For the past few weeks, our Mental Health Diary conversation took us into another important area of mental health as we joined the rest of the world to talk about dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, early diagnosis and brain health. Now, we return to our conversation about cognitive distortions, those thinking patterns that can quietly influence how we interpret what happens to us.
Have you ever had a day when almost everything went well, but one thing went wrong and somehow that one thing became the only thing you could think about? Perhaps you received several compliments at work, but one person criticised your performance. Instead of going home remembering the encouragement you received, you kept replaying the criticism in your head. Maybe you had a beautiful family gathering, everyone laughed, ate and enjoyed themselves, but one person made an unpleasant comment and somehow that became what you remembered most. Or perhaps you looked in the mirror and liked almost everything about what you saw, but one small feature caught your attention and suddenly that was all you could see.
Why does one negative experience sometimes feel louder than several positive ones? Part of the answer lies in the way our brains naturally pay attention to things that may signal danger, problems or rejection. This ability is useful because noticing problems helps us respond to them. If something is wrong, we need to be able to notice it. The difficulty begins when our attention becomes so narrow that one negative detail takes over the entire picture. We stop noticing what is going well because our minds have become fixed on what is wrong.
This is known as mental filtering, a cognitive distortion in which we focus disproportionately on one negative aspect of a situation while overlooking other important information, particularly positive or neutral information. Imagine receiving an appraisal at work. Your supervisor tells you that you are hardworking, reliable, creative and valuable to the team. Then they mention one area where you need to improve. You leave the office thinking, ‘My supervisor is not impressed with me.’ But is that really what happened?
The feedback contained several positive observations and one area for improvement, yet your mind selected the criticism and allowed it to overshadow everything else. The criticism may be valid and worth working on, but it was only one part of the conversation.
This happens in our personal lives too. You may have a loving relationship, but after one disagreement, you begin thinking, ‘We are always fighting.’ You may have worked hard for years and achieved many things, but one setback makes you feel as though you have accomplished nothing. You may receive ten encouraging comments about something you created, but one negative comment stays with you throughout the day.
Have you ever noticed how quickly your mind can replay criticism but struggle to replay compliments? This does not mean we should ignore criticism or pretend that everything is fine when it is not. Constructive criticism can help us grow. Problems sometimes need our full attention. If someone points out something we need to improve, we should be willing to listen. The problem occurs when one negative detail becomes the entire story.
It is like looking at a beautiful painting and focusing only on one small mark in the corner. The mark is there, and you are not wrong to notice it. But if that one mark convinces you that the entire painting is ugly, you are no longer seeing the whole picture.
Mental filtering can do exactly that. It can make a good day feel like a bad day, make a meaningful achievement feel insignificant and make a healthy relationship seem hopeless because of one disagreement. It can even make us forget how far we have come because our attention is fixd on the one thing that still needs improvement.
Think about a mother who spends the entire day preparing a meal for her family. Everyone enjoys it, but one person says, ‘Mummy, the soup is a bit salty.’ She may laugh about it at first, but later, instead of remembering everyone who enjoyed the meal, she keeps thinking about that one comment. The entire effort begins to feel like a failure because one detail went wrong.
Or think about someone who has spent months working on a project. It is finally completed and people appreciate the work, but one person points out a mistake. Rather than thinking, ‘I made a mistake and I can correct it,’ the person goes home thinking, ‘I am not good at this.’ This is where mental filtering can quietly affect our confidence and emotional wellbeing.
The goal is not to force ourselves to look at life through rose coloured glasses. We do not have to pretend that disappointment does not hurt or that criticism does not matter. Instead, we can learn to hold the negative information alongside the rest of the picture.
The next time something goes wrong, acknowledge it, but then ask yourself, ‘What else is true?’ Maybe the presentation was not perfect, but you prepared well and communicated some important points. Maybe the conversation was difficult, but you were honest about how you felt. Maybe you made a mistake, but you also learned something from it. Maybe today was difficult, but not everything about today was difficult. That small question, ‘What else is true?’ can interrupt the habit of allowing one negative detail to take over everything.
Here is a little Mind Exercise to carry with you this week. The next time you notice yourself dwelling on something that went wrong, pause and ask, ‘What else am I not noticing?’ Then deliberately identify three things that went well, even if they seem small. It could be a kind word someone said to you, something you accomplished, a problem you handled well, a moment of laughter, a supportive conversation or simply something that brought you peace.
You are not trying to convince yourself that everything is wonderful. You are training your mind to see the whole picture.
Because sometimes, the problem is not that there is nothing good in our lives. The problem is that our attention has become so focused on what is wrong that we have stopped noticing what is right.
If any of this sounds familiar, be gentle with yourself. The aim is not to become someone who never notices problems. We need that ability. The aim is to become someone who can notice what is wrong without allowing it to erase everything that is right. One negative moment may deserve your attention, especially if there is something you need to learn or change, but it does not deserve to become the whole story.
Next week, we will look at what happens when the mind takes one experience and stretches it far beyond that moment, turning ‘this happened’ into ‘this always happens’ and sometimes even ‘this is who I am.’
Until then, remember: see the whole picture. One difficult detail may be part of your story, but it does not have to define the entire story.