#Negative thoughts feed negative moods how to

When we do this we often discredit partial achievements or accomplishments. He then reads too deep into any interactions or discussions he has with them and builds on this narrative, only recognizing the moments when he thinks they are being hostile and ignoring the ones where they are treating him kindly.įixating on one negative detail or experience and assigning it disproportionate significance in our lives.

Without any evidence, a guy feels that his coworkers hate him.

The emotional reasoner starts with the premise that simply because their negative feelings exist, the issue prompting those feelings must be true, and then builds a false narrative to support that. Someone caught up in emotional reasoning is difficult to engage with productively because they centre their reasoning around negative emotions rather than logic. When we insist that something is factually true, even though our only evidence is our feelings. That must mean no one wants to be with me, so there’s no point trying to meet someone.”

A guy thinks, “I don’t have a partner.

This kind of thinking can often lead us to critically judge ourselves or others in ways that simply aren’t true. them scenarios that make it hard to approach issues with finesse or room for compromise. Oversimplifying complex situations or issues into black or white, yes or no, good or bad, or me vs. The list may seem long, but it’s a good idea to go through it all, so we can better identify when we’re having these kinds of thoughts. Over the next few days and weeks, try to be attentive to your thoughts and see if you can identify any of the following.

Try to see if you recognize any of these negative thought patterns in your own thinking, and if so, how often you fall into them.

#Negative thoughts feed negative moods how to

We have another article on how to better manage and reframe negative thoughts, but for now let’s focus on learning how to identify them. It’s easier said than done, but the first step is simply knowing what they are. Our goal is to prevent these distortions from controlling our lives. Negative thoughts manifest uniquely in each of us – we all have our own stressors that trigger negative thought patterns. For example, a guy may think ‘no one likes me’, which prevents him from going out to do something social, which then leads him to feel like he ‘never has friends’ or that ‘no one will ever like him’, which leads to more feelings of isolation.

Some negative thought patterns occur individually, others compound each other, and others feed into negative spirals that reinforce negative thoughts and actions. ‘Distortion’ is a more accurate way to look at these thoughts, as they are often tied to false, unrealistic, and skewed views of reality.

Negative thoughts often follow similar themes, which are referred to as ‘negative thought patterns’ or ‘cognitive distortions’. If we’re also dealing with other mental health challenges like ongoing stress or depression, it’s easier to fall into negative thoughts. When negative thoughts start to interfere with our life, cause us stress, or prevent us from taking actions to improve our wellbeing, we need to start working on better ways to manage them. WHEN NEGATIVE THOUGHTS BECOME A BIGGER PROBLEM It’s unrealistic for all our thoughts to be positive, and having some negative thoughts is 100% normal – every athlete, musician, entrepreneur, or person we admire has had negative thoughts. As helpful as our thoughts can be (making decisions in the moment, anticipating things in our future, or reviewing experiences from our past), when negative thinking or negative thought patterns creep in, our thoughts can be counterproductive or even harmful. Everyday, thousands of thoughts run through our minds.