Episode 5: All-Or-None Thinking with Dietitian Kate Merkle

Episode 5: All-Or-None Thinking with Dietitian Kate Merkle Definition of all-or-none thinking: All-or-none thinking, also called “black and white thinking,” is characterized by the lack of gray, of nuance, and of flexibility of thoughts. Things are divided into absolutes and extremes. Either you’re perfect or you’re terrible. Either you’re kicking ass in recovery or you’ve made no progress. Either you eat healthy foods or you’re on a fast food binge bender. Either you get all A’s in your classes or you’re a failure. Any of this sound familiar? I have a hunch that it does. All-or-none thinking is one of the most common cognitive distortions found in eating disorders. All-or-none thinking by its nature does not allow for flexibility, creativity, or forgiveness. With all-or-none thinking, your eating disorder pigeon holes you into a hopeless conundrum that is near impossible to work your way out of. Instead of dropping the all-or-none thinking, most people align themselves with the more positive or socially desirable side of the polarized options. You may choose to try to get all A’s because, with all-or-none thinking, the only other option is to think of yourself as a failure. All-or-none thinking sets you up for failure by using an impossible standard. No one can be perfect or perform perfectly at all times. All-or-none thinking is a setup because it does not allow for struggle, failure, or any shades of gray which are necessary and unavoidable in recovery. All-or-none thinking causes you to lose sight of what’s important and will encourage you to impulsively toss aside truth and reason. See all-or-nothing thinking for what it is: a trick, a trap that your eating disorder uses to make you give up on recovery and feel awful about yourself. You can find Kate Merkle at www.KateMerkleNutrition.com