There	are	a	number	of	biases	we’re	all	prone	to	that	intensify	anxiety.
Familiarizing	yourself	with	these	“errors	in	thinking”	will	help	you	catch
exaggerated	or	inaccurate	thought	patterns.	Here	are	a	few	of	the	more
common	ones:
All-or-nothing	thinking:
	
Things	are	all	good	or	all	bad;	you	are	perfect	or	a
failure.
Overgeneralizing:
	
If	something	negative	happens	in	one	situation	it	means	it
will	happen	in	all	future,	similar	situations.
Catastrophizing:
	
You	look	to	the	future	with	sweeping	negativity	and
forecast	disaster	instead	of	more	realistic	possibilities.
Labeling:
	
Applying	a	fixed,	global	label	on	yourself	or	others	without
including	any	context.	(“I’m	a	loser,”	“I’m	bad,”	“I’m	inadequate,”	“I’m	a
burden.”)
“Should”-ing	and	“must”-ing:
	
You	have	rigid	expectations	for	how	you
should
	
or	
must
	
act,	and	when	these	unreasonable	expectations	aren’t	met,	you
forecast	horrendous	consequences.
Each	time	you	successfully	identify	an	error	in	thinking,	your	anxiety	will