Listed below are the Automatic Thoughts as defined by Glenn R. Schiraldi in The Self-Esteem Workbook.
1. Assuming: assuming the worst without testing the evidence.
Example: I’m not going out tonight because I know I won’t have a good time.
2. Should (Must/Ought): demands we make of ourselves
Example: It shouldn’t be this way, I should have been better, I should have done things differently
3. Fairy-Tale Fantasy: demanding the ideal from life
Example: Saying, “That’s not fair”
4. All or Nothing: holding yourself to the impossible standard of perfection
Example: If I’m not the best, I’m not good at all. If I fail this test, I’m a failure
5. Unfavorable Comparison: magnifying faults, weaknesses, and strengths of others and shrinking your own
Example: Thinking to yourself, “I’m only a sales associate” (minimizing your strengths). “Laura is in her last year of veterinary school.” (maximizing another’s strengths)
6. Catastrophizing: telling yourself that something is SO horrible and we are to feeble to cope
Example: “I couldn’t stand it if he were to leave me.” In actuality, we can withstand most anything. Although things are unpleasant we CAN stand it.
7. Overgeneralizing: deciding that negative experiences describe your life completely
Example: I always ruin everything; I neverdo well in math;
8. Labeling: giving yourself a label as if it describes a person completely
Example: I’m a loser; I’m so dumb; I’m an idiot.
9. Dwelling on the Negative: focusing on negative aspects and ignoring the positive
Example: “I burnt the steak, now the whole meal is ruined.”
10. Rejecting Positives: negating positives all together
Example: If someone compliments you on a job well done and you respond “Oh it was nothing, anyone could have done that.”
11. Personalizing: seeing yourself more involved in negative situations than you really are
Example: You call out of work and no one else can come in and then your store gets shoplifted. You think “It’s all my fault.”
12. Blaming: pulling all the responsibility of something outside of yourself
Example: He makes me so miserable; I’m a loser because I’ve had a crappy childhood.
13. Making Feelings Facts: Taking ones feelings as proof of the way things really are.
Example: I feel like a moron. I must be a moron; I feel like an idiot. I must be an idiot; I feel worthless. I must be worthless.
If you feel these descriptions were too vague or you found the examples were not enough to understand you can purchase The Self-Esteem Workbook yourself here and here.