Minor scratch on the skin, major scar on the soul

Nothing distresses our species as much as irrationality.

Irrational beliefs have been shown to lead to a vast range of dysfunctional emotions and behaviors, and are associated with everything from depression to anxiety to burnout to suicidal thoughts.

Ellis, a pioneer in the field of cognitive behavioral therapy, said it best in book. Your unhealthy negative feelings are almost always accompanied by some irrational belief.

For example, one category of irrational beliefs is called depreciation. It’s when we believe that a single event reflects our person as a whole. Like when we fail at a project at work, the story we tell ourselves is that we’re a complete failure in the rest of our lives.

It’s funny, there’s the environmental mantra, think globally, act locally. Which urges people to consider the health of the entire planet and to take action in their own communities. But when it comes to our mental health, those four words might be causing us more harm than good.

In the context of our own behavior, acting locally could equate to executing a specific failure; and thinking globally could equate to viewing that failure as a reflection of our entire being.

That’s an irrational response. We are assuming our abilities and qualities are fixed, and that a single experience defines our potential in all areas of life. That’s simply not true.

Just because I botch an assignment at work that upsets my boss, doesn’t mean I’m a terrible spouse.

Just because I forgot to clean up my dog’s poop and my neighbor yells at me for soiling his begonias, doesn’t mean I’m a bad person.

The goal is to separate the local action from the global identity. To remind myself that specific outcomes don’t define my worth as a human being and diminish my value. Who I am goes beyond those isolated events.

If we don’t practice this intervention, we will let ourselves get totally consumed with intrusive, irrational thoughts until I actually raise my pulse and blood pressure.

Do you stop irrational thoughts as early as possible after you create them?