I continue the series of articles about cognitive distortions. I described what they are and why they exist in this post. TUNNEL THINKING Cognitive distortion, in which a person sees only what fits into his current picture of the world, often negative, emphasizes only one side that is visible to him, denying what it seems incomprehensible to him. This distortion is a fairly clear marker of depression or a crisis state. With this kind of thinking, a person tends to go without looking back into the tunnel of the current thought, as if he is rolling down a hill, not seeing anything around him. Examples of tunnel thinking: Today is the worst day of my life. Nothing will fix it. Every day is as worthless as the whole week, the whole month, the whole year. I don’t even remember how to rejoice, and I don’t even want to try, it’s all in vain. My mother manipulated me throughout my childhood, punishing me with silence. Now the guy does the same, he doesn’t answer calls or messages. I am constantly looking for red flags in life to avoid manipulators, but I constantly come across them. Terrible. Are there really no honest people left? All women have become mercantile, you have to pay for everyone on a date, but they don’t want to give anything in return. The last one didn’t even communicate with me when he started talking about the fact that I needed someone who was kind and not obsessed with money. In this world it is no longer possible to find anyone other than the spoiled and spoiled! All people lie, you should expect to be tripped up from everyone. Everyone is actually selfish, who thinks only about themselves; you can’t trust anyone. How many times have I already been betrayed? And they will betray you! I'd rather not get close to anyone, it's dangerous. Having fixed this cognitive distortion, you can do the following: 1. Disconnect from your own thoughts. Remember that you are not your thoughts. You think them, but this does not mean that everything is exactly as you think or are accustomed to think. Say to yourself: “I have a thought” and call it: I have a thought that all people are selfish. I have a fear that I will never be intimate with someone! Often at this point you can complete the work. It’s completely normal to sometimes go into such tunnels and despair. If you understand that these are just thoughts that you do not obey, that you have only gone into the tunnel for a while, then you don’t have to continue working. However, if you continue to be drawn there, you can do the following: 2. Become aware of what triggered your thoughts. What were you doing before these thoughts appeared? What were you thinking before this? Record this. If you didn’t succeed, put it off until the next time you have similar thoughts again. I found out that a colleague gossiped and lied about me behind my back → thought that all people are selfish, immoral, traitors.3. Think about how one leads to the other. Is there a direct connection? Try to objectively prove and refute your statement. Try to at least artificially draw a conclusion that does not fit into your picture of the world, but is still possible.↓ On the one hand, I am faced with the fact that people lie, gossip, and in many ways do immoral things. ↓ This upsets me.↓ On the other hand, people also do good. Both are typical for them, this is normal.↓ Just because a colleague lied to me, it does not follow that everyone around me will do the same to me. But it also does not follow that everyone will be kind to me.4. Understand that in many ways we see what our attention is focused on. If we are afraid of manifestations of selfishness and lies, we will notice this in our environment. Try to frame what you want in a positive way, rather than what you fear or don't like. I like it when people are honest with each other and say what they don't like directly. I like altruism and kindness even in small things , for example, when people share delicious things with each other over lunch, help with work tasks, give small gifts, give compliments. I would like people to think about others more often, ask about their well-being and condition, mood.5. Try to notice what you want, and not what is unpleasant for you!.