The Agoraphobia Mindset: Black-or-White Thinking

Most people with agoraphobia engage in black-or-white thinking. Black-or-white thinking (also called all-or-nothing thinking) is viewing everything in terms of absolutes or extremes. Things are either right or wrong, good or bad, with no in between.

Perfectionism (characteristic of people with agoraphobia) goes hand-in-hand with all or nothing thinking. People with agoraphobia who think this way are often perfectionists, putting themselves under a great deal of unnecessary pressure with unrealistic expectations. Their unrealistic expectations increase anxiety and fear of failing. To see themselves as “good” or “successful,” they must be flawless. However, if their unrealistic expectations are not met (which happens most of the time), they label themselves as “bad” or a “failure.”

Examples of black-or-white thinking:

I get a chance for a promotion at work and think, “If I don’t get this promotion at work then I am a total failure in my career.”

I find out a friend has lied to me one time and I think to myself, "I should have known he really was a bad person all along."

To challenge black-or-white thinking thinking, here are some questions someone with agoraphobia might ask themselves:

1) Do I have any objective evidence that this will happen (or is true), or am I just jumping to a conclusion out of fear?

2) Could another person with the same experience but without agoraphobia come up with a different explanation of what happened?

3) What is a more rational statement I could make?

4) What is a statement I could make to someone else and be believed?

Article Source: http://www.agoraphobia.net

Stephen Price is a recovered agoraphobic with a master’s degree in psychology. His informational website on agoraphobia featuring a free newsletter can be found at: www.agoraphobia.ws

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated