Lessen Depression through Thought Control
Depressive thinking is unrealistic and unfair:
1. unrealistic negative thoughts about your situation
2. unfair negative thoughts about yourself
3. unrealistic negative thoughts about your future
The plan should be to replace depressive thinking with realistic thinking.
First, is spotting depressive thoughts: Here are the most common types of depressive thinking:
1. all or nothing: seeing situations as totally one way or the other.
2. perfectionism: where you think that you have to be the best in the situation, or it means that you failed.
3. overgeneralizing: based on one negative event, you expect that things will continue to go wrong; or based on one negative fact, you assume that everything else in the situation is negative.
4. labeling: talking oneself in a harsh way, calling yourself names like “loser”, or whatever the worst insults are for you. This kind of self-labeling is unfair.
5. exaggerating: exaggerating risks and expect the worst possible thing to happen.
6. mind-reading: imagining that other people are criticizing or rejecting you, even when you don’t have any real reason to think that.
7. filtering: paying close attention to events that are disappointing or to critical comments from others. When something positive happens, you ignore it and you treat praise as unimportant
Realistic thinking is:
1. accurate about your situation, seeing things clearly as they are;
2. fair about yourself, looking in a balanced way at the positive and negatives in your life;
3. accurate about your future, not exaggerating bad outcomes.
Altering depressive thoughts by asking yourself these realistic questions: (preferably on paper because it helps in seeing it clearly):
What proof do I have? Would most people agree with this thought?If not, what would be a more realistic thought?Can I get more proof, like asking someone about the situation?What would I say to a friend in a similar situation?What is a less extreme way of looking at the situation?What will happen if I think this way? Is there another way of thinking that is more encouraging or useful?Enjoyed this post? Why not check out my YA novels or Native American mystery series on Amazon, or follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Bookbub , or AllAuthor.
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