Defences & distortions

Reductionism

Reductionism, as a cognitive distortion, is the failure to see the complex web of causes behind an event, or the potential benefits that might still come from it, collapsing a genuinely complicated situation into a single simple cause and a single simple consequence.

Illustration

When her son does not achieve the grades needed for his first-choice university course, a mother immediately concludes that he 'will never be a success in life,' overlooking the many other paths open to him and the very real possibility that the setback might push him to work harder for his next opportunity.

References

• Casey, P. & Kelly, B. (2019). Fish's Clinical Psychopathology, 4th ed. Appendix II, 'Defences and Distortions'.