An evaluation of destructive thinking in Cognitive Therapy (CT)

We often think in unhelpful ways without even realizing it, for example, by jumping to conclusions, etc. The thinking process is filled with faulty assumptions and unexamined beliefs that cause the individual to experience unnecessary distress. Thinking errors are actually very common, but this does not mean that they are harmless. The way one thinks impacts how they feel and how they behave. This means, thinking in unhelpful ways, is more than likely to lead to emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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In CT, cognition is viewed as occurring at different levels, organized in a hierarchy according to availability and accessibility to awareness. The least available to awareness and most stable cognitions are one’s core beliefs - about self, the world and the future. To the CT theorist, core beliefs can either be reasonable or they reflect some degree of error in logic (Fall et al. 2010:270).

Beck devised the cognitive triad. The cognitive triad involves automatic negative thoughts about oneself, the world and the future. The following example illustrates destructive thinking as experienced by a depressive person, following the three main themes of the cognitive triad. CBT therapists argue that depressed people usually view (1) themselves as inadequate, incapable, abandoned, and valueless; (2) the world, as exceedingly demanding; (3) and the future, as hopeless, with very little improvement from their present negative conditions. This last perception is associated with the emotion of hopelessness and is considered a high predictor of suicide (Fall et al. 2010:273). When all the symptoms are combined - the motivational component of “paralysis of will;” the behavioural components of inactivity; eating and/or sleeping too little or too much; the cognitive component - a feedback loop is created that reinforces the depression (Fall et al. 2010:273). These thoughts focus the individual’s attention on negative aspects of life and information processing. The more distorted their perception becomes, the more their selective attention is placed on failures and everything is processed and approached in a negative manner, albeit unconsciously.

CT therapists are usually attentive to biases in thinking. The less bias characterizing one’s thinking, the healthier the person is considered to be. Fall et al. (2010:273) state, “The phenomenon of psychopathology…. are on the same continuum as normal reactions, but they are manifested in exaggerated and persistent ways”. When individuals hold biased core beliefs, they tend to display rigid kinds of thinking (cognition). Take for example, a well adjusted individual who experiences a normal bout of worry or anxiety under normal life circumstances; and a poorly adjusted individual, who under the same circumstances, experiences their anxiety as being more intense, chronic and dysfunctional i.e. in the form of an anxiety disorder. The beliefs and schemas that people construct bring about dysfunctional and destructive patterns of thinking and living which give rise to emotional and behavioural difficulties. Fall et al. (2010:273) explains that individual’s typically have one or more core beliefs that stray from the ideal range of the continuum. But when the individual has core beliefs that are located far (or very far) from the ideal range, these symptoms usually meet the criteria for DSM-IV-TR Axis I disorders and Axis II personality disorders, respectively.

The CT literature identifies a number of common cognitive distortions. Rhoads (2011:26) describes cognitive distortions as automatic thoughts that are often irrational, illogical and self-defeating. Those listed by Beck include: arbitrary inference; selective abstraction, overgeneralization, magnification and minimization, personalization, dichotomous thinking. Burns (quoted in Fall et al. 2010:275) added the

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following to Beck’s list: Jumping to conclusions, mental filter, blame, all or nothing thinking, disqualifying the positive, emotional reasoning, should statements, labelling and mislabelling. Disqualifying the positive and “should” statements are errors others have proposed (Freeman et al. 1990; quoted in Ford et al. 1998:398).

But one may wonder what makes these ‘cognitive distortions’ so problematic? Well, to start, they are located out of conscious awareness beneath the individual’s voluntary thought (cognitive) system. That is, within the individual’s automatic thoughts, intermediate thoughts and core beliefs (Fall et al. 2010:274). They are associated with distressing emotions and non adaptive behaviours, which form a feedback loop that perpetuates distorted thinking, self defeating feelings and behaviours (Fall et al. (2010:275). The greater the cognitive distortion, the greater the problem that is likely to develop, since their guiding schemas include these errors (Ford et al. 1998:398). Rhoads (2011:26) reckons, if cognitive distortions occur regularly, they can result in patterns of ineffective behaviour.

Schemas are located at a deeper level (of cognition). They are stable cognitive patterns, based on early life events, that function as a template through which one organizes their experiences in a meaningful way. After regular reinforcement, these schemas become very rigid and new information becomes processed in accordance with the schema. If the schema is distorted, the false belief is confirmed. Brandell (2011:485) claims that all schemas involve some degree of distortion; and that the more distorted they are, the greater the risk that they will lead to serious misinterpretation of real life events and, consequently, to depression. This shows that once distorted schemas exist and function, incoming information is usually distorted, misrepresented, or biased to fit them (Robns & Hayes 1995; quoted in Ford et al. 1998:398). However, the presence of maladaptive schemas does not automatically lead to depression (Friedman and Thase 2006; quoted in Brendell 2011:35) some schemas can remain dormant or silent for many years.

Nevertheless, once cognitive patterns are constructed, they tend to become habitual and automatic, but out of conscious awareness. They usually influence the individual’s behaviour without them even being aware of it. People are usually unaware of their underlying assumptions, beliefs, expectations or schemas and how these determine the way they perceive events, choose their actions and evaluate the consequences of their actions (Ford et al. 1998:393). As explained by Coombs (2005:347) when one lives by dysfunctional schemas, these negatively impact their view of the world and potentially their mental health. Rhoads (2011:26) reckons, emotional distress is the result of faulty habits of thought, which in turn produce dysfunctional attitudes and behaviours.

Even though people are generally aware of what they are doing and how they are feeling, they typically do not pay too much attention to, or think about, the ideas that are organizing their behaviour. They do

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not express to themselves the rules and concepts that guide their interpretations and reactions. The disadvantage of this, is that people unknowingly behave in ways that may be harmuful or detrimental to themselves and their goals (Ford et al. 1998:393). Through therapy, these habitual beliefs and schemas can be made conscious and changed (Ford et al. 1998:393).

Despite the existence of reality, people tend to select and interpret what they consider to be real, and by doing so, produce interpretations that vary with degrees of accuracy. The conclusions they form (about themselves, others and the future) are therefore inclined to be absolutistic, overgeneralized, or illogical (Beck et al. 1979; quoted in Ford et al. 1998:398). CT therapists are of the opinion that people create their own unhappiness and distress, which they say, can be traced back to the way one thinks. Faulty thought processes are therefore viewed as the cause of problematic behaviours and emotions. Ford et al. (1998:398) states, “The psychological wounds from which they suffer are primarily self-inflicted, the emotional sufferings they undergo are their own doing, and their behavioural inefficiency and ineffectievenss their own creation”.