Cognitive Distortion Detector

You see things in absolute, black-or-white categories. There's no middle ground — something is either perfect or a total failure, you're either successful or worthless.

"If I don't get this promotion, my career is over."

ReframeLook for the middle ground. What does "good enough" look like here? Most outcomes live on a spectrum, not at the extremes.

You expect the worst possible outcome and assume you couldn't cope with it. A small problem balloons into an imagined disaster.

"My boss didn't reply to my email — I'm going to be fired."

ReframeAsk: what's the most likely outcome, not the worst? And: even if the bad thing happened — could I get through it?

You assume you know what other people are thinking — usually something negative about you — without any actual evidence.

"She didn't smile back. She must think I'm annoying."

ReframeWhat evidence do I actually have? What are 3 other reasons their behaviour could be explained — none of which involve me at all?

You predict the future negatively, treating an imagined outcome as if it's already a fact. Different from catastrophizing — here you don't necessarily go worst-case, you just feel certain you know what will happen.

"There's no point applying — I won't get the job anyway."

ReframeNotice the certainty. You don't actually know. What if you replaced "I will" with "I might" — does the thought still feel as heavy?

You criticize yourself or others with rigid "shoulds", "musts", and "have-tos". The result is guilt when applied to yourself, anger when applied to others.

"I should have known better. I shouldn't be this upset over nothing."

ReframeTry replacing "should" with "would prefer" or "could". "I would prefer to have handled that better." Same intent, no shame layer.

Instead of describing a behaviour, you assign a global, identity-defining label — to yourself or someone else. "I made a mistake" becomes "I'm a failure."

"I forgot to reply to her message. I'm such an awful friend."

ReframeSwitch from identity to behaviour: "I did X" instead of "I am X". One action does not equal a whole identity.

You blame yourself for events that aren't fully (or at all) your responsibility. You take personal hits for outcomes shaped by many people, contexts, and accidents.

"My friend was quiet at dinner. It must be because of something I said."

ReframeDraw a responsibility pie chart. How much is genuinely yours? What % belongs to context, other people, biology, randomness?

You take an emotion as proof of a fact. "I feel like a failure" becomes evidence that you are one. "I feel anxious" becomes evidence something bad will happen.

"I feel guilty, so I must have done something wrong."

ReframeFeelings are signals, not verdicts. Try: "I feel X — and that's just a feeling. The feeling doesn't prove anything about reality."

You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively, while filtering out everything that went well. Your brain treats the one criticism as the headline.

"My presentation got 9 great responses and 1 critical one. I can't stop thinking about the critical one."

ReframeForce the full picture. Write down 3 things that went well alongside the one negative thing. Look at the ratio.

Positive things happen but you find a reason they don't count. "They were just being polite." "That was luck." "It doesn't really mean anything."

"They said the project was great, but they probably just say that to everyone."

ReframeTry the test: would you discount this if a colleague told you the same story? If no, you're applying a special rule only to yourself.

You take a single negative event and conclude it will happen forever, in every situation. One rejection becomes "I'll always be alone."

"I bombed that interview. I'll never get hired anywhere."

ReframeCatch the "always" / "never". Replace with "this time" or "in this situation". One data point isn't a trend.

You measure life by your own definition of fairness — and feel resentful or miserable when reality doesn't comply. Life rarely operates by anyone's personal fairness rule.

"It's not fair. I worked harder than her and she got the promotion."

ReframeTrade "fair" for "useful". What does this situation actually require of me right now, regardless of fairness?