Becoming More Aware of Your Negative Thought Patterns

Now and then we may find ourselves thinking negatively about ourselves, our lives, our relationships, our jobs, or our circumstances. Our thoughts influence how we feel and how we act. For instance, if we start thinking that "I am not capable of accomplishing this goal", then you may start to believe it to be true which will cause you to feel disappointed and give up! Instead, teaching yourself to adopt a healthier thinking pattern such as, "It is a hard goal to accomplish AND I can do so with hard work and commitment" then instead of feeling defeated, you may feel encouraged and continue to persist through hardships faced! Bringing awareness to your negative thought patterns is the first step. Keep reading to learn more about the different kinds of negative thought patterns:

• All or Nothing - You may see things as black and white or right and wrong where everything is either one way or another and there is no in between (Example: "Everyone hates me" "I am always stupid")

• Personalization - You likely blame yourself or others for things that are not in your control (Example: "It's my fault we're not friends anymore" "It's the teachers fault I failed the test")

• Mind Reading - You assume that you know exactly what others are thinking or feeling. This may cause you to distort the truth since you don't actually know how people feel or think unless they tell you. No one can read people‘s minds. (Example: "He thinks I'm annoying" "He feels angry that I missed his birthday party")

• Should Statements - You may find yourself often thinking about what you should have done in a given situation. This kind of distorted think can lead you to be overly self-critical or view your life or your self negatively. (Example: "I should have became a teacher" "I should have studied more for the test")

• Overgeneralizing - You may apply your emotions or reactions from one incident to other situations, thinking the same thing will happen over and over again (Example: You interview for a job and didn't get an offer, you think you will never get a job ever again)

• Catastrophic - You assume the worst is to come in any and every situation (Example: You don't hear from your boyfriend in an hour, you may think "He's going to break up with me")

• Labeling: You identify yourself or others with a negative label (Example: "My co-worker is so lazy" "I am so ugly")

• Emotional Reasoning — You allow your feelings to control your thoughts by associating your current emotions to every other aspect of your life. (Example: You just lost your job and you believe your life is terrible from your friendships to your boyfriend to your body).

• Mental Filter - You only focus on the negative. (Example - Your friends tells you the lasagna you cooked is the best he ever had but he did not like your key lime pie and you focus only on on the criticism about the dessert and disregard the compliment about the dinner).

Now that you've learned a little about different kinds of distorted thought processes, ask yourself which ones you fall into daily? If you're not sure try keeping a journal of your thoughts, ask your friends what patterns they hear or notice when you share your feelings, or practice more mindfulness to become better aware of how you think! Next week's post will focus on how to challenge these negative thoughts to lead a healthier life so stay tuned!