During a stressful situation we rightfully feel anxious, confused, and maybe even depressed; these feelings are normal and it is okay to allow yourself to feel whatever feelings come your way. But sometimes those feelings overtake us and we get stuck in a spiral of depressive feelings and anxious thoughts, especially when our wellbeing is at risk. Feelings and thoughts lead to behaviors and if we’re stuck in a negative spiral those behaviors can be destructive. 

Disclaimer: Blogs are a great place to get helpful information but they should never replace mental healthcare and this blog is no exception. These blog posts do not replace mental heath care and are not medical advice.

Here are 3 quick tips to help you stop negative thoughts before they derail and impact our behaviors.

Ask yourself if the thought is true.

I recently heard someone say, “my family doesn’t care about me,” this thought led to this person crying and wanting to self-isolate. When they challenged that thought they were able to remember all of the ways their family recently showed that they care.

Take the untrue thought and ask yourself what you can say instead that is more truthful.

In the above example, this person could have said, “right now it feels like no one understands what I’m going through and it makes me feel alone.” This statement was what this person actually meant. So think about the negative thought and what you actually mean when you say it, say what you actually mean and feel instead.

Keep an open mind.

Negative thoughts are often self-defeating and can make us feel like we’re closing the case, so to speak. “My family doesn’t care about me,” “I’ll never understand this,” “I’m never going to make new friends,” are closing statements that close us off and make us shut-down. Instead, keep your mind open by immediately asking yourself, “what if the opposite is true?” or “what are the facts?” For example, is it actually a fact that you can prove that your family doesn’t care about you, or that you’ll never understand this, or that you’ll never make friends? Most of these negative thoughts are thoughts that attempt to tell us what the future holds or what other people are thinking but we really don’t know what the future holds or what others are thinking unless they tell us.

What other ways do you stop negative thoughts in their tracks? What has worked and what hasn’t worked for you? Let me know via instagram!

If you feel like you need a therapy consultation for depression or anxiety, feel free to contact me.