It is quite normal for people of all ages to develop negative thought patterns at some point of time. However, if you are positive in life, then it is much easier to bounce back. But many seem to get stuck in a never-end storm filled with negative worries and thoughts. Such thought patterns if left unchecked is likely to cause depression, anxiety and health issues.
10 commonly experienced negative thinking patterns & ways to avoid it
- Everybody feels I am boring: Perhaps you are mind reading, assuming about others’ behaviors, feelings and thoughts. The truth is you simply are not aware of what others think.
- Nothing works for me perfectly: Such negative thought patterns always includes certain words like ‘never’, ‘everything’, ‘nothing’ and ‘never’. You are actually viewing things erroneously as wrong or right, bad or good, without gray areas.
- Our relationship is going nowhere. Perhaps, I will be single forever: Over-generalizing is rather negative prediction of something becoming true in near future. It is rather your fear that you had experienced in the past but not the fact.
- No use trying as it will not work: If predictions are considered to be an outcome while believing it to be the fact, then it is just fear and not fact!
- I failed that test and hence will flunk the course: You are maximizing that is exaggerating crucial aspect of a negative event. You just allow it to overshadow good.
- I received the paper timely something that anyone can: It is minimizing that is discounting the prevailing positive or perhaps undervaluing accomplishments achieved.
- I should have completed this project by now: Using the statements ‘must’, ‘ought’ and ‘should’ only impose undue pressure and unrealistic expectations on yourself as well as others. Such thinking can be harmful for health.
- Unrealistic expectations: Demanding something unreasonable or expecting perfection is one of the negative thought patterns that should be avoided.
- Will not have sufficient money to pay rent, school fees. Hence will get evicted: This is catastrophizing which means overestimating disaster potentialities. Also, you focus on negative outcomes only. Your fear is rather coming to the forefront of something intolerable or unbearable will happen.
- He is not interested to hang out perhaps of some mistake that I committed: This is personalizing where you take responsibilities for things that you have not done. Also you imagine that others’ moods or actions are related to you.
Hence, to prevent negative thought patterns, you need to know & control your thought patterns, challenge your thinking and be kind to self.