Cognitive Reappraisal
đ§ Psych - 166/200
Hey Reader,
Did you get my email about The Brain Psych Podcast. I am awaiting your feedback :)
For today, letâs learn about Cognitive Reappraisal.
What is it?
Everyone experiences anxiety, sadness now and then. Negative emotions can signal that something is important, or that something needs to change.
Sometimes emotions become so intense, they overwhelm us. Sadness leads to depression. Anxiety becomes panic. Anger turns into aggression.
Cognitive reappraisal involves recognising the negative pattern your thoughts have fallen into, and changing that pattern to one that is more effective. [1]
Why do I need to know?
Consider the following reappraisals:
Oh no! If Iâm late to the party, everyone will be angry at me and no one will talk to me.
I have the birthday cake in the trunk. Now everyone at the party will have to wait for me before they can get started, and thatâs miserable.
These different ways of thinking about the situation will obviously elicit different emotional responses, although theyâre not really an improvement on the first response. Whatâs interesting about them is that all of them contain at least a kernel of truth. None of them is out-and-out irrational. Some of them may be a bit extreme, but not irrational. This is significant because it illustrates there usually isnât just one way of making sense of a situation. All are valid.
This means itâs possible to take an alternative perspective that is more effective in helping us feel more balanced.
Now consider the following reappraisals:
Iâm late again. I might as well enjoy the scenery while Iâm driving around. · People probably wonât care that much that Iâm late.
Iâm usually on-time. What a fluke!
These appraisals also contain a kernel of truth. They are not merely the âpower of positive thinking,â but reality-based ways of re-appraising the situation.
The next time you notice yourself getting in one of these emotion-thought feedback loops, consider a few cognitive reappraisals of the situation, and notice what happens to the volume of your emotions. [1]
References & Studies: -
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/cognitive-reappraisal
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5672560/#:~:text=Cognitive%20reappraisal%20is%20an%20antecedent,events%20(Gross%2C%201998a).
Listened to The Brain Psych Podcast yet?
Contribute to a small survey - Who are you reader?
Learn deeply about the Biases - The Psych Handbook
Explore more on Youtube - The Brain Psych
Find more on Instagram - @thebrainpsych
Maybe take a look at the NFTs - Curious Minds
Really want to dive deeper? - LearnPsychology.Co
Lastly, Looking for previous issues? Take a look at the Archives
The posts are really amazing vaibhav. You seems a proactive thinker and learner. i am also a fellow creator and my audience with love some one like you. could we do a written interview of things you grab from the internet.