Twisted Thinking

I'm an addictions counselor in the midwest, mostly working with DUI (Driving Under the Influence) offenders.
In our area, the percentage of individuals charged with a DUI for a second time is 80%. That is high.
The reasons can be debated, but obviously the behaviors are not changing. You keep doing the same thing, you're going to keep experiencing the same problems.
Tonight, in group, I'll discuss different ways of thinking. Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy. Our thinking becomes distorted and then add alcohol and the distortion in thinking becomes that much worse.

Types of twisted thinking may include:

All-or-nothing thinking: Here's where your perfectionism rears it's ugly head. If it's not THIS way, then it HAS to be THAT way. "If she doesn't love me, she must hate me". "If I eat one bad thing on my diet, I just as well eat the whole cake--I've blown the whole thing." You can see how this makes life situations difficult to handle.

Labeling: This consists of a more extreme form of all-or-nothing thinking. Calling yourself names would be an example-"I'm an ass because I made a mistake". When someone does something that may rub you the wrong way, you may think, "What a jerk!"

Jumping to conclusions: The great fortune teller. Always has everything figured out before the end and boy oh boy is the conclusion more or less a negative one. "I just KNOW I'm going to flunk this test." These individuals are also experts at mind reading: You guest has just informed you that she's a tad cold. You assume this means she thinks you are a cheap person for keeping the thermostat lower.

There are several more examples of twisted thinking and we will approach all of them tonight in our group.

We will tie this into drinking and driving and how our thinking is distorted at that time.

Peace.