<negative thinking patterns


Introduction to Negative Thinking Patterns Obviously, the power of how we think affects our emotions, feelings, our relationships with others, and basically how happy we are in life. Our mental thoughts exert such a powerful influence in every aspect of our lives. The way we think can lead us to "talking ourselves into doing something" as well as "talking ourselves out of something! If you think about this (positively) you will realize and say " Yeah I've been there", "Yep I've done that". The way we think also leads us to certain emotions we feel as well as our behaviors. Our thoughts about the events and circumstances in our life often dictate how we feel and how we act. This article is aimed at helping you understand how your beliefs and negative thinking affects your behavior, emotions, your recovery, and general satisfaction with life. I hope you can gain some ideas or recognize some of the negative ways you think and how you reacted in the past from these negative thinking distortions. I hope this will give you some ideas on how to challenge and change this type of negative thinking into more positive thoughts and help you develop a more positive mental attitude. Black and White thinking (All or Nothing) This type of negative thinking refers to seeing things all one way or all the other way, with little room for any grey areas. An example could be "All Women or Men can't be trusted" or "All Support groups are boring". etc You can counteract this type of negative thinking distortion by identifying, while maybe the last relationship with a woman or man may have resulted in deceitful circumstances. This wouldn't identify that all women and men are not trustworthy. Also, that maybe the last support group meeting you were at was not your optimal experience but there are many other meetings available for you to try. Making things worse than they really are. This common type of negative thinking refers to the classic, making "mountains out of molehills" and turning little problems into big problems. This negative attitude allows us to focus on only the negative aspects of our circumstances and make judgement on the entire situation. You can counteract this type of negative thinking by looking at the "big picture" rather than just one or two aspects of it. For Example, Jane, a heroin addict has done quite well in her recovery program for the last ten months. Against her better judgement, she gave in to peer pressure to shoot dope and get high one night. Her initial response was that she completely failed and blew her recovery and that everyone will think ill of her. She didn't even consider her extensive 15 year drug addiction and that she was able to get back on the wagon from her relapse quickly. She made a mistake and was able to stop her relapse and she has to realize that using drugs once was not the same as completely blowing her recovery. Overgeneralizing Overgeneralizing is a type of negative thinking where we reach a general conclusion based on one single experience. For example, Dan's girlfriend ended their relationship unexpectantly, therefore he concluded " all women are unpredictable and will hurt you! You can counteract this type negative of thinking by remembering that a single bad experience is not sufficient evidence to justify a conclusion for all similar experiences. In Mike's case, he had to accept the fact that this rejection only meant this particular relationship had failed and remind himself that there are many other women which he could have a good relationship with and will not hurt him. Expecting the worst to happen With this type of negative thinking we ignore the possible positive outcomes of any situation and focus only on the negatives. Always looking at the "worst case scenario". For example, "I won't get this job I interviewed for", "I am not going to get the raise I asked for". This is mental thinking that we project into the future the results negatively. (all doom and gloom). You can counteract this negative thinking belief by checking yourself and asking "What proof do I have that the worst will happen?" Stay in the moment and don't project into the future. You spend so much time worrying about the worst and it may not ever happen, so you wasted all that time thinking negatively. Ignoring the positive With this type of negative thinking, we ignore or minimize our achievements, strengths, successes, or positive traits. We tend to focus only on the negative aspects of ourselves and our life. Even when there are very little or no negative aspects to a situation, we find a way to ignore the positive. For example, as part of Jane's ongoing recovery program, she decided to get into better physical shape and began a diet and exercise program. With hard work she lost 40lbs and regained 5lbs back over the holidays. Initially she was upset and depressed for gaining some weight back. She had to remind herself that she lost a lot of weight and worked very hard and a small weight gain was only a temporary setback. It could not take away the success she had with dieting and exercise in which she lost 40lbs. You can counteract this type of negative thinking by looking at all aspects of the situation. You can list daily, weekly, monthly your achievements, and successes. Identify your positive traits, things you do well and that are going well in your life. This is a good example where you can use affirmations which is a powerful way of positive self-talk and emotional connection. To Learn more abou affirmations and how to use them visit : http://www.healtheminds.com/affirmationempowerment.htm Emotional reasoning This type of thinking error happens when we assume that our negative feelings reflect the way things really are. For example, If you feel worthless, you must be worthless. Your feeling becomes part of your "personality". You feel guilty therefore you must have done something wrong. If you learn to separate such feelings from your personality or judgement of yourself, you can identify this negative thinking distortion and challenge it. For example, "I feel bad because I didn't do a great job on this project. I didn't put much effort into the project. This doesn't mean I'm a bad or inadequate person. I just blew this one project". Jumping to conclusions This is when we react too quickly before having the facts of situation, only to reach a negative or wrong conclusion. Its like "mind reading". This I think is a common negative thinking behavior we all do. For example, We assume someone is mad at us because they aren't their usual self, they are quiet and sullen. We assume "They are mad at us"! But really maybe they just had a bad day or heard some bad news. Getting all the facts and trying not to read others' minds or moods are ways to avoid this negative thinking attitude. Should or must statements This type negative of thinking involves rigid rules we set regarding our behavior and attitudes. They are expectations for ourselves that we typically fall short of accomplishing. They are usually unrealistic and set us up for disappointment and self-hate. For example, "I should always like AA or NA meetings," I shouldn't make mistakes," and I should always be happy," "I should be a better parent,"and "I should clean the house more often," "Things should be fair" etc. You must eliminate the "shoulds" for yourself and the "shoulds" you have for other people and the world around you. Challenge yourself when you use these terms. Ask yourself why you "should" or "shouldn't." Once you have eliminated the "should" or "shouldn't" thinking you will find you eliminate much of the anxiety that comes from them. Once you are aware of your negative thinking beliefs and errors in thinking, you are in a better position to take steps to challenge illogical and irrational beliefs or thoughts. Our beliefs and thoughts play a significant in our lives, they affect our emotions, behaviors, relationships, and our overall happiness in life. There are many ways we can practice challenging our negative thoughts and creating more positive ones. Practice those that make the most sense to you and that you know you can commit to. Here are some ideas below: Keep a written journal ( I was never good at this but I know from others who do it that its a great way to get your feelings out and identify your negative thoughts. You don't even have to keep it if you are one to worry about others reading it. Write it and Toss it!! (or shred)! Devise Practice cards. I know people who place them on their mirrors, in their car, in their pockets. Whatever works for you. Focus on your positive thoughts. (easy enough, ha ha) Write a list of accomplishments. This is a good one. We tend to not see the positives we accomplish in a day. Be proud of yourself. Compliment yourself. Another one that we don't do enough and can be very difficult in the beginning. But honestly we all have good traits, things we are good at. Remember effort and results both deserve praise. Don't be so hard on yourself. If you don't succeed in a given task remember you TRIED! Remind yourself of the benefits of recovery. (This is recovery of all types not just addiction but recovery from depression,anxiety,bipolar,panic, etc) Use humor. This is my personal favorite. Lighten up and don't take yourself so seriously all the time. Be able to laugh at yourself! Best advice from my Dad that I have ever got!!!! I truly hope this information has helped. I would love to hear from those of you who have tried any of the ideas. Good Luck and GOD Bless! Author: Krista Figular, RN Krista is a Registered Nurse who writes and publishes articles on Mental Health and Addiction related issues. For more information please visit Healthe-solutions A For Heathe-life
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Introduction to Negative Thinking Patterns

