Cognitive Distortions ; When Thinking Becomes Either Black or White

Cognitive distortions are by definition one's distorted perceptions of reality.

To add some pulp and illustration to the vapid definition, one could take into account some examples.
A sex offender who vehemently adhers to the mistaken belief that the act of rape on a woman is justified because 'women love to be treated rough', or some women justifying a spouse's abusive behaviour and rationalizing that he is not fundamentally violent but in need for love and guidance - are all fruits of one or more distortions of reality.

 

Dichotomous thinking

A common cognitive distortion is Black and White or Dichotomous thinking.It is an extreme all-or-nothing mental conception which some employ when approaching situations , events and other individuals.
A healthy individul with a rightly cultivated state of mind and mature perceptions of reality should be able to integrate all negative and positive aspects of individuals and events.
A coordinated personality with healthy and developed defense mechanisms sees shades of grey. Such is able to positivly oversee threats to his ego ,and is able to form mental compromisations.
Those who adhere to the rigidness of Dichotomous thinking can only relate to or judge circumstances based on primitive and extreme generalizations.
One's husband is not necesarily prepping his wife for an impending divorce if he is working overtime most nights and a minor tiff with a close friend should not be met by total denounciation and cessation of all further apointments ,brunches or diner dates.
Many individuals can fall victim to this cognitive distortion,but when it is applied consistantly and severly in one`s everyday life,it may be pathological and a symptom of a personality disorder.

Dichotomous thinking in relation to Personality Disorders

A personality disorder effects perception and cognition ,impairs judgement, causes interpersonal problems as well as emotional problems to the afflicted and to those who cross paths with them.  There are 3 clusters of disorders related to one`s character and notably 'Cluster B' are those who would make use of interpersonal Dichotomous thinking the most. Those disgnosed by legend of Cluster B are carefully named the 'dramatic-erratic' grouping, as they struggle to relate to others and additionally struggle to keep impulsive behaviours in check.The personality disorders in this cluster are ; Antisocial Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder,Histrionic Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Borderline Personality Disorder

It goes without saying that the most infamous personality disorder is Borderline Personality Disorder. The media has turned this illness into one that is both glamourised and demonized by the media and


by cinematography . Due to the Borderline`s impulsive and dramatically destructive nature it is admittedly fitting when displayed in Hollywood projectories.
Not only is Black and White thinking a suggestive consequence of living with a character dysfunction but for Borderline personality disorder specifically it is it a main diagnostic criteria.
Borderlines use interpersonal Dichotomous thinking as a central defense mechanism to regulate self esteem. When a close friend fails to keep an appointment or return a phone call, the afflicted will assume the worst and will not be able to integrate other factors into the circumstance. Fear and over sensitivity to threat are big factors in Dichotomous thinking as the Borderline cannot handle any personal pain and will be prompt when erradicating the source of displeasure. He is unwilling to gamble with such an emotional Russian Roulette and would rather dissociate and recline into the comfort of rejecting the other. The 'offending' other is devalued and seen as `bad` or as a threat , and thus the relationship is ended to ward off dissapointment. Not surprisingly, interpersonal conflicts are another  troubling criteria in the Borderline checklist .

Those who suffer from Narcisstic Personality Disorder are also no stranger to distorted thinking. While inflating their own self image, their notion of emotional survival is based on the precarious view that they are superior and others are menial,ordinary or below them. Narcissists must induldge in actions which promote the belief that they themselves are most worthy,and any evidence that indicates that they are parallel or inferior to others launches them into exagerrated forms of self

shaming and self hate.The adult Narcissist is reminiscent of each one of us as a child, we expected to be cattered to and we were self perceived as the sun in which our parent`s lives orbited. We judged those who slighted us as `monsters`, and those who came to us ladden with gifts,treats and affection as a positive figures-dependable and trustworthy. Our childhood imaginations did not stretch beyond what we did not know and what we did not care to suspect; those we considered monsters might have had a bad day and those who bestowed us with gifts and compliments might have to our better knowledge been sexual perverts. Like the Borderline,the Narcissist`s ego-driven universe would be much more stable,harmonised and realistic if their perceptions and patterns of thinking were less dramatic.

Including the coquettish Histrionic and brash Antisocial personalities,all four disordered subtypes follow a certain pattern of relating to family,friends,lovers and peers. The closer the bond or attachments ,the more intense and pathological the defense mechanism.

Idealization and Devaluation

Idealization and Devaluation is a product of Black and White thinking when applied in the interpersonal sense. The `Cluster B` troup are extreme thinkers as we have established,and when one is lowering their boundries in attempt to bond and trust another,there is too much to lose for an already disordered individual. A method of defense will certainly be inaugerated-even if it is dysfunctional and detrimental in the end,the goal is instant self preservation. For many suffering with personality disorders, planning for the long term and anticipating consequences is simply not part of their mental processing.

When someone is being idealized, the disordered person sees them in an overall positive manner,a savior and someone which to channel their dreams and unrealistic fantasies. Flaws are overlooked at first,which is unrealistic.
Along the way the disordered individual must realise the truth;the person that they have bestowed to a knighthood is failing them. As dissapointment creeps about and reality becomes clear one is forced to see that the intimate is human and perhaps does not have the capacity to fulfill their every dream and ever changing whims.
Instead of accepting the realization and still having the tools to persue the relationship after the `honeymoon phase` wears off, the disordered individual usually responds to this by hurting the other,villainizing the other for distroying his chance at happiness,or walking away from the relationship and repressing or dimishing any ties to the former intimate.

