Mental Formations & Meta-Cognition
Happiness Encyclopedia XVIII from the Happiness PhD Project...
“Thinking about your thinking is the most important kind of thinking.” – Nicholas Cole
When Nicholas said this, he was talking about refining your intellectual perspective as you become a writer. He didn’t realize he stumbled upon some brilliant life advice.
Most people don’t appreciate the full meaning of our species’ name: Homo Sapiens Sapiens. Homo Sapien means “knowing man” or “wise man.” So homo sapiens sapiens is something like “man who knows he knows” or “man aware of being aware.”
This is called metacognition – awareness, observation, and understanding of one’s own cognitive processes. This is important because it helps us to identify and subsequently exert more control over the psychological states that we inhabit.
To this point, Buddhism has a useful bit of terminology. I read that in many Buddhist-influenced languages (like Tibetan), they often don’t have words equivalent to what we would call “emotion” or “thought”. Instead they have a term that is something like “mental formation.” This is an occurrence or manifestation of mindstuff so to speak. It acknowledges that pretty much every thought is imbued with emotion and every emotion imbued with thought. The modern psychological counterpart to this parlance is what we might call mental patterns.
Psychologist Dick Schwartz explains mental patterns are more than just thoughts; they are “discrete clusters of related mental processes” that link together memories, emotions, perceptions, and behaviors.
These mental formations and mental patterns that create our perception are not so easy to control or shut off. So the important thing is to be able to step back and hold them in awareness. Another meditation analogy is the mindstuff being a waterfall and this awareness being the small space behind the waterfall.
Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh shares a story about the importance of bringing awareness to these perceptions.
There was a young married couple in Vietnam who just had a baby.
Sadly, the husband was drafted and had to serve for three years. When he came back from the war he was so happy to be reunited with his beloved. She greeted him at the door with their young child in her arms. They were full of love and happiness.
That day they went to the market. While they were there, the dad was surprised because his young child would not call him “dad”. The child said, “You are not my dad. My dad comes home every night. He sits with mom on the bed and they cry together. Then when mom lies down they lie down together.”
In just that moment, the dad’s heart sank to his shoes. He was in disbelief. He did not talk to his wife.
They returned home from the market and he would not even look at her. They never spoke. He left home and drowned his sorrows at the bar.
And on the fourth day, overwhelmed with grief, his wife threw herself into the river.
When he heard the news he returned home that night. He lit a lamp in his child’s room. The child shouted out – “there, there is my dad!” and pointed to the shadow on the wall.
“Dad comes home every night. He sits with mom on the bed and they cry together. Then when mom lies down they lie down together.”
This illustrates the suffering that can come from failing to see mental formations and patterns for what they are: creations of the mind.
Thich Nhat Hanh claims that the Buddha said to ask yourself, “Are you sure of your perceptions?” He suggests you write it down on a card and post it somewhere where you see it every day.
As is often the case, I find it interesting that modern psychology aligns with this ancient contemplative practice.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness. (1) Many studies suggest CBT leads to improvement in functioning and quality of life – in many cases it is as effective as, or more effective than, other forms of therapy or psychiatric medications.
The first principle of CBT is psychological problems are based, at least in part, on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking that lead to learned patterns of unhelpful behavior. These biases and faults in our thinking are called cognitive distortions. So treatment usually consists of efforts to identify and reconcile cognitive distortions. Recall, thinking about your thinking as I shared at the outset. The key is learning to recognize one’s cognitive distortions, reevaluate them in light of reality, and reshape them as needed to move forward.
So it goes that if we can identify cognitive distortions, we are on our way to more happiness.
It turns out there are many universal cognitive distortions: common mental formations and patterns that cause you to perceive reality inaccurately. To that end I’ll present to you a brief “glossary of misery” – the most common cognitive distortions to look out for. This comes from David Burns, MD – a renowned expert on mental health treatment. (2)
Jumping to Conclusions – You assume something negative or positive without real evidence. This distortion comes in two common forms:
Mind-Reading: You assume you know what others are thinking or feeling.
