From the previous chapter, we already understand that our thoughts influence our emotions and bodily reactions.
Now, building on foundational concepts, we can move on to the entities we'll be working with directly.
We've spent a long time considering how to vividly present the hierarchy of human beliefs within CBT and decided that a tree would serve as the perfect illustration.
Imagine an apple tree in front of you. This represents your consciousness. At the top of this tree are fruits: some ripe and juicy, others rotten and worm-infested.
In this illustration, the fruits represent thoughts.
In CBT, such thoughts are termed "automatic" because they are numerous and fleeting, arising in our consciousness without effort.
They are so plentiful and fragmentary that we often don't even recognize their presence.
It's not events, but our opinions about them, that make us happy or unhappy.
Epictetus
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You're only seeing a portion of the content. In the app, you'll find numerous interactive articles. Additionally, there are psychological tests to track your mood dynamics, a daily planner, an automatic thought journal, and much more!
Let's conduct a thought experiment.
Imagine you're sitting in a movie theater, waiting for the film to start.
Suddenly, the woman sitting in the row in front of you jumps up and slaps her neighbor.
The situation is stressful and unexpected for you. Try to imagine what involuntary thoughts would surface and what emotions you would feel.
We don't know your life path and can't predict what you might think.
However, using the author's prerogative, let's introduce two characters - your neighbors.
To your left sits a woman in her 40s who has repeatedly encountered domestic violence in her past. Here's her reaction pattern:
Poor thing, she's probably going to have a hard time at home because of this.
Sadness, fear, despair.
Struggling to hold back tears.
To your right - a young man who has recently gone through a long and arduous divorce process.
What a witch! Couldn't she wait to get home before causing a scene in public!
Anger.
Fists clenched, blood pressure rose.
As you can see, the same event triggers completely different reactions in different people, shaped by their life experiences.
The initial, uncontrollable thoughts are precisely what we call automatic.
But why then do different people have different thoughts?
Does this mean that at the sight of any negative situation, we're doomed to fall into a cycle of thoughts and emotions that lead us into depression?
No!
While automatic thoughts arise in everyone, they don't necessarily become a cause for psychological issues for everyone.
The emergence of specific automatic thoughts is conditioned by deep-seated reasons.
Just as fruits on a tree don't hang in the void but are based on the trunk and roots, so automatic thoughts are based on intermediate and deep-seated beliefs.
