The next cognitive distortion on the list is Disqualifying the Positive. In this cognitive distortion, you reject the positive aspects of an event or situation, leaving only the negative. When a positive thought arises, it’s quickly knocked away by a negative one.
Example: Miranda’s Hair
Miranda and Phoebe are having a chat over coffee. Phoebe mentions how great Miranda’s hair looks. Miranda dismisses the comment and instead talks about how much weight she’s gained and how unhappy she is with the way she looks.
Example:
After coffee with Miranda, Phoebe is walking to her car when she runs into our old buddy Bob, the tennis player. She asks him how it’s going, and he looks sad and says, “Not well. My tennis game is in the toilet.” Phoebe says, “But, Bob, didn’t you just win that big match you were excited about?” Bob looks even more upset and says, “Yes, I did. But that doesn’t matter. I just played another match this weekend and I lost. I’m terrible.”
It seems Phoebe’s words are lost on both of her friends and their Disqualifying the Positive cognitive distortions.
In the next post, we’ll take a closer look at the next cognitive distortion on the list: Jumping to Conclusions.