Black-and-White Thinking

Black-and-white thinking, also called dichotomous thinking or polarized thinking, is a cognitive distortion that someone views in extremes, either completely good or completely bad, with no room for nuance or middle ground. People who think in absolutes use words like always or never perfect, worst, and best. Dichotomous thinking is often  associated with anxiety, depression, and personality disorders, like borderline personality disorder. Example: “If I don’t get a perfect score on this test, I’m a complete failure.”