Mental filtering is thinking in a distorted way over any considerable amount of time, which can lead to anxiety, depression, and even drug addiction. People struggling with addiction usually are dealing with some sort of mental illness. Whether it’s bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, or major depressive disorder (to name a few), those of us suffering from co-occurring disorders have a lot to overcome if we…
Rigid boundaries are anything that marks a border in your life that you’re not willing to make any changes to or allow anyone to cross no matter what. Boundaries exist regardless of whether or not the line is real or imagined. Rigid personal boundaries are limits, guidelines, or rules a person creates in order to identify safe and reasonable ways for other people to behave…
Self-sabotage and addiction is an interesting subject. You’d think all of us would be our own greatest advocate, only taking action to better ourselves and achieve things in our lives. However, more often than not, we are our own worst enemies and engage in self-sabotaging behavior. We get in our own way, and many times, we aren’t even aware of it. The first step is…
Discounting the positive is a cognitive distortion where you never give credit to yourself for positive things and see yourself as only negative. Essentially, you’re taking positive experiences and either making them negative or saying they “don’t count” for some reason that usually has no basis in reality. “Cognitive distortion” is a term used for beliefs (that are not based on the truth) that lead…
This is the 2nd article in our cognitive distortion series, which will address the cognitive distortion personalization as it pertains to addiction. (If you haven’t yet, check out the first article on overgeneralization.) Probably 90% of addicts have a negative internal dialogue. Chances are that if you’re reading this, you or someone you know is an addict (I use the word addict as a term…
High-functioning bipolar disorder means a person is living with bipolar disorder but is still able to live a normal life, usually through the use of medication and some form of therapy, like Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Diagnosing a mental health disorder can be a complicated process. Many people go their entire lives with an untreated mental health disorder and miss out on the freedom that can…
Overgeneralization is a type of thinking that emerged from a single event; this thinking is then applied to all similar events, especially ones in the future. Perhaps you had to give a big speech at your job or college graduation. Both you and the people around may think that you gave an absolutely horrendous speech. Big deal, right? In this example, overgeneralization might look like,…
Addiction and codependency go hand in hand. We’ve all heard of codependency. These days, like narcissism, codependency is a term many people throw around without knowing what it means exactly. This condition is somewhat of a mental and emotional disorder where a person (who lacks a feeling of wholeness) depends on other people around them to meet their physical and emotional (or spiritual) needs. Are…
Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based subset of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that addresses unwanted thoughts and behaviors, focusing on the development of acceptance and change through a variety of methods, including self-governed emotional regulation and meditation/mindfulness. Dialectical behavioral therapy has grown and expanded to address negative and hindering ways of thinking, learned patterns of behavior that have been conditioned but unhelpful to us,…
Overcoming anxiety is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever experienced. The everyday demands of life, between paying bills, working, staying connected to family, and trying to stay healthy, can turn any person’s life into nothing short of an anxious mess. You might be a person who has dealt with anxiety all their lives, or maybe this is something new only to your adult…