By Aditi Venkatesh, M.S.

Most of us have negative, irrational thoughts from time to time. If we assume that these thoughts are logical or true, they can shape how we see the world, how we feel, and even how we behave. In my own clinical work, I see how easy it is for patients I work with to fall into these mental loops without even realizing it. Such thoughts are normal occasionally; however, they can become harmful when they are more frequent or are higher in intensity. Clinically, we call these thoughts cognitive distortions, but I prefer to think of them simply as “thinking traps.”

From an evolutionary perspective, these thinking traps are not personal flaws but adaptive survival mechanisms that have gone into overdrive. In high-stakes environments, being hypervigilant and preparing for worst-case scenarios can be helpful in surviving. However, when these survival-based thinking traps are present in daily life, they can become rigid patterns, potentially misinterpreting low-stress situations as high-stress or threatening situations.

For active-duty service members and veterans, navigating unique occupational stressors, unpredictable schedules, and transitions can increase levels of stress. Studies consistently show that elevated stress and anxiety go hand-in-hand with an increase in thinking traps, and it works both ways. This is critical to keep in mind, especially given that over 10% of active-duty service members and 20% of veterans navigate mental health challenges.

Therefore, identifying these thinking traps and learning how to manage them are some of the most important tools we have for protecting our patient’s and our own overall mental well-being.

Spotting Common Thinking Traps in Everyday Life: The Beck Institute identifies several thinking traps that tend to surface when running on low battery or high stress. Here are few of the thinking traps I see most often:

• All-or-nothing thinking: Viewing situations in black-and-white terms without any gray. (Example: “If I don’t execute this task perfectly, all of it is a complete failure.”)
• Catastrophizing: Predicting the worst possible outcome without considering realistic probabilities. (Example: “If I make a mistake during my presentation, my leaders and peers will lose all respect for me.”)
• Disqualifying or discounting the positive: Rejecting positive experiences or successes. (Example: “I excelled on my evaluation, but it was just luck.”)
• Mind reading: Believing you know what others are thinking without any evidence. (Example: “My commander didn’t say hello to me as we passed by each other, so he’s certainly angry with me.”)
• ‘Should’ and ‘must’ statements: Operating with rigid rules for how you, others, or the world must be. (Example: “I should be able to handle all this stress without feeling exhausted.”)

When these thinking traps go unchecked, we can easily get stuck in negative feedback loops that drive up anxiety, stress, burnout, and depression.

Using CBT Techniques to Take Back Control: In cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), a modality of therapy developed by Dr. Aaron Beck and expanded by Dr. Judith Beck, our goal isn’t forced optimism or toxic positivity. Instead, we focus on training your brain to test automatic thoughts against reality. CBT is a structured, evidence-based framework that focuses not only on positive thinking, but three core steps: identifying, challenging, and restructuring cognitive distortions.

What this Looks Like when Working with Military Patients: Working with active-duty service members and veterans requires adapting standard CBT techniques to respect and incorporate military culture. Rather than framing a patient’s thoughts as simply “irrational,” I find it far more effective to start by validating that tools, such as catastrophizing, served a vital tactical purpose in operational environments. Following this validation with socratic questioning allows us to collaboratively evaluate whether those same thoughts are still serving them well in daily life as a military service member, veteran, or civilian. By challenging the thought and testing the evidence for their thinking traps, we can frame cognitive restructuring as a practical skill to improve their mental and physical well-being. I’ve seen this to be a way to help military patients manage their unhelpful thinking patterns without undermining their military experiences.

Ultimately, learning to identify and restructure thinking traps is about restoring control and overall mental well-being. For military service members, veterans, and those of us who support them, mastering these cognitive techniques can provide a sustainable and effective way to manage the irrational, automatic thoughts experienced.

Which of these thinking traps do you see yourself, or the military patients you work with, making the most?

The opinions in CDP Staff Perspective blogs are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Science or the Department of War.

Aditi Venkatesh, M.S., is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Medical and Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program and a graduate research assistant with the Consortium for Defense Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Currently, her research focuses on eating- and weight-related concerns in United States military veterans, with a long-term focus on combined research and clinical work in military and veteran behavioral health. 

References 
Beck, J. S. (2020). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond. Guilford Publications. 
Division, A. F. H. S. (2026). Diagnoses of mental health disorders among US active component service members, 2020-2024. MSMR, 32(12), 25-35. 
Kline, A. C., Panza, K. E., Nichter, B., Tsai, J., Harpaz-Rotem, I., Norman, S. B., & Pietrzak, R. H. (2022). Mental health care use among US military veterans: Results from the 2019–2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study. Psychiatric services, 73(6), 628-635.
Mercan, N., Bulut, M., & Yüksel, Ç. (2023). Investigation of the relatedness of cognitive distortions with emotional expression, anxiety, and depression. Current Psychology, 42(3), 2176-2185. 
Shi, Y., Zhang, Y., & Lei, L. (2026). Unmasking mental distress: exploring the spectrum of cognitive distortions associated with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. Cognitive processing, 27(1), 227-238.
Shickel, B., Siegel, S., Heesacker, M., Benton, S., & Rashidi, P. (2020, October). Automatic detection and classification of cognitive distortions in mental health text. In 2020 IEEE 20th International Conference on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering (BIBE) (pp. 275-280). IEEE.