Our Common Cognitive Distortions

How to stop making ourselves miserable

Two things I’ve dealt with appear as if they would require entirely different skill sets. The first was overcoming a vicious addiction to prescription painkillers, which is detailed in my memoir, Free Refills. The second is being trained as a physician wellness coach to help other physicians with burnout, imposter syndrome, and many of the other afflictions they are currently contending with.

The overlapping skills and practices of these two endeavors included:

1. A focus on gratitude for what is going well in my life and for the people around me

2. Mindfulness and presence in the moment

3. Engaging in healthy habits: exercise, good nutrition, and, ideally, sleep (not my strong point!)

4. Connection with others, open and honest communication, and empathy (including self-empathy)

A fifth, critical component to attaining the serenity and focus one needs to move past an addiction, or to be an effective wellness coach, or, for that matter, to get over a traumatic injury which I am in the process of doing (I got hit by a car) is learning how to recognize and defuse the cognitive distortions that we all employ.

Cognitive distortions are internal mental filters or biases that increase our misery, fuel our anxiety, and – needlessly, make us feel bad about ourselves. Our brains are continually processing tons of information. To deal with this, we naturally revert to shortcuts in order to cut down our mental burden. Sometimes these shortcuts are helpful, yet in other circumstances — such as with these unhelpful cognitive filters — they can cause more harm than good.