You bump into a chair and apologize to it. A colleague interrupts you mid-sentence and you say sorry for speaking. Someone cancels plans on you and you find yourself apologizing for their inconvenience. If any of this sounds familiar, you are not alone — and you are probably not just being polite. Over-apologizing is one of the most common behavioral patterns that therapists encounter, particularly among people dealing with anxiety.

You just got promoted. Your colleagues are congratulating you, your boss is singing your praises, and everything on paper says you’ve made it. So why does a nagging little voice in your head keep whispering, “They’re going to figure out you have no idea what you’re doing”?

Anxiety is not just worry. For millions of people, it is an all-consuming mental loop that distorts reality, amplifies threats, and makes everyday situations feel genuinely dangerous. At the heart of this experience are cognitive distortions — automatic, irrational thought patterns that quietly shape how we interpret the world around us.

The good news is that these thought patterns can be identified, challenged, and changed. Anxiety therapy — particularly Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) — gives people the tools to do exactly that. In this article, we explore the most common cognitive distortions that fuel anxiety, and how working with a therapist can help you break free from them for good.