Negative Example: You’re at a party feeling shy and think, “Everyone can tell how awkward I am. They’re judging me.”
Positive Example: You assume a relationship is going great, even though the other person is secretly frustrated or pulling away.
Fortune-Telling: You predict the future as if it’s guaranteed.
Negative Example: “I’ll bomb my presentation. I just know I’ll freeze up.”
Positive Example: “I’ll just have one drink or one cookie — I can stop there.” But your past behavior shows you usually don’t.
All-or-Nothing Thinking – You view situations in extreme, black-and-white categories. There’s no room for nuance or “gray areas.”
Negative Example: “I missed one deadline — I’m a total failure at my job.”
Positive Example: “I nailed that project — I’m unstoppable!” You may feel superior or inferior in ways that aren’t realistic or sustainable.
Overgeneralization – You draw sweeping conclusions based on a single event. One bad moment becomes a sign of an ongoing pattern.
Negative Example: “They didn’t text back — nobody ever likes me. I’m always getting ignored.”
Positive Example: You feel good for a few days and think, “I’m finally cured! I’ll feel this way forever.” You ignore the ups and downs of real life.
Labeling – Instead of describing behavior, you assign global, negative or positive labels to yourself or others.
Negative Example: “I gave into temptation — I’m a loser with no discipline.”
Positive Example: “I won that board game — I’m such a genius!” This may sound harmless, but it can lead to issues with egotism.
Emotional Reasoning – You treat your feelings as evidence for the truth. But feelings are often based on distorted thoughts, not reality.
Negative Example: “I feel hopeless — that must mean things really are hopeless.”
Positive Example: “I feel lucky — I just know I’m going to win big tonight at the casino.” Emotions drive your assessments instead of facts.
Should Statements – You push yourself or others with rigid expectations and rules. These “shoulds” often lead to guilt, resentment, or frustration.
Self-Directed Shoulds
Negative Example: “I should be more productive — what’s wrong with me?”
Positive Example: “I deserve a drink — I’ve had a hard day.” You justify indulgence as a reward, even if it backfires.
Other-Directed Shoulds:
Negative Example: “That guy shouldn’t cut me off in traffic! I’ll show him.”
Positive Example: “People should see things my way — I have the right values.”
World-Directed Shoulds:
Negative Example: “It shouldn’t be raining — this ruins everything.”
Positive Example: “The world should work how I expect it to.”
Discounting the Facts – You dismiss evidence that doesn’t support your belief, whether it’s good or bad.
Negative Example: You receive a compliment and think, “They’re just being nice — they don’t mean it.”
Positive Example: “I’ll only have one bite” — even though this story has never ended with just one bite.
Magnification and Minimization – You blow things out of proportion or shrink them down inappropriately.
Negative Example: Looking at your to-do list, you think, “This is impossible! I’ll never get it done.” Everything feels overwhelming.
Positive Example: When tempted to eat ice cream while dieting, you think, “This will taste amazing — totally worth it.” You minimize the guilt and discomfort that usually follow.
Mental Filter – You fixate on one aspect of reality, good or bad, and ignore the rest.
Negative Example: A speaker receives 99 compliments and one critique. They obsess over the single negative comment and ignore the good.
Positive Example: “This person I have a crush on is so perfect,” you overlook some potential problematic parts of the relationship.
Blame – You assign fault entirely to yourself or someone else, overlooking complexity.
Negative Example (Self-Blame): “It’s all my fault. I mess everything up.” You punish yourself instead of solving the problem.
Positive Example (Other-Blame): “This fight is all their fault — I did nothing wrong.” You feel like the victim and don’t take accountability for your part.
Use your metacognition to bring awareness to your mental formations and patterns, looking out for the common cognitive distortions. Can you notice any of them at play?
Practice this, and you may find more peace of mind and peace from mind.
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). What is cognitive behavioral therapy?
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