Have you ever reread a short Slack message from your boss and instantly spiral into “He hates me. I’m getting fired. I never should’ve used that emoji”? Welcome to the world of Cognitive Distortions – your brain’s slightly unhelpful coping mechanism.
Imagine this: You give a presentation. Your boss replies, “Thanks.” No feedback. No emoji. No high-five. Cue internal meltdown: “They hated it. I’m doomed. I’ll never lead a project again. Time to update my CV.”
Sound familiar? The good news: this isn’t reality. It’s just your brain doing what brains do under pressure – overreacting.
In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), these are known as Cognitive Distortions: automatic thought patterns that twist reality and make situations seem worse than they are. A few greatest hits:
- Personalisation: “That team issue? Definitely my fault.”
- Fortune Telling: “That didn’t land well – my career is over.”
- Filtering: “They liked most of it, but pointed out one flaw = total failure.”
What Can You Do About It?
First, spot the distortion. Name it. That alone creates distance from the thought. Then, challenge it. Ask yourself: “What else could be true?” Maybe your boss is swamped. Maybe “Thanks” is their version of a gold star. Maybe… it actually went really well.
You can’t always stop your brain from spiralling, but you can stop letting every dramatic thought dictate your reality.