Year: 2000 Source: Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, v.30, no.2, (Summer 2000), p.140-144 SIEC No: 20000118

Cognitive therapists have described cognitive distortions that are frequently associated with depression. These distortions include arbitrary inference, selective abstraction, overgeneralization, magnification & minimization, personalization, & dichotomous thinking, which are often present in suicidal individuals. This article suggests that it is useful to conceptualize cognitive distortions in literary terms & uses poetry by Anne Sexton to identify salient examples. (20 refs.)