We all know that feeling: when the whole world is against us and everything is going wrong. It's easy to get caught up in negative thinking patterns, but it's important to break the cycle. In this blog post, we'll explore some of the most common negative thought patterns and how to break them.
Habits that Lead to Cognitive Distortion :
It’s good to be thorough when making important choices, but if you can’t decide where to go for lunch because you’re wracked by insecurity and doubt, you’re engaging in a harmful thought pattern. Overthinking involves looking at your role in every decision from every possible angle and trying to model every potential outcome in your mind. This can be exhausting at best and devastating if your carefully considered predictions turn out to be completely wrong. Avoid overthinking by imposing limits on it. Give yourself deadlines for making choices and stick to them. You can also try yoga
Habits that Lead to Cognitive Distortion
It's good to be thorough when making important choices, but if you can't decide where to go for lunch because you're wracked by insecurity and doubt, you're engaging in a harmful thought pattern. Overthinking involves looking at your role in every decision from every possible angle and trying to model every potential outcome in your mind. This can be exhausting at best and devastating if your carefully considered predictions turn out to be completely wrong. Avoid overthinking by imposing limits on it. Give yourself deadlines for making choices and stick to them. You can also try yoga.
Rumination:
Self-reflection and self-awareness can be beautiful things, but if your thought process is distorted by negativity and depression, they can be devastating. Do you find yourself dwelling on flaws and mistakes instead of ways to improve things? Negative rumination is itself a cyclical pattern that projects your flaws onto your vision of the future, making you believe that your life will only get worse. Break the cycle by doing something else when you first notice yourself fixating on negative thoughts. Don’t allow yourself to be alone with your thoughts. Read a book, watch a movie, work on a hobby, or visit with a friend (but don’t simply use them as a convenient outlet for the negative thoughts in your own head). Avoid food and alcohol as diversions. Overeating and intoxication can worsen the situation.
Humans tend to focus on the negative aspects of existence for a variety of reasons. Our culture and media often glorify struggle and conflict. Our evolutionary makeup is based on a need to fight and survive. Even modern human history is in many ways a tale of violence and terror. It is no wonder we can be so fixated on the negative things around us.
One particularly destructive form of negative thinking is rumination. This is when you dwell on your flaws and mistakes, instead of ways to improve things. Negative rumination is itself a cyclical pattern that projects your flaws onto your vision of the future, making you believe that your life will only get worse.
Break the cycle by doing something else when you first notice yourself fixating on negative thoughts. Don’t allow yourself to be alone with your thoughts. Read a book, watch a movie, work on a hobby, or visit with a friend (but don’t simply use them as a convenient outlet for the negative thoughts in your own head). Avoid food and alcohol as diversions. Overeating and intoxication can worsen the situation.
By taking these steps, you can start to break the cycle of rumination and negativity, and improve your outlook on life.
Cynical hostility:
is a type of thought pattern that involves directing anger, mistrust, judgment, or disdain at other people. These feelings may be borne of insecurity, projection, or past baggage. This type of thinking makes it hard to maintain a support system because you see people as inherently dangerous, evil, or untrustworthy. Studies have linked this sort of hostile demeanor to heart disease and increased blood pressure. Combat cynical hostility with empathy. Instead of defaulting to distrust, try to see a situation from every possible perspective. Find ways to re-frame situations as cooperative rather than competitive.
Cynical hostility is a type of thought pattern that involves directing anger, mistrust, judgment, or disdain at other people. These feelings may be borne of insecurity, projection, or past baggage. This type of thinking makes it hard to maintain a support system because you see people as inherently dangerous, evil, or untrustworthy. Studies have linked this sort of hostile demeanor to heart disease and increased blood pressure.
Combat cynical hostility with empathy. Instead of defaulting to distrust, try to see a situation from every possible perspective. Find ways to re-frame situations as cooperative rather than competitive. Try not to take things and remember that everyone is just doing the best they can with what they have. When you find yourself feeling cynical or hostile, take a step back and breathe. Try to remember that most people are good, and that we're all in this together.