Click here to read the article.

Cognitive distortions in Social Situations often amplify social fears and hold individuals back. Addressing these thoughts involves the following steps:

Mnemonic “JUMP FOR FACTS”

J – Jumping to Conclusions

Making negative assumptions without evidence.

Example: Thinking, “They must be mad at me,” just because a friend doesn’t reply to a message right away.

U – Unrealistic Shoulds (Should Statements)

Setting unrealistic expectations or rules for yourself or others.

Example: Thinking, “I should always be successful,” or “I should never make mistakes.”

M – Magnification and Minimization

Magnification: Overemphasizing the importance of something.

Minimization: Downplaying something important.

Example: Magnifying a small mistake into a career-ruining disaster, or minimizing a well-earned promotion by thinking, “It’s no big deal.”

P – Personalization

Taking blame for things that aren’t your fault.

Example: Thinking, “It’s my fault the project failed,” when others were involved, too.

F – Filtering

Focusing only on the negative aspects of a situation and ignoring the positive ones.

Example: Dwelling on one minor mistake in a job interview and ignoring all the positive feedback.

O – Overgeneralization

Making broad conclusions from a few incidents.

Example: Failing a test and thinking, “I always fail at everything,” despite it being one test.

R – Reasoning Emotionally (Emotional Reasoning)

Believing that your emotions reflect reality.

Example: Feeling anxious and thinking, “Something must be wrong with me,” even though the anxiety could be a normal reaction to a new situation.

F – Fortune-Telling

Predicting a negative outcome without evidence.

Example: Thinking, “I’m going to fail this presentation,” before even giving it.

A – All-or-Nothing Thinking (Black-and-White Thinking)

Seeing things in extremes with no middle ground.

Example: Thinking, “I didn’t get 100% on this project, so I’m a complete failure,” even though the result was still positive.

C – Catastrophizing

Expecting the worst possible outcome and viewing situations as much worse than they are.

Example: Thinking, “If I don’t do well on this exam, my entire future will be ruined.”

T – Thinking in Labels (Labeling)

Assigning a negative label to yourself or others based on a single behavior.

Example: Calling yourself “a loser” because you made a mistake.

S – Self-Defeating Beliefs (Disqualifying the Positive and Attributional Style)

Dismissing positive events and reinforcing insecurity.

Example: Disqualifying praise with thoughts like, “They’re just being nice,” or explaining your success by saying, “I was just lucky.”