5 unhelpful ways of thinking

Liz Makin Author

Jun 30, 2026 |

Is your thinking unhelpful? In this article we discuss some examples of unhelpful ways of thinking.

How you think impacts how you feel and how you then behave, so unhelpful thinking can negatively impact your emotions and behaviour. 

Where your thinking is unhelpful, reflect and consider the way you are thinking and look at changing the way you think.

Here are some five unhelpful ways of thinking and how you may be able to change them:

1. All or Nothing Thinking. This is extreme thinking where you think that there are only two extreme outcomes. This type of thinking can lead to extreme emotions and behaviours and can stop you achieving your goals because you have no margin for error in your thinking. To change this way of thinking, consider all the other possibilities between the two extremes that you are thinking, avoid making either/or type statements and consider alternative perspectives on the situation.

2. Catastrophising. This is where you take a relatively minor negative event and imagining all sorts of disasters resulting from it. This type of thinking can result in misinterpretations of relatively minor situations. To change this way of thinking, put your thoughts into perspective, recognise your thoughts as just thoughts not reality, consider other less extreme explanations, consider the evidence and identify strategies to cope with the situation until you know the outcome.

3. Mind Reading. This is very common and is where you think that you know what other people are thinking, which can result in you making incorrect assumptions. To change this way of thinking, consider that your mind reading may be incorrect, ask the other people what they are actually thinking and consider some alternative reasons for what is happening.

4. Over generalising. This type of unhelpful thinking is where you draw global conclusions such as 'always' or 'never' from a situation. This can result in you assuming that because something has happened once it will always happen. To change this way of thinking, consider alternative perspectives, suspend judgement, be specific and steer clear of general conclusions.

5. Disqualifying the Positive. This pattern of thinking is when you transform something positive into something neutral or negative in your mind. This can result in a pattern of negative thinking and unhappiness. To change this way of thinking, reflect on your response to positive information, accept positives as they are and accept positive feedback from others.

If you identify with any of these unhelpful ways of thinking, reflect and consider the way you are thinking and look at thinking differently.

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Categories: : Mind management, Online courses, Personal development, Soft skills, Thinking