How Black-and-White Thinking Increases Health Anxiety

Source: Pexels/Gabowska

We all experience a continuous flow of fleeting, evaluative thoughts or images throughout the day. These are called automatic thoughts, and they tend not to be deliberate but to emerge spontaneously. Our minds are flooded with these thoughts constantly; we might have thousands in a given day:

• "Why is this lady talking so loud?"
• "I love this song."
• "I need to wash my car."

These thoughts pass through our minds quickly, often without our awareness. When we are aware of them, we tend to . . .