I'm not bipolar, have been diagnosed borderline traits. I totally do what everyone here described. I was raised by my mother to do this. The thing is, the negative conclusions I arrive at are not necessarily wrong.

I'm doing CBT now and there is a category called Jumping To Conclusions in that negative thinking to watch out for.

But honestly, how often are your conclusions really wrong? Even when that person denies their bad intentions? Perhaps you caught them, called them on it, and they simply deny it.

For example: I just had an incident where I took my anger out on my husband's records thinking in a rage that he cares more about those than he does me. He and I discussed it and he accused me of faulty thinking. However I defended my position. Look how he had treated them and how he has treated me. Am I really wrong? Sure he denied it, but look at his actions.

So trust your instincts and prove to yourself whether you are really wrong or right.