View Single Post
 
Old Mar 09, 2016, 07:40 AM
Loial's Avatar
Loial Loial is offline
El Psy Congroo
 
Member Since: Aug 2014
Location: UK
Posts: 5,502
Quote:
Originally Posted by kindness View Post
All-or-nothing thinking is a cognitive distortion. You see the world in black or white and cannot see the gray.

I sometimes think this way. When I notice that I'm fixated on something I try to think of what was the situation/trigger that made me think of it in the first place. Then I write my feelings when I first became fixated. Then I write my thoughts when I first became fixated. Then I look for cognitive distortions (all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophizing, jumping to conclusions, etc.). Then I write a list of the evidence that supports my thought. Then I write a list of the evidence that does not support my thought. Then I conclude if the evidence supports my thought or not (that will be the thought I choose to believe). Then I create an action plan (how will I act on my conclusion).

99% of the time this method exposes the gray area for me.
Thanks.

I have covered the basics of cognitive distortions when I did stuff for anxiety with my CPN.

I just don't overly think that I see things at extremes. Maybe on occasion I'll think of things more one way or another, but I don't think grey areas are lost on me at all.

I obviously see how it can translate to hobbies. Like "I either put myself all into this, or I don't bother" but it's not like I think like that. It really is almost like an obsession but not... it's just something always on my mind even if it doesn't disrupt my day.

I've certainly learnt to do many of these things in moderation, but it doesn't stop it always being on my mind. That's probably part of the reason I do stuff like reading books on the interest, or watching shows related to them etc. It allows me to focus on the interest whilst not going over the top with any one activity.
__________________
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again...

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson