Is it Really All in my Head? - Part II
Many people have recurring negative and/or intrusive thoughts which get stuck in their heads. These thoughts can contribute to promoting anxiety. When we have positive thoughts, they cause a positive response, but negative thoughts cause a negative response. These thoughts can be automatic, and unless you think about your thoughts, they; “they just happen.” But even if your thoughts just happen, they are not necessarily correct or true.
You don’t have to believe every thought that goes through your head. It’s important to think about your thoughts to see if they help you or hurt you. Unfortunately, if you never challenge your thoughts, then you just “believe them” as if they were true. Think of these negative thoughts that invade your mind like ants that bother you at a picnic. One negative thought, like one ant at a picnic, is not a big problem. Two or three negative thoughts become more irritating, like two or three ants at a picnic. Ten or twenty negative thoughts, like ten or twenty ants at a picnic, may cause you to pick up and leave. Whenever you notice these automatic negative thoughts or ANTs, you need to crush them or they’ll ruin your relationships, and your self-esteem, and be a cause for anxiety. Learning how to manage negative thoughts can help to manage your anxiety and low mood. When people feel low/anxious, their thoughts can often be extreme or unrealistic. ANTs! This type of unhelpful thinking can continue to maintain our low mood or anxiety. These are Cognitive Distortions and they can be...
Involuntary/automatic – you don’t decide to think these thoughts, but they’ve become hardwired over time and lurk and linger, controlling your moods and behavior, controlling the quality of your life. Without
deliberate awareness, you may not even realize you have them.
Irrational – the ANTs are the messengers of unhelpful thinking habits like emotional reasoning and fortune telling, and mind reading – they’re generally illogical – we aim to ask of each unhelpful thought and belief we uncover ‘where is the evidence for this?’, ‘Is there evidence against this?’, ‘Is there another way of looking at this?’ .... Until we develop new realistic evidence-based thinking in their place.
Enemies – ANTs appear to protect you from discomfort by persuading you to practice self-sabotaging behaviors ‐ for instance, avoidant behavior, avoiding something you believe is a ‘hazard or danger’ that will cause you upset and be ‘pointless’ anyway (trying new things, being proactive, a new career, opportunities, new relationships, making new friends... take your pick...), and so on . . .. They keep you hardwired for fear.
You can take control of your thinking and moods, and behaviors if you put in the work, it’s proven. Try it. Free yourself! Look at your thoughts in a more balanced and realistic way. More balanced thoughts will improve your mood and enable you to function better, which will result in enjoying your life
again.
Our next blog will discuss three steps to exterminating the ANTs.
— Tracy Lewis, Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern
