Experts estimate that the mind thinks between 60,000 – 80,000 thoughts a day. That's an average of 2500 – 3,300 thoughts per hour - that’s incredible!
It is important to realize that our thoughts are based on our perceptions, beliefs and experiences, all of which can serve to distort the thought. This misinformation can mislead or confuse the individual, and impact our behaviour and feelings in a negative way.
One of the most important aspects in healing from disordered eating/eating disorder is to cultivate a practice of recognizing, challenging and reflecting on negative thoughts.
David Burns, the author of “Feeling Good”, explains how distorted thoughts can create “huge problems by undermining self-confidence, increasing anxiety, fostering depression, and putting strain on relationships”, including the relationship you have with yourself.
Below are some of the most common types of thought distortions - understanding what kind of negative thought you are battling can help challenge it and understand it better.
1. All Or Nothing Thinking: This is also known as “black and white” thinking, or perfectionist thinking. Intellectual you know there are shades of grey, but in certain circumstances, intellect and reason go out the window.
Example: “If I have one cookie, I might as well eat the whole box.”
2. Over-generalization: A negative event is seen as a pattern, or one mistake means you will not be able to do it right.
Example: “I overate at the party; I will never have control around food.”
3. Discounting The Positives: Accomplishments or compliments are not taken in. Someone says something nice about you, but you reject or minimize it, or feel undeserving and wave it off as if it is nothing to feel good about. You may also turn praise into false expectations, and therefore resist compliments.
4. Emotional Reasoning: You believe your feelings make it true. It becomes difficult to separate reality from feelings.
Example: “I feel fat” means “I am fat”, or “I feel confused” means “I can’t do anything right”.
5. Mind-Reading: Thinking you know what others think or will do, or how things will turn out, or any number of things that are impossible for you to actually know.
Example: “Everyone is judging what I eat” or “No one will ever love me unless I lose weight”.
6. Personalizing and Blaming: Believing that things are always done to you intentionally, blaming rather than taking responsibility or trying to fix the situation.
Example: “He didn’t come to the party because he doesn’t want to be seen with me” or “my mother’s dieting caused my eating disorder”.
7. Magnification or Minimization: Things either matter too much or not enough.
Example: “I don’t know why people are worried, my weight loss is not that bad” or “No store has any clothes that will fit me”.
8. Mental Filter: You take in all the negative aspects of an experience and filter out the positive.
Example: “I did not binge for 6 days this week, but I binged one day and ruined everything”.
9: Should Statements: You criticize yourself (or others) with “should’s”.
Example: “I should be able to get better on my own”.
10. Labeling: Taking on behaviour as if it was your identity.
Example: “I ate too much” becomes “I am a failure” or “I slipped up on my meal plan” becomes “I am a loser”.
Cultivating a practice of recognizing what type of cognitive distortion you are experiencing allows us to create some space from the thoughts, and gives important information on how best to challenge them.
Can you recognize your own thinking falling into any of these categories? If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out for support today.
Adapted from: “8 Keys to Recovering From an Eating Disorder” by Carolyn Costin