10 Reasons Safe Spaces Suck

The media tells you that safe spaces are the best thing since sliced bread. With the use of such things as trigger warnings (alerts that professors are expected to issue if something in a course might cause a strong emotional response) and microaggressions (small actions or word choices that seem on their face to have no malicious intent but that are thought of as a kind of violence nonetheless) in safe spaces, college students are protected from any distress. Due to safe spaces lack of negativity, students rarely encounter adverse experiences thus producing individuals lacking practice in accurately analyzing unfavorable moments. So, when faced with a not so great situation many of these students struggle and consequentially develop a range of altered perceptions regarding this negativity. The perceptions they create are called mental distortions and will be explained as the ten reasons safe spaces suck. Definitions of mental distortions and ideas for this post come from The Coddling of the American Mind.

1. Point the Finger

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My girlfriend is the reason I have no free time. My mom is the reason I am always stressed. My teacher is the reason I don’t learn anything. Have you ever thought that you were actually part of the problem? If not you are a blamer.

2. The Heart Leads the Way

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I’m depressed, therefore I’m gonna fail this class. I’m scared of kidnappers, therefore I’ll never leave my dorm room. I think Donald Trump is a disgusting president, therefore there is no reason to be proud to be American. Do your emotions control the way you think? If so you suffer from emotional reasoning.

3. I Know the Future

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I’m going to fail this exam. I’ll never find love. They are going to pick someone else for the job. Do you feel like you will never succeed at anything? Does this cause you to not put your best foot forward? If so you most likely suffer from the cognitive distortion of fortune telling.

4. Wait This Problem Isn't Insignificant

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If I don’t have a nice car then I can’t be cool. If I don’t smoke then they won’t like me. If my sports team doesn’t win then my week will be terrible. If I fail this test then I am a failure. Do you ever think this way? Do you turn insignificant events into personal problems you believe are WAY more serious than they actually are? If so you magnify situations to the extremes.

5. Judging a Book Based on the Cover

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I’m ugly. He’s a football player so he is a jerk. She is a horrible person because she doesn’t volunteer regularly. I’ll never be good enough for anyone. Once you determine an opinion of something can your mind be changed? If not you are a labeler.

6. One Thing Goes Wrong Everything Goes Wrong

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When I fail this test I won’t have a reason to live. If she doesn’t think I am a cleanly person than I will never find love. If my professor has an opposing opinion to me then I am guaranteed to fail. If they don’t like my music I will never be successful. Can you only think of the worst possible outcomes in everyday situations? Do these thought processes make it difficult to carry out an average day? If so you catastrophize situations.

7. Compliment... Never Heard of it

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So many people think I am a weirdo. Everyone thinks I am a terrible basketball player. All girls think I’m ugly. When I walk into a room everyone just knows I’m the dumbest person there. Do you allow your beliefs of how you assume people to view you affect the way you live? Does everyone have a negative opinion on you? If so you may suffer from the cognitive distortion of negative filtering.

8. I Know What You Think

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Similar to negative filtering. She would never find me attractive because I’m short. That club would never accept me because of the way I dress. My professor hates me because I missed the class on the first day. Do you look too far into the thoughts of other therefore only believe they see the worst in you? They probably don’t think these things at all but because you believe they do it affects your behavior. (Mind Reading)

9. One Shortcoming So I May as Well Give Up

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I missed that shot, I’ll never be a good basketball player. I crashed my car within the first week of getting my license, I will always be a threat to the safety of others. I failed the first exam of college, I might as well just drop out. Do you believe that the outcome of one event will determine the outcomes of every subsequent event? You suffer from overgeneralizing.

10. What if? What if?

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Yeah, I might have aced that test but, what if I fail all the other ones. I have perfect attendance in my first semester of college but what if I get sick next semester. Sure I got into that party but what if they secretly hated having me there and I never get invited back. Do you worry about situations that are unlikely of actually happening? You suffer from the distortion of “what if?”

11. You Are About to Take a Quiz to Determine if You May Have a Mental Distortion. For Accurate Results Choose the Answer that Most Closely Describes Your Thoughts on the Different Situations.

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