument no matter what because I'm right."

Underestimating Your Ability to Cope

I won't be able to lead a team at work. I have no idea why the boss wants to promote me! I'm not strong enough to handle this situation. I can't face my fears because I won't be able to cope.

Magical Thinking

Eating a certain type of food before a sports game will secure the win. Wearing a particular dress means a romantic date will go well. Losing a certain amount of weight will result in making more friends at school.