Negative beliefs
True or False: Negative beliefs impact our mood
True:
it is important to become aware of them and ask how does it affect my life and what are the effects?
True or False: Automatic thoughts can be pleasant or neutral
True:
However, they tend to be negative more often
True or False: It helps to identify Negative thinking patterns
True
Use the list of Negative thinking patterns to see if any are distorting what you think.
True or False: Recovery happens in a straight line?
False: Recovery from mental health issues or stressful life transitions does not happen in a straight line. Understandably we hope that each day will be a bit better than the last but usually our mood is up and down. Gradually things improve but, we do experience setbacks along the way.
What is Worry time?
Worrying time helps stop most of the worry by saving it for a particular time. This can be easier than stopping worry altogether. Sometimes you have to think about your worries to decide what to do about them.
How do you challenge Negative beliefs?
Challenge the belief and counter it with a more realistic one “No one is perfect”, “I am a capable human being and I can rely on myself”.
What are 3 things are negative automatic thoughts center around?
1) ourselves
2) the world - General negativity about everything
3) the future
What does thought challenging examine?
The evidence for and against the negative thought causing distress
True or False: One feeling lasts forever
False: Everyone’s mood rises and falls throughout the day. We usually don’t pay attention, we might feel a bit more anxious or discourage, then it passes, we don’t worry about it.
What is Facing the Worst?
1)What’s the worst thing that could happen?
2)Could I survive that?
Facing the worst won’t help everything but, try it when you feel anxious, especially in situation you wish you could handle better. It helps us realize we are not in any real danger and when we remind ourselves of that out anxiety declines.
What are the two main ways our interpretations become distorted?
1) Basing the interpretation on faulty assumptions about ourselves, others, or life in general.
2) Interpreting situations in a biased way (paying more attention to negative aspects than positive ones).
What do we tend to overestimate?
The likelihood something bad will happen and how bad it will be
What is the next step after examining the evidence?
Consider alternative thoughts/explanations
Why is it important to meet mood setbacks with acceptance and activity?
Worrying, overinterpreting, and resisting our feelings tend to make the problem worse so instead try to accept the change in mood as a normal part of the recovery process, recognize it is not permanent, and continue with other activities you’ve planned, avoid giving in to the mood and becoming inactive, this can make us feel worse. Focus on tasks that bring you closer to your goals or on activities that you normally enjoy!
How does the strategy of simple awareness impact our thinking and mood?
Increasing awareness of our most common negative thought patterns can help us examine our thoughts for errors, mistaken assumptions, and biases.
When we use the strategy of noticing shifts in our mood and asking ourselves What was going through my mind just then? We look at our thought pattern and if it is distorted our reasoning begins to fall apart on its own. It becomes hard to believe in the negative thinking and then the negative emotions begin to fade as well.
How do revised beliefs become automatic?
Repetition, Repeat your revised (realistic) belief over and over to yourself so it becomes automatic. Especially in situations the negative belief has a large influence.
What do we tend to underestimate?
Our ability to cope
Why do we replace negative automatic thoughts with more realistic ones?
Our thoughts, feelings, and actions all influence each other. Negative automatic thoughts can lead to unhelpful feelings and actions. It helps us look at a situation from a different perspective.
How does goal setting impact our mood?
Mood problems rob us of energy and enthusiasm. Often we don’t feel like doing anything. In order to get our energy and motivation back, we need to set realistic expectations for ourselves and set easy step-by-step goals. Succeeding in these small goals builds our motivation and interest and our enthusiasm begins to come back.
What is "Worry to the End"?
Sometimes when we worry we play out a mental movie of the terrible event right up to the worst possible moment, then we start again. The worst possible moment is like a brick wall, the end of the story. The anxiety gets stronger partly because we fear hitting that brick wall. There is nothing beyond that. What happens if we keep going? Move past the worst possible moment and think about what comes next. The stressful event isn’t the end of the story, life continues. Think realistically about what would come next, some of it might be negative. Even if the feared event happens, there are things we can do to cope. By facing the negative thought it becomes less powerful. Thoughts are just thoughts, just an image, images cannot hurt us
What are our interpretations based on?
Our interpretations are based on the situation (what’s happening in the moment) and our understanding of the world based on our background and history (What’s happened in the past/our experiences).
What are some Negative Thinking Patterns?
•All-or-Nothing •Catastrophizing •Magnification & Minimization •Overgeneralization •Disqualifying the positive •Mind Reading •The Fortune-Teller Error •Emotional Reasoning •Labeling •Should Statements
What is the distancing technique?
Talk to yourself as you would a friend. Talk to yourself out loud in front of a mirror –The results are worth it!
What actions can we do to take us in a positive direction?
Exercise, social connection, or working towards a goal.
When we are experiencing mood setbacks it is best to leave the past alone.
What is "Worry Inflation"?
Exaggerate fears to become ridiculous, eventually they will shrink back down to realistic proportions.
Our fears often seem to WANT to get bigger, with worry inflation we don’t tell ourselves the truth we do the opposite. We make our problems as big as possible because if you exaggerate many fears they eventually become ridiculous. You can’t really believe things will get that bad and the problem shrinks back down to realistic proportions. The anxiety may get stronger at first but, keep exaggerating. They will eventually become ridiculous. Your belief in the worry declines and you begin to feel less anxious.