Obviously, the power of how we think affects our emotions, feelings, our relationships with others, and basically how happy we are in life. Our mental thoughts exert such a powerful influence in every aspect of our lives. The way we think can lead us to "talking ourselves into doing something" as well as "talking ourselves out of something! If you think about this (positively) you will realize and say " Yeah I've been there", "Yep I've done that". The way we think also leads us to certain emotions we feel as well as our behaviors. Our thoughts about the events and circumstances in our life often dictate how we feel and how we act.

This article is aimed at helping you understand how your beliefs and negative thinking affects your behavior, emotions, your recovery, and general satisfaction with life. I hope you can gain some ideas or recognize some of the negative ways you think and how you reacted in the past from these negative thinking distortions. I hope this will give you some ideas on how to challenge and change this type of negative thinking into more positive thoughts and help you develop a more positive mental attitude.

Black and White thinking (All or Nothing)

This type of negative thinking refers to seeing things all one way or all the other way, with little room for any grey areas. An example could be "All Women or Men can't be trusted" or "All Support groups are boring". etc

You can counteract this type of negative thinking distortion by identifying, while maybe the last relationship with a woman or man may have resulted in deceitful circumstances. This wouldn't identify that all women and men are not trustworthy. Also, that maybe the last support group meeting you were at was not your optimal experience but there are many other meetings available for you to try.

Making things worse than they really are.

This common type of negative thinking refers to the classic, making "mountains out of molehills" and turning little problems into big problems. This negative attitude allows us to focus on only the negative aspects of our circumstances and make judgement on the entire situation.

You can counteract this type of negative thinking by looking at the "big picture" rather than just one or two aspects of it. For Example, Jane, a heroin addict has done quite well in her recovery program for the last ten months. Against her better judgement, she gave in to peer pressure to shoot dope and get high one night. Her initial response was that she completely failed and blew her recovery and that everyone will think ill of her. She didn't even consider her extensive 15 year drug addiction and that she was able to get back on the wagon from her relapse quickly. She made a mistake and was able to stop her relapse and she has to realize that using drugs once was not the same as completely blowing her recovery.

Overgeneralizing

Overgeneralizing is a type of negative thinking where we reach a general conclusion based on one single experience. For example, Dan's girlfriend ended their relationship unexpectantly, therefore he concluded " all women are unpredictable and will hurt you!

You can counteract this type negative of thinking by remembering that a single bad experience is not sufficient evidence to justify a conclusion for all similar experiences. In Mike's case, he had to accept the fact that this rejection only meant this particular relationship had failed and remind himself that there are many other women which he could have a good relationship with and will not hurt him.