To wrap up;
Black and White thinking causes conflict and impairment in relationships,it is not a flexible mental framework as it is established in early stages of child development.
Thus ,Black and White thinking is characteristic of children,but early childhood events which are traumatic or somehow instigators in altering a child`s state of mind or `christalizing it`may lead to problematic coping mechanisms in adults.

Quote Of The Day

" The Statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they are okay , then its you."

-Rita May Brown

And Now, Presenting Hollywood's Take on Mental Illness . . .

A recent headlining story in the celebrity realm spurred me to speculate the media's portrayals of what is  normal versus what is dysfunction.
Last night,the bright eyed child star of the 90's Amanda Bynes was handcuffed, brought to your local psych ward to be evaluated, and then proceeded to the next stop ; the local jailhouse.

Amanda Bynes Mugshot picture after her DUI

I'm sure this is not what Amanda meant when she said she wanted to have an 'exciting night out'.
Some would say , 'We saw this coming' after a string of bizarre events that Amanda has reportedly found herself in lately.
But after reading the reportedly 'bizarre behavior', I asked myself honestly ; when does behavior become so out of the norm that it is deemed 'disordered'?

In Amanda's case,she is a 27 year old woman with enough money in the bank that one would hope to win in the upcoming lottery , hence , her perception of responsibilities and priorities are not the same as the average member of society's.
Additionally,when reading about the events and actions that were accounted for as 'bizarre', I realized that for the upcoming generation of teens and young adults these actions are in fact quite common.
 Some actions that led to an inquisition on Amanda's mental health status were ; smoking marijuana, taking pictures of herself in various degrees of undress, showing off new piercings and collecting a small collection of DUIs.

The columnist must have had her daughters raised in a convent if the said behaviors were perceived as outlandish!
Silly press,
The truth is that many of these actions are the usual Friday night for young women and girls across America, to utter a 'nay' at such an opinion would warrant one to consider
 that they might be naive or operating with blinders on.
As for Amanda posing with her breasts jammed into a push-up bra and posting the tacky deed on an online forum, it might be provocative but so is our standards for the average celebrity.
Hollywood is the land of the Playboy Mansion in which reside women with breasts the size of car bumpers , and other generally exaggerated states of being ... so why is such behavior being added up as ill when isolated in the case of one woman? Perhaps you have forgotten to account for the entire ill society?

Twitter,Tumblr and Facebook are swollen with provocative imagery from young women who post pictures of themselves while attempting their best Rhiannas.

Of course, if push-up bras on twitter and smoking marijuana from a bong- then driving the family Sedan home afterwards are decent behaviors from young adults,the answer would be no! But I wouldn't venture to call them particularly devious and disordered, or behavior reserved for women with felonies.

Another story that seemed on the cusp of exaggeration by the press was Amanda's outing at her local gym. Amanda was in a cycling class when she decided to hop off her machine, waltz over to the mirrors and touch up her makeup for a whole dozen minutes.
Coined as outlandish and reportedly proof that this young woman is in a downward descent into madness, the magazine fails to outline that perhaps Amanda does not feel the urge to commit to the class because she can afford it, and for her it is a mere pastime and not a commitment. Or perhaps the class did not suit her expectations, at the very least maybe Amanda needed some attention? She does not have the average person's sense of responsibility and priorities , if she spends money on a class she is not dedicated to it wont scorn her budget, partying and smoking marijuana will not get her immediately fired if she is a no-show at the assembly line the next morning. Amanda 's family will not go hungry if she chooses hedonistic activities over priorities and work. Secondly, one must obviously consider the gaggle of paparazzi outside the gym who are clocking her and waiting to take her picture. Hell, eight out of ten girls would be powdering their noses in front of those mirrors as well if a group of ten men with high resolution cameras were waiting for them in the parking lot. Can one blame Amanda for not fully concentrating on her Spinning Class?

And let us consider for a moment the possibility that Amanda was indeed mentally ill ,what role would we be playing by constantly taunting her and publishing articles dubbing her 'mentally ill'?

Hollywood ; The Western Holy Land

Hollywood is the land of often botched attempts at creating a simulated empire of perfection. The Hollywood society is overexcited with the idea they are the debauched elite of this Western Holy Land, and they are continuously obsessed with symbols that represent this ; the glamour , festivities, beauty, fashion ect..

Survival of the Fittest theory dictates that the weak will perish , even Hollywood abides by this law.
Hollywood subsequently shames and dehumanizes those members which fall short of the 'elite' status.

Credit :britneyspearsgifs.tumblr.com 

It is as if those not glamorous enough or those who fail to meet the standards of Hollywood are seen as misrepresenting the pack.

What happens to them is the systematic shaming and assault on their integrity. We love to watch them fail and pick them apart, relishing the idea that they are 'imperfect' in the valley of perfection.

Contemporary victims of Hollywood shaming are Britney Spears,Lindsay Lohan,Christian Bale, Catherine Zeta Jones.

And now Amanda Bynes.

I am not trying to push the idea that Amanda is ever knowing and flawless in her actions but the press jumping on this celebrity mental illness campaign and magnifying this woman's every 'wrong move' is in part driven by their capitalist thirst, all the while throwing this individual under the bus.

Like all of us, Amanda might be going through hard times but since when are hard times a call for everyone to shout from the rooftops that you are suffering from a severe bout of mental illness. Like someone wise once said , "The only time you should be looking down on someone, is when you are helping them up."