The Nature of Irrational Beliefs

Albert Ellis the father of cognitive-behavioral therapy and founder of Rational-emotive-behavior therapy (REBT) discovered that people’s beliefs strongly affected their emotional functioning. In particular certain irrational beliefs made people feel depressed, anxious or angry and led to self-defeating behaviors. Cognitive behavioral therapy is now the accepted intervention for people suffering from chronic pain condtions as well as other emotional problems. The word belief means a “ conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something” (Microsoft Bookshelf 2000). So a belief is a thought with an emotional component (conviction) and a factual component (truth, actuality or validity). Our beliefs can be either positive or negative. Having a negative belief is not necessarily a bad thing, however, when we believe in something that it is not actually true or valid, a negative belief tends to become an inappropriate, negative belief or Irrational Belief. Irrational beliefs are not friendly to happiness and contentment and are definitely unhelpful for getting your basic desires for love and approval, comfort and achievement or success met. The core or major irrational beliefs that tend to lead to disturbed emotions and self-defeating behaviors around your pain condition are listed below.

Core Irrational Beliefs

Demandingness – inflexible, dogmatic, extreme beliefs signaled by such words as should, must, have to, and need to. For example, ”I should not be in pain” or “I should be able to do what I used to do!’ This is not the kind of should as in "I should go to the store and get some milk." But rather a should with a capital “S”, a demand.

Core Irrational Beliefs:

Demand for Love and Approval from nearly everyone we find important, the
Demand for Success or Achievement in things we find important
Demand for Comfort or nearly no frustration or discomfort.
Awfulization - refers to 100% disasterizing beliefs signaled by such words as disaster, horrible or awful, and catastrophe. For example, “This pain is horrible!” or “It will be awful if I can’t do what I used to be able to do!”
Low Frustration Tolerance - beliefs signaled by such words as intolerable, can’t stand it, and too hard. For example, “I can’t stand this pain!” and “This pain is too hard to handle!”

Global-Rating - beliefs in which you condemn or blame your entire selfhood or someone else’s basic value in some important way. Global rating is signaled by such words as loser, worthless, useless, idiot, stupid. For example, “I’m useless because I can to do things that I used to do!" or “I’m worthless because I’m unemployed because of my pain!”

Albert Ellis thought we develop irrational beliefs in response to our preferential goals being blocked. He set this up in a ABCDE model (Ellis and Dryden, 1987). "A" stands for Activating Event or Adversity. This is an event inside or outside of you. It is just a fact. "B" refers to one's Irrational Belief about the eventat “A”. That belief then leads to "C" the emotional and behavioral Consequences. "D" stands for disputes or arguments against our irrational beliefs. E stands for New Effect or the new more effective emotions and behaviors that result from more reasonable thinking about the original event (Ellis and Dryden, 1987.) We will get to D and E in the next chapter. Now let's take this ABC model and apply it to the experience of pain.

A - ACTIVATING EVENT (any one event inside you or outside): I am in pain

B - IRRATIONAL BELIEF (iB) ABOUT THE ACTIVATING EVENT:

I can’t stand this pain (low frustration tolerance)

C - CONSEQUENCES (Inappropriate negative feeling and activity)

Inappropriate Negative feeling(s): angry, depressed

Self-defeating activity: yelled at my son and stayed in bed for 4 days