Spot the Trap

Thinking traps are patterns the mind falls into when it's stressed — shortcuts that feel true but bend the facts. Everyone has them. Naming the trap doesn't make you wrong or weak; it just loosens its grip enough to look again.

The thought

Write the thought, word for word

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Which trap (or traps) is it using?

Tick any that fit. A thought can use more than one.

• [ ] All-or-nothing — total success or total failure, no in-between
• [ ] Catastrophizing — jumping straight to the worst case
• [ ] Mind-reading — assuming I know what others are thinking
• [ ] Fortune-telling — predicting it'll go badly as if it's certain
• [ ] Mental filter — only noticing the negatives
• [ ] Discounting the positive — 'the good stuff doesn't count'
• [ ] Emotional reasoning — 'I feel it, so it must be true'
• [ ] Labeling — one event becomes a global label ('I'm a failure')
• [ ] Personalising — making it all about me, or all my fault
• [ ] 'Should' statements — rigid rules about how things must be
• [ ] Overgeneralizing — one time becomes 'always' or 'never'

Rewrite it

A fairer, more accurate version of the thought

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Catch, don't scold: Spotting a trap is information, not a reason to beat yourself up. 'There's catastrophizing again' is kinder — and more useful — than 'I'm doing it wrong.'

Sometimes it isn't a trap: Not every hard thought is distorted. If the thought is an accurate read of a real barrier, it's a signal, not a trap — the 'Distortion or Real Signal?' worksheet helps you tell the difference.

Go deeper

Ready for more? These lessons pick up where this worksheet leaves off.

• Perseveration, Rumination, and Thought Loops, from The Neurodivergent Brain. Why the neurodivergent mind gets stuck — monotropism, why 'just stop' fails, perseveration vs OCD, and exits that work.
• Therapy, Coaching, and Skills That Actually Help, from The Adult ADHD Course. Why willpower fails and scaffolding works: skills that fit the ADHD brain, coaching, and self-compassion.
• Anxiety and Intolerance of Uncertainty, from The Neurodivergent Brain. Why anxiety is so common in autism, ADHD & AuDHD — intolerance of uncertainty, the loops that keep it going, and tools that help.