Negative thoughts…you know those silent voices in our head that make our heart pound and cause worry and anxiety. Many of us us feel helplessly lost in our thoughts, especially the negative ones. Negative thoughts are undesirable and often scary and can minimize your ability to experience happiness. Negative thoughts can lead to frightening visions and scenarios that get stuck in your head and won’t go away. There are certainly things that we can do to combat these negative thoughts in our head.
The Harmful Effects Of Negative Thinking
When the mind is anxious, the rest of the body follows suit. Your heart is racing, you experience rapid breathing, your chest tightens and you may start to feel dizzy. Negative thoughts can cause stress, exhaustion, irritability, sleep deprivation, body aches, mood swings and difficulty concentrating.
Negative thinking usually begins with one little thought that triggers a combination of other negative thoughts that can start your emotions spiraling out of control. Negative thoughts can affect your eating and sleeping habits and how you interact with your family and friends. And often times our negative thoughts are caused by or mirror what is going on around us; political division, social unrest, unemployment, the devastating effects of COVID-19, and kids returning to school and college in the midst of a deadly pandemic.
What happens when negative thoughts are allowed to go unchecked?
Negative thinking can cause you to constantly worry. When you are in a chronic state of worry, your body stays in a fixed state of tension. Uncontrolled negative thinking has been associated with harmful binge behaviors such as over indulgence of food, drugs and alcohol. This cycle typically repeats itself and before you know it you may find yourself in a constant whirlpool of negative emotions and behaviors that impacts your mental and physical wellness thus affecting your overall self care.
How To Handle Negative Thoughts
•Stop and ask yourself, why am I thinking these thoughts. If your thoughts are fear based; try to replace fear with factual information.
•Assess the possibility of what you fear or what you are worried about actually happening.
•Ask yourself are these thoughts worth your time, energy and mental health.
•Distraction techniques have been shown to temporarily interrupt the loop of negative thinking. Use distraction techniques by doing something you need to do or enjoy doing; exercise, finish a project, paint a room, plant a garden, organize your space, rearrange your furniture.
•Prayer and Meditation: When you spend time in prayer and meditation, it is harder to be distracted by negative thinking.
•Practice taking control of your thoughts. When negative thoughts arrive counteract them with positive ones.
•Self Care: When you are taking good care of yourself by exercising, eating right and making time to do some of the things you enjoy; you are less likely to absorb the negativity happening around you and may have better control over your negative thoughts.
Final Thoughts
Every day is filled with opportunities to let negative thinking control your life and destroy your happiness. Taking control of your thoughts is a powerful part of self care and necessary if you want to live a happy life. If you are finding that your thoughts interfere with your ability to function at home, work, or in your personal relationships, please seek professional help. Do not allow any false stigma about seeking help get in your way. There is nothing wrong with seeking professional help. Making this decision could be very beneficial in helping you move forward in a positive way.
