I agree with the poster who said that black and white thinking can also be quite subtle and doesn't always have to be about extremes. My therapist pointed out to me that I use the words "always" and "never" a lot and that this is also an example of black and white thinking. For example: "I'm never going to get better". "I'm always going to have this problem". "I always screw up". "This is never going to end".

"I can't" statements can also be example of black and white thinking, for example, "I can't do this". "I can't stand this". "I can't handle this". My therapist is big on pointing out my use of language so I'm very conscious of this now.

Actually, come to think of it, some of those statements ARE pretty extreme.....!