Extreme thinking and the danger of such a critical perception of reality
The concept of “extreme thinking” is not given a clear definition. This phenomenon is only being studied, and information about it can only be found in foreign works and studies. Such thinking is typical for a person who looks at the world through the prism of extremes: either everything or nothing, or you are with me, or you are against me.
People with extreme thinking do not accept constructive criticism of their statements. They are convinced that a person should fully accept their position. Otherwise, he is regarded as an enemy that is not able to support, appreciate and respect. Such people are impulsive, self-confident and often self-centered.
What can extreme thinking lead to?
This form of perception leads to regressive behavior, which is reflected in all areas of life. Extreme thinking makes it difficult to assess the situation sensibly and think rationally, maintaining a sense of balance and proportion. This leads to problems in interpersonal relationships, hindering the establishment of healthy and productive social interaction.
It is difficult for such a person to compromise, and even more so to give in. He believes that such a reaction will make him vulnerable, he will lose his authority and position in society. Such a person will not give in, even when it comes to maintaining relationships and mutual understanding. It is more important for him to feed his ego and show his importance than to respect the position and opinion of the interlocutor or even a loved one.
A destructive position leads to the fact that sooner or later relationships with significant people come to naught. At the same time, most people with extreme thinking do not even realize why this is happening. Their mental pattern makes it impossible for them to assess the situation sensibly.
These are the strong forms of manifestation of destructive perception. But there are also less pronounced ones that are extremely difficult to recognize. In most cases, a person is completely unaware that he is independently destroying relationships that are dear to him.
How extreme thinking manifests itself
Let’s look at the most striking examples of cognitive distortions, and how a person who is used to rushing from one extreme to another reacts to them.
– Overgeneralization . It characterizes the type of response to situations, as a result of which a person perceives everything too critically, leaving no room for diversity and breadth of thoughts. For example, your workmate did a bad job, and now you have a clear belief in your head that he is not able to solve the assigned tasks well and constantly gets into trouble. Or, at a meeting, your interlocutor made a remark to you, and now you evaluate yourself as a rude, incapable of doing the right thing, a person.
– Quickly conclusions. This reaction arises due to an insufficient level of knowledge about the situation. For example, you want to ask a friend for help, but for some reason you are sure that your request will make him angry or he will demand something in return for his services. The peculiarity of such conclusions is that you have not previously encountered a similar situation, but you are completely sure that it will happen exactly as you think.
– Catastrophization . This point is very insidious and does not allow many people to soberly assess the situation. With this reaction, it is common to expect only the worst possible scenario of the development of events. It may seem to many that such life scenarios are overly exaggerated, but for a person with extreme thinking, this is a standard way of thinking. Often such people became victims of psychological trauma at an early age, when their psyche could not fight back to the best of its ability.
How not to fall into the trap of your subconscious
The most important concept in the fight against extreme thinking is awareness. Only in this way will a person be able to recognize, stop and overcome the signs of an unhealthy perception of reality. Watch your reaction, note for yourself what situations cause you strong negative feelings and emotions. Learn to play the scenario of your life sensibly, starting from the real order of things. In any situation, adhere to the principle of non -judgmental judgment – by working on yourself, your life can sparkle with completely new colors.