Real Life Real Faith Men of Faith March Issue | Page 15

Men of Faith Feature

What ' s on Your Mind Hurley Morgan

Let me educate you . There is a term called cognitive distortions that I want you men to ponder . What exactly is it ? Let ’ s break it down . The word cognitive means relating to cognition , which by definition is the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought , experience , and the senses .
Here are examples of cognitive distortions : Magnification and Minimization -Exaggerating or minimizing the importance of events . One might believe their own achievements are unimportant , or that their mistakes are excessively important .
Catastrophizing -Seeing only the worst possible outcomes of a situation .
The word distortion in this sense is the action of giving a misleading account or impression . Now … let ’ s put these two terms back together . Simply put cognitive distortionsare irrational thoughts that can influence your emotions . Do you experience that ? It ’ s ok to admit that you do … why ? Everyone experiences cognitive distortions to some degree . The issue , however , is that cognitive distortions in their more extreme forms can be harmful . Now that we know what the term means …. what does it look like ?
Overgeneralization -Making broad interpretations from a single or few events . “ I felt awkward during my job interview . I am always so awkward .” Magical Thinking -The belief that acts will influence unrelated situations . “ I am a good person — bad things shouldn ’ t happen to me .”
Personalization -The belief that one is responsible for events outside of their own control . “ My mom is always upset . She would be fine if I did more to help her .” Jumping to Conclusions -Interpreting the meaning of a situation with little or no evidence .
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