Challenging Negative Distortions: Rewriting the Stories We Tell Ourselves

Our thoughts shape how we feel and how we engage with the world. But not all thoughts are accurate. Many of us fall into patterns of thinking that distort reality, pulling us into cycles of self-doubt, anxiety, or frustration. These negative distortions can feel automatic and convincing, but they are patterns we can learn to notice, question, and eventually shift.

What Are Negative Distortions?

Negative distortions are biased or exaggerated ways of thinking that reinforce difficult emotions. These patterns are often subconscious, learned over time through experience, environment, and habit. In cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), recognising and challenging these distortions is a foundational part of developing emotional awareness and resilience.

Common Types of Negative Distortions

All-or-Nothing Thinking
Seeing things in extremes, where outcomes are either perfect or failures. There’s no room for middle ground.
If I don’t succeed completely, I’ve failed.

Catastrophising
Assuming the worst-case scenario is not just possible, but inevitable.
If I make a mistake, everything will fall apart.

Overgeneralisation
Taking one negative experience and applying it broadly.
This didn’t go well, so nothing I do ever works out.

Mental Filtering
Focusing only on the negative details, ignoring anything positive.
They gave me one piece of feedback, so the whole meeting was a disaster.

Emotional Reasoning
Believing something must be true because you feel it strongly.
I feel anxious, so something must be wrong.

Personalisation
Blaming yourself for things beyond your control, or assuming too much responsibility.
It’s my fault things didn’t go as planned.

The Impact of Negative Distortions

Left unexamined, these patterns can limit how we see ourselves and others. They influence how we react, how we relate, and how we interpret even neutral events. The more we engage with distorted thinking, the more it reinforces itself. Over time, this can lead to chronic stress, low self-worth, and strained relationships.

Learning to challenge these thoughts doesn’t mean suppressing them. It means meeting them with awareness and curiosity. With repetition, this process changes the brain’s default mode, reducing the emotional intensity that often comes with distortion.

How to Begin Challenging Distortions

The first step is recognising when your thinking might be distorted. Notice the tone of your internal dialogue. Is it rigid, harsh, absolute? Are you interpreting a situation based on evidence, or emotion?

Once you spot a distortion, pause and examine it. Ask yourself:
What is the evidence for and against this thought?
Is there another way of seeing this situation?
What would I say to a friend who felt this way?

Reframing is the process of gently replacing a distorted thought with one that’s more balanced. This doesn’t mean flipping it into blind optimism. It means grounding it in reality.
I didn’t get what I wanted today, but that doesn’t mean I never will.
This was difficult, but it doesn’t define who I am.

Self-compassion plays an important role here. Changing how you think takes effort, and it’s common to slip back into old patterns. Being kind to yourself when that happens helps reinforce change more than harsh self-correction ever could.

Practising Mindfulness

Mindfulness allows space between the thought and the response. When you can observe a thought without immediately reacting to it, you give yourself choice. Not every thought needs to be believed. Not every feeling is a fact. Mindfulness supports the slow, steady shift toward responding rather than reacting.

The Brain's Capacity to Change

Through neuroplasticity, the brain is capable of forming new pathways. Every time you challenge a distortion, every time you choose a more balanced thought, you're reinforcing a new way of thinking. Over time, this can reshape your emotional responses, creating a more stable and compassionate internal world.

This is not about eliminating negative thoughts. It’s about developing the capacity to meet them differently. To interrupt the loop before it spirals. To ask if there’s another story worth telling.

Rewriting internal narratives takes time. It often begins with a single thought, questioned. A belief, softened. A moment of compassion offered instead of criticism. These small shifts create new patterns — more grounded, less reactive, and ultimately, more supportive of growth.

You don’t have to silence every difficult thought. But you can learn to stop accepting them all as truth.