Expecting the worst to happen

With this type of negative thinking we ignore the possible positive outcomes of any situation and focus only on the negatives. Always looking at the "worst case scenario". For example, "I won't get this job I interviewed for", "I am not going to get the raise I asked for". This is mental thinking that we project into the future the results negatively. (all doom and gloom).

You can counteract this negative thinking belief by checking yourself and asking "What proof do I have that the worst will happen?" Stay in the moment and don't project into the future. You spend so much time worrying about the worst and it may not ever happen, so you wasted all that time thinking negatively.

Ignoring the positive

With this type of negative thinking, we ignore or minimize our achievements, strengths, successes, or positive traits. We tend to focus only on the negative aspects of ourselves and our life. Even when there are very little or no negative aspects to a situation, we find a way to ignore the positive. For example, as part of Jane's ongoing recovery program, she decided to get into better physical shape and began a diet and exercise program. With hard work she lost 40lbs and regained 5lbs back over the holidays. Initially she was upset and depressed for gaining some weight back. She had to remind herself that she lost a lot of weight and worked very hard and a small weight gain was only a temporary setback. It could not take away the success she had with dieting and exercise in which she lost 40lbs.

You can counteract this type of negative thinking by looking at all aspects of the situation. You can list daily, weekly, monthly your achievements, and successes. Identify your positive traits, things you do well and that are going well in your life. This is a good example where you can use affirmations which is a powerful way of positive self-talk and emotional connection. To Learn more abou affirmations and how to use them visit : http://www.healtheminds.com/affirmationempowerment.htm

Emotional reasoning

This type of thinking error happens when we assume that our negative feelings reflect the way things really are. For example, If you feel worthless, you must be worthless. Your feeling becomes part of your "personality". You feel guilty therefore you must have done something wrong.

If you learn to separate such feelings from your personality or judgement of yourself, you can identify this negative thinking distortion and challenge it. For example, "I feel bad because I didn't do a great job on this project. I didn't put much effort into the project. This doesn't mean I'm a bad or inadequate person. I just blew this one project".

Jumping to conclusions

This is when we react too quickly before having the facts of situation, only to reach a negative or wrong conclusion. Its like "mind reading". This I think is a common negative thinking behavior we all do. For example, We assume someone is mad at us because they aren't their usual self, they are quiet and sullen. We assume "They are mad at us"! But really maybe they just had a bad day or heard some bad news. Getting all the facts and trying not to read others' minds or moods are ways to avoid this negative thinking attitude.

Should or must statements

This type negative of thinking involves rigid rules we set regarding our behavior and attitudes. They are expectations for ourselves that we typically fall short of accomplishing. They are usually unrealistic and set us up for disappointment and self-hate. For example, "I should always like AA or NA meetings," I shouldn't make mistakes," and I should always be happy," "I should be a better parent,"and "I should clean the house more often," "Things should be fair" etc.

You must eliminate the "shoulds" for yourself and the "shoulds" you have for other people and the world around you. Challenge yourself when you use these terms. Ask yourself why you "should" or "shouldn't." Once you have eliminated the "should" or "shouldn't" thinking you will find you eliminate much of the anxiety that comes from them.

Once you are aware of your negative thinking beliefs and errors in thinking, you are in a better position to take steps to challenge illogical and irrational beliefs or thoughts.

Our beliefs and thoughts play a significant in our lives, they affect our emotions, behaviors, relationships, and our overall happiness in life. There are many ways we can practice challenging our negative thoughts and creating more positive ones. Practice those that make the most sense to you and that you know you can commit to. Here are some ideas below:

Keep a written journal ( I was never good at this but I know from others who do it that its a great way to get your feelings out and identify your negative thoughts. You don't even have to keep it if you are one to worry about others reading it. Write it and Toss it!! (or shred)!

Devise Practice cards. I know people who place them on their mirrors, in their car, in their pockets. Whatever works for you. Focus on your positive thoughts. (easy enough, ha ha)

Write a list of accomplishments. This is a good one. We tend to not see the positives we accomplish in a day. Be proud of yourself.

Compliment yourself. Another one that we don't do enough and can be very difficult in the beginning. But honestly we all have good traits, things we are good at. Remember effort and results both deserve praise. Don't be so hard on yourself. If you don't succeed in a given task remember you TRIED!

Remind yourself of the benefits of recovery. (This is recovery of all types not just addiction but recovery from depression,anxiety,bipolar,panic, etc)

Use humor. This is my personal favorite. Lighten up and don't take yourself so seriously all the time. Be able to laugh at yourself! Best advice from my Dad that I have ever got!!!!

I truly hope this information has helped. I would love to hear from those of you who have tried any of the ideas. Good Luck and GOD Bless!

Author: Krista Figular, RN

Krista is a Registered Nurse who writes and publishes articles on Mental Health and Addiction related issues. For more information please visit Healthe-solutions A For Heathe-life