Thinking Patterns & Cognitive Processes

Dissonant Thinking

When a person's behaviour and beliefs do not complement each other.

This causes you to feel helpless, overwhelmed and an infantile state and so toddler defence mechanisms kick in - projection, splitting, write a narrative to resolve it (reframing). You give up and say "it wasn't my fault".

The most famous form of dissonance is cognitive. Healthy people can't live with cognitive dissonance and resolve it. Narcissists have cognitive dissonance tolerance.

In normal people thinking self is the acting self. With dissonance we externalise the locus of control and say it's not my fault.

Language narcissists play with symbols and introjects and the languages that represent them. The language narcissist can't act on it, so they develop routines and habits that represent the fantasy.

Denial follows after trying to explain - you're misperceiving and my actions make sense, and are highly moral. Or my actions were needed to achieve a pretend high moral action or gain.

Paradoxical Motion

A stationary object is moving.

Dialectical Thinker

Dialectical thinking refers to the ability to view issues from multiple perspectives and to arrive at the most economical and reasonable reconciliation of seemingly contradictory information and postures.

Autistic Thinking

A form of thinking characterized by a focus on internal, subjective experiences rather than external reality. This mode of thinking is often seen in children or individuals with certain mental disorders, such as autism, where thoughts are disconnected from practical reality and may involve fantasy or self-centered ideas.

Hyper Reflexivity (Psychology)

Hyper reflexivity refers to an excessive self-focus or self-monitoring, where an individual becomes overly aware of their thoughts, feelings, and actions. This heightened self-awareness can lead to difficulties in social interactions and may contribute to anxiety, especially in those with conditions like schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Psychic Equivalence

The idea that your perception equivalent to reality. For example "they hurt me, they meant to hurt me". This is v.s. mentalisation: asking what's going on with that person? What's the range of reasons for they said, did, intended?

Reflective Function

Reflective function refers to the capacity to understand and interpret one's own and others' mental states, such as beliefs, desires, and emotions. It's closely related to the concept of mentalization and is crucial for healthy interpersonal relationships.

The 3 Non-Mentalizing Modes

Definition to be added