Thought Patterns That Cause Stress And Anxiety

Potentially, stress is something that threatens us all. Different life events and conflicts can cause stress for a person. And if these events and conflicts pile up, mental health problems can be significant. The memory, the images of these events, permeate the life of the person and evoke pain and suffering.

But, even if they are overcome, when these images are evoked, tense situations can occur that predispose to stress and anxiety. These images are internal triggers that cause stress even in the absence of actual stressors.

It is important to be aware of the traps we can fall into that cause us stress.

To do this, we are going to look at the most common cognitive distortions that can create stress. We must be aware of these distortions to rethink the thought patterns that lead us to them.

Cognitive distortions that cause stress and anxiety

# 1 – Just thinking about it doesn’t mean it’s real

We tend to believe that some of our thoughts are real because they have great strength, have been accepted by others, or have been repeated many times. But in reality, thoughts are just thoughts and do not necessarily represent an objective reality.

There is an element of subjective bias that begins to work in these situations, when the person distorts reality and imagines all kinds of scenarios related to the event. In this way, perception may be responsible for the feelings of anxiety and insecurity that the person is experiencing. Therefore, it is vital to check the reality before drawing conclusions and making assumptions about the situation.

# 2 – Value judgment on subjective assumptions

When people begin to believe that all thoughts are true just because they are displayed in our imagination, we are faced with distorted thoughts. This irrational way of thinking appears because human beings tend to form opinions and make value judgments about people, situations, and events.

Again, subjective bias can distort reality. When you base your conclusions only on what you think, you can fall into the trap with this type of distortion. Sometimes random thoughts cross our mind and put irrational seeds in it.

# 3 – Not all thoughts are equally important

When people begin to believe that all thoughts are equally important, we can make a mistake. Some thoughts only represent our opinion or are the result of our particular evaluation. Some of them might be important and some of them might be irrelevant.

However, people do not generally discriminate between important thoughts and irrelevant thoughts, and we draw a conclusion that leads to stress. We have to be aware of thoughts that are exaggerated and generalizable.

# 4 – Threatening thoughts

Sometimes we imagine a threat in every situation and we begin to believe every thought that comes into our mind. Not all thoughts are real; to ome of unnecessary threat posed thoughts that are dysfunctional thoughts.

But, the person who receives them tends to believe in them and feels threatened and feels stressed. We must be careful with this trend and not give in to every thought that comes to our head.

# 5 – get caught up in a stressful thinking style

Sometimes we can get stuck in a thinking style that encompasses permanence, omnipresence, and personalization.

These traps can cause immense stress on the person who believes that stress will last forever (permanence distortion). But in reality, very few stressors last forever.

# 6 – Generalization of stress states

When a person tends to believe that the effects of stress are widespread and will affect all aspects of their life, they are making a mistake in their way of thinking, and they need to rethink their style of thinking.

Pessimistic people tend to make this mistake of over-generalization and begin to believe that the stress that affects one facet of their life, sooner or later, will encompass everything. But in reality, this is not true.

Control your thoughts to deal with stress

It is possible to deal with stress more effectively when we try to manage it by controlling our thoughts and not giving in to every thought that comes to mind in relation to a stressful situation.

Keep this in mind so as not to distort your conclusions and reframe your thoughts with healthy and functional thought patterns.