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Irrational Thought Patterns? Use the “ABC” Technique

Imagine you are invited to a friend’s house, and upon entering, you see a group of people laughing out loud. You can react to this situation in a couple of ways. You might think something is wrong with your appearance, making you feel that people are laughing at you. Alternatively, you might interpret their laughter as a sign that they are having a good time and you feel ready to join in the fun. This situation can evoke two responses: one makes you feel embarrassed, while the other makes you happy. So, what causes people to experience various emotions in the same situation? It’s all about how you interpret the scenario. Your beliefs influence your interpretation, which is the “B” in the “ABC” framework we will explore next.

Albert Ellis (1962), the founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), introduced the “ABC” framework as a cognitive model for depression.

“A” represents an activating event to which an individual responds. This can include current or past events, thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and memories related to these events.

“B” stands for an individual's beliefs or thoughts about an activating event. We experience countless beliefs about events that arise automatically and without effort. Often, we do not question the validity of these beliefs, and we may not even recognize them since they are less evident than the emotions these thoughts evoke. Consequently, these thoughts are commonly referred to as “automatic thoughts.” In the context of depression, these beliefs or automatic thoughts can become irrational or distorted, leading to patterns such as all-or-nothing thinking, jumping to conclusions, misinterpreting situations, disqualifying positive experiences, overgeneralizing, exaggerating problems, negative self-labeling, and taking things personally. A frequent irrational thought pattern found in anxiety is catastrophizing, where an individual predicts the worst-case scenario for a future event while ignoring all contrary evidence. Sometimes, these irrational beliefs or thoughts can manifest as visual images.

“C” represents the Consequences (emotional and behavioral) of holding on to the belief “B.” In depression, the emotional consequences are inappropriate negative consequences because they lead to one or more of the following three (Dryden & DiGiuseppe, 1990):

  • Psychic pain and discomfort.
  • Self-defeating behavior.
  • Interfere with behaviors necessary for reaching one’s goals.
Rational beliefs and thoughts lead to appropriate emotional and behavioral responses. For example, when faced with a threat or danger, a rational belief like, “Although this looks bad, I have dealt with this before and can handle it again,” can result in a reasonable emotional response of concern. On the other hand, if your beliefs are irrational or distorted, such as catastrophizing (“This is horrible, and I can’t take it anymore”), the emotional consequence may be inappropriate, resulting in feelings of panic or anxiety.

The "ABC" framework is based on the idea that you can replace inappropriate emotions (C) with appropriate ones by identifying, challenging, and replacing your irrational beliefs (B) with rational beliefs. This is the essence of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a widely recognized form of psychotherapy for depression (American Psychiatric Association, 2010).

Identifying your irrational thoughts, referred to as (B), requires practice. You may overlook these thoughts as they appear spontaneously in your mind and seem reasonable, which causes you not to question their validity. However, you can easily recognize the emotional consequences of these irrational thoughts, labeled (C). One effective way to uncover the irrational thoughts responsible for these emotions is to pay attention to any sudden changes or intensifications in your mood. Once you notice a shift in your mood, try to identify the situation (A) that triggered it. Then, ask yourself, "What was I thinking about situation A that made me feel emotion C?" The answer to this question will lead you to the irrational thought (B).

Let’s use an example to illustrate this concept. You start feeling frustrated for no apparent reason. Upon reflection, you recognize that the trigger for this mood change was a phone call from your friend asking you to watch his children while he and his wife attend a social event. Your friend has made this request before, and, as you did on those occasions, you agreed to watch his children again. To uncover the underlying irrational thoughts, you might ask yourself, “What was I telling myself about this situation?” Upon deeper reflection, you realize that you felt you were not being assertive. Your automatic thought was, “I can never say no to anyone, and that is why people always take advantage of me.” After identifying this automatic thought, you can compare it with a list of irrational thinking patterns discussed previously to see if it fits one or more of those patterns. In this example, the automatic thought aligns with all-or-nothing thinking.

It’s common to confuse emotions with thoughts. For example, when asked to discuss automatic thoughts, someone might say, “I was feeling angry at myself.” This statement expresses an emotion rather than a thought. It’s important to distinguish between feelings (emotions) and thoughts, mainly when working to change your thoughts. Here are some practical tips for identifying irrational thoughts (Duggal, 2016):

1. Ask the right questions when you notice your mood taking a negative shift:
  • What is going through my mind?
  • What did this situation mean to me?
  • What judgments or assumptions am I making about other people?
  • What conclusions am I drawing from this situation?
  • What do I think this means for my future?
  • If my emotions (sadness, guilt, anger, etc.) could speak, what would they say?
2. Try not to avoid your emotions. It will be challenging to uncover irrational thoughts if you do.

3. If you are having trouble identifying irrational thoughts, imagine that you are reliving the situation and asking yourself the above questions.

4. Ensure you are not confusing emotional states with thoughts, as described before.

5. Sometimes, irrational thoughts may occur as images in your mind. You can translate them into thoughts by asking, “If these images could talk, what would they say about me (or others or my future)?”

6. Write your irrational thoughts down. Writing your thoughts down provides more clarity on what you were thinking. It also slows you down enough to be able to focus on these thoughts instead of letting them spin out of control inside your head. Writing allows you to observe your thoughts from a distance, thus giving you a third-person perspective on the impact of your thoughts on your emotions.

After identifying your beliefs and the activating event, create a three-column worksheet, as shown in below.

              “ABC” Worksheet to Record Irrational Thoughts or Beliefs.

A: Activating event

B: Beliefs

C: Consequences (emotional)

I said hello to my neighbor, pacing on the sidewalk, but he didn’t respond.

1. He intentionally ignored me and didn’t want to talk to me.

2. He lacks the basic courtesies.

Sad and angry.

(The first belief led to feeling sad, and the second belief led to feeling angry).

 

Using the “ABC” worksheet to identify your irrational thoughts, start with column “C.” This column reflects changes in your mood, which can be a clear signal that you may have processed an irrational thought. Next, think back to the situation that occurred before the emotional change and enter that information in column “A.” After that, ask yourself the previously mentioned questions to uncover your irrational thoughts and complete column “B.” Notice how the same situation can trigger two different beliefs, leading to distinct emotional responses.

When you practice identifying your irrational thoughts, pay attention to "hot thoughts" that may trigger changes in your mood. Some researchers suggest setting aside 15 minutes each day for two weeks to write down these irrational thoughts along with their rational alternatives. Assessing the impact of this exercise on your depression can help foster a healthier self-image (Burns, 1999).

Visit Dr. Duggal’s Author Page to explore effective self-management strategies for enhancing mental health and well-being.

HARPREET S. DUGGAL, MD, FAPA

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association (2010). Practice guidelines for the treatment of patients with major depressive disorder (3rd ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.

Burns, D. D. (1999). Feeling good: The new mood therapy. New York, NY: Avon Books.

Dryden, W., & DiGiuseppe, R. (1990). A primer on rational emotive therapy. Champaign, IL: Research Press.

Duggal, H. S. (2016). The complete guide to self-management of depression. Bloomington, IN: Archway Publishing.

Ellis, A. (1962). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy. Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart.



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