Have you ever wondered what influence thoughts can have on behaviors ? It is a question that, despite its simplicity, is very complex and long, which would also require a long discussion, but for reasons of space we could summarize with this short answer: as human beings we think, we feelemotionsand we act.
Three aspects that usually interact with each other, and that highlight to me the fundamental role of thought. Different people, for example, can have different thoughts when faced with the same event, and consequently, also react in totally different ways. It is not the event, therefore, that produces different reactions , but rather the way people interpret the same event would produce different reactions.
People often believe that events or situations directly cause emotions; for example, we realize that we have done or said wrong things in carrying out a certain act and for this reason we report feeling anxious. What mistake do we make in this case? We do not evaluate our thoughts that intervene before the emotion.
Let’s try to analyze, for example, a typical situation: we have written a work report, and we realize that we have made a mistake in the drafting (A); as soon as we realize this, according to the theory of direct event-emotion connection, we say we feel anxious, irritated or even avoid the person for whom we wrote it (C).
Between the first and second sequences, however, we forget to take into account all those thoughts or beliefs formulated before defining the emotion, that is, everything we tell ourselves, even through an internal dialogue (B) or in the form of an automatic thought whose mental presence we are not even aware of, for example ” I’m stupid. The boss will get very angry and I will lose my job “.
According to cognitive theory, but also according to many modern philosophical thinkers, it is our thoughts that make us feel bad; the interpretation of reality, what we say to ourselves mentally would be influenced by previous experiences, by our personality, by the opinion we have of ourselves and by our expectations. We must therefore distinguish between a so-called functional thought and a dysfunctional one .
What is a dysfunctional thought?
Dysfunctional thinking is a predominantly counterproductive thought; the cognitive behavioral therapist usually evaluates it as not corresponding or not very close to reality; sometimes the person reports the thought as exaggerated in its manifestations and considerations; a dysfunctional thought would not help you deal with or get what you want or make you feel how you want.
What differentiates functional thinking from dysfunctional thinking from a cognitive point of view? Functional thinking is realistic, logical, constructive and flexible, unlike dysfunctional thinking which is catastrophic, destructive and illogical.
Within a cognitive behavioral therapy path, the therapist will help, after a careful evaluation of the client, to identify dysfunctional thoughts, to contrast them and to replace them with different, alternative and more functional thoughts, obviously through an evaluation of the consequences of the way of thinking and of the errors of reasoning and dysfunctional attitude.
A person who suffers fromanxietygeneralized for example tends to expect the worst and often tends to behave in the way in which the worst can actually happen, like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Here the dysfunctionality of his thoughts will lead to a further increase in anxiety.