psychology
7 negative thought traps we don’t want to fall into anymore
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Are you feeling unwell right now? The reason for this could be old thought patterns that you unconsciously tap into. The first step to unlinking them is to become aware of them. may we introduce
“Nothing ever works”, “I’ll never make it” or “No matter what I do, it will go wrong again anyway” – our nastiest enemy sits between our shoulders and often makes life more difficult for us than it is objectively considered: Ours Head with its mean little thought patterns that we like to fall into when everything is too much anyway. Stress, being overwhelmed, a life crisis: when we are not feeling well, we give dark thoughts far too much scope and no longer see that they do not correspond to reality. Recognizing these thought traps is the first step in order to avoid them in the future and to get out of the merry-go-round instead of happily driving lap after lap.
Negative thought traps that we are now aware of
1. “All or nothing” thinking
If you don’t do something perfectly, you think you’re a failure. You only see two categories: black or white. All shades of gray are sorted into the negative category, i.e. black.
2. Overgeneralize
You make a general rule out of a bad experience: if one thing goes wrong, everything else will fail too.
3. Mental filtering
You ignore the positive and only focus on the negative.
4. Should clauses
Also called “should tyranny”. You hold yourself to inflated, perfectionist standards. “I should exercise more”, “I should have a clean apartment”, “I should be more successful at work” and preferably all at the same time.
5. Reasoning
You make assumptions that are not based on facts and jump to conclusions without examining other possible explanations.
6. Taking things personally
You see yourself as the cause of events, when other people or circumstances could be responsible.
7. Catastrophize
You immediately think of the worst possible consequence that could happen.
Sports for the head
Unfortunately, thinking patterns are similar to jogging: In order to get better, we have to train, and do it regularly. Unfortunately, our brain is not necessarily the fastest and takes a while to establish new patterns. But it’s worth staying on the ball. Recognizing and questioning patterns over and over again is self-care, prevention and personal growth rolled into one.
Sources: Wikipedia/Cognitive Bias, Instagram/letstalk.mentalhealth