7 Mistakes You're Making with Your Mental Health (and How Therapy Can Fix Them)

You're probably sabotaging your mental health right now without even realizing it. Does that sound harsh? Maybe, but it's also incredibly common: and more importantly, completely fixable.

Most of us develop mental patterns that feel natural and protective but actually work against our wellbeing. These habits can keep us stuck in cycles of anxiety, depression, and relationship problems. The good news? Once you recognize these mistakes, therapy can help you break free from them.

Let's dive into the seven most common mental health mistakes people make and explore how working with a therapist can turn things around.

1. You're Treating Your Thoughts Like Facts

Here's something that might surprise you: just because you think something doesn't make it true. Your brain produces thousands of thoughts daily, and many of them are complete nonsense: catastrophic predictions, harsh self-criticisms, or wild assumptions about what others think of you.

When you think "I'm going to embarrass myself at this meeting" or "My friend is mad at me because they didn't text back immediately," you're treating mental events like world events. These thoughts feel real because they're happening in your head, but they're actually just interpretations, not facts.

How therapy fixes it: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) teaches you to become a detective of your own thinking. Your therapist will help you examine thoughts for evidence, challenge assumptions, and develop a healthy skepticism about your mental chatter. You'll learn to ask questions like "Is this thought helpful?" and "What evidence do I actually have for this?"

2. You're Believing That Intense Emotions Equal Important Truths

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by anxiety and assume it means you're in real danger? Or experience intense sadness and conclude that your life is falling apart? Strong emotions can feel so powerful that we mistake their intensity for accuracy.

But here's the thing: emotions aren't reliable truth-tellers. They're influenced by your past experiences, current stress levels, hormone fluctuations, how much sleep you got last night, and countless other factors. Just because something feels monumentally important doesn't mean it actually is.

How therapy fixes it: A therapist helps you develop what psychologists call "emotional regulation skills." You'll learn to observe your feelings without immediately acting on them or accepting them as gospel truth. This creates breathing room between what you feel and what you do, giving you the space to make more thoughtful choices.

3. You're Treating Discomfort Like an Emergency

Quick question: when you feel anxious, sad, or vulnerable, what's your first instinct? If you're like most people, it's to make the feeling stop as quickly as possible. You might distract yourself, avoid the situation causing discomfort, or try to think your way out of the feeling.

The problem is that emotional discomfort isn't actually dangerous: it's just unpleasant. When you constantly run from uncomfortable feelings, you miss important information they're trying to give you, and you never learn that you can handle difficult emotions.

How therapy fixes it: Therapists teach you something called "distress tolerance": the ability to sit with uncomfortable emotions long enough to understand them. You'll discover that feelings, even intense ones, are temporary and survivable. This skill alone can dramatically reduce your anxiety about having anxiety.

4. You're Stuck in Mental Traps (Cognitive Distortions)

Your brain has some predictable glitches that psychologists call cognitive distortions. These thinking patterns feel logical in the moment but actually distort reality in unhelpful ways.

Common distortions include:

• All-or-nothing thinking: Seeing situations as completely good or completely bad with no middle ground

• Overgeneralization: Taking one negative event and treating it as evidence of a never-ending pattern

• Mental filtering: Focusing exclusively on negatives while ignoring positives

• Mind reading: Assuming you know what others think about you (usually assuming the worst)

• Fortune telling: Predicting negative outcomes with absolute certainty

How therapy fixes it: CBT-trained therapists are experts at helping you spot these mental traps. You'll learn to identify your personal patterns and challenge them with evidence-based questions. Over time, your thinking becomes more balanced and realistic, which directly improves your mood and relationships.

5. You're Ignoring Your Basic Needs

When life gets stressful, what's the first thing to go? Probably your sleep schedule, exercise routine, social connections, or downtime. There's this cultural myth that pushing through and ignoring your needs shows strength and dedication.

Actually, it shows poor judgment. Neglecting your basic needs: adequate sleep, nutrition, movement, rest, and human connection: is like trying to drive a car with no gas. You might get a little further, but you're guaranteed to break down eventually.

How therapy fixes it: A good therapist helps you explore why you deprioritize self-care and work on building a stronger sense of self-worth. You'll learn that taking care of yourself isn't selfish: it's necessary for your ability to function and help others. Together, you'll create sustainable routines that support your mental health.

6. You're Fighting Your Own Thoughts

Here's a weird fact about brains: the more you try not to think about something, the more you think about it. Psychologists call this "ironic process theory," but you don't need fancy terms to understand it: just try not to think about a pink elephant for the next 30 seconds.

When you have anxious thoughts or painful memories, your natural instinct might be to push them away or distract yourself. Unfortunately, this usually backfires spectacularly. The thoughts become more persistent and distressing because you're in an active battle with your own mind.

How therapy fixes it: Modern therapeutic approaches like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) teach you to change your relationship with unwanted thoughts rather than trying to eliminate them. You'll learn to notice thoughts without struggling against them, which actually reduces their power over you. It's like learning to let storm clouds pass overhead instead of trying to fight the weather.

7. You're Misusing Mental Health Language

Pop culture has made mental health terms more mainstream, which has benefits: but also problems. Words like "trigger," "narcissist," "gaslighting," and "boundary" get thrown around casually, often incorrectly. This can actually prevent genuine self-reflection and meaningful conversations.

Using these terms loosely can become a way to avoid accountability or dismiss others without really understanding what's happening. For example, calling someone a "narcissist" might feel satisfying, but it doesn't help you understand the relationship dynamic or your role in it.

How therapy fixes it: A skilled therapist helps you develop accurate understanding of psychological concepts and apply them meaningfully to your specific situation. Instead of using mental health language as labels or weapons, you'll learn to use these concepts as tools for deeper self-awareness and better relationships.

The Bottom Line: You Don't Have to Figure This Out Alone

Recognizing these mistakes is the first step, but changing ingrained patterns takes time, patience, and often professional guidance. That's not a sign of weakness: it's just reality. These mental habits developed over years or decades; they're not going to disappear overnight because you read a blog post.

Working with a therapist gives you a skilled partner in this process. They can help you identify your specific patterns, develop personalized strategies, and provide support as you make changes. Plus, therapy offers something you can't get from self-help: an objective perspective from someone trained to recognize what you might be missing.

Ready to stop making these mistakes and start building better mental health habits? The team at Mad World Wellness is here to help you develop the skills and insights you need to create lasting change.

Your mental health deserves the same attention you'd give to any other important area of your life. The question isn't whether you need support( it's whether you're ready to...)