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    Cognitive distortions

    认知扭曲

    Concept
    Also called
    thinking errors, unhelpful thinking styles

    Cognitive distortions are consistent errors in how people process information that bias their reading of events, as in all-or-nothing or catastrophic thinking. Cognitive therapy links them to emotional disorders such as depression.[1][2]

    Magnification and minimization, as an example: the facts stay the same; the lens enlarges the few bad ones and shrinks the rest. Move the pointer or use the arrow keys to move the lens.

    Burns’s 10 cognitive distortions

    Select one for a short description.
    The same facts through a distorting lens: the few bad ones are enlarged and the rest shrink. Below, Burns’s 10 cognitive distortions. Point at or tap parts of the figure for details
    The same facts through a distorting lens: the few bad ones are enlarged and the rest shrink. Below, Burns’s 10 cognitive distortions. Save as image (PNG)

    Key points

    • The term comes from Aaron Beck’s 1963 study of the thinking of depressed patients in psychotherapy, which linked distorted ideas to depressed mood.[1]
    • David Burns’s book Feeling Good listed 10, including all-or-nothing thinking, mental filter, jumping to conclusions, should statements and labeling.[3]
    • Lists vary by author: Beck proposed six types, Burns listed 10, and several categories overlap.[2][3]
    • In Cognitive behavioral therapy, the categories work as signposts that help clients spot the error in a thought, then test and correct it.[2]

    An example

    Lin gets one figure wrong in a presentation and keeps thinking, “I blew the whole thing, and my manager must think I’m useless.” The first half is all-or-nothing thinking; the second is mind reading. She writes both in a thought record and checks each against the evidence.

    Misreadings and limits

    A cognitive distortion is not the same as a negative thought. Burns notes that healthy negative feelings need no treatment and that overly positive distortions can be just as harmful. The aim is more accurate thinking, not forced optimism.[3]

    Sources

    1. 1 Beck, A. T. (1963). Thinking and depression: I. Idiosyncratic content and cognitive distortions. Archives of General Psychiatry, 9(4), 324–333. View source
    2. 2 DiTomasso, R. A., & Poteau, S. R. (2017). Cognitive distortions. The SAGE encyclopedia of abnormal and clinical psychology. SAGE Publications. doi:10.4135/9781483365817.n288
    3. 3 Burns, D. D. (2014). Secrets of self-esteem #2. Feeling Good: The website of David D. Burns, MD. View source

    Last checked against sources: October 26, 2026