Unlocking negative thought patterns
Perhaps you have thought patterns that circulate in your mind.
Thoughts like:
You feel like something "always" happens to you, or "never" happens to you.
You jump to the worst possible conclusion in any situation.
You put pressure on yourself with statements like "I should" or "I shouldn't".
You take everything personally or blame yourself without a logical reason.
These thoughts and others like them feel impossible to shake and leave you feeling stuck in them. You wonder what it would be like to not have these types of thoughts circulating repeatedly in your life.
Perhaps these types of thoughts make you wonder if you have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). In Canada, about 1 percent of the population has OCD (note 1). If you think you have OCD, it is important to go and see a family doctor.
In terms of negative thoughts - when they are cyclical and seemingly inescapable psychologists call them automatic thoughts. These are thoughts that seemingly happen automatically. Something happens and the same automatic thinking takes place. When these are negative automatic thoughts they often lead to frustration and despair as if the automatic thought pulls all things into it and there is no alternative. Some people look at automatic thoughts the way that a phone predicts text when replying. Automatic thoughts sort of fill in thoughts. So when someone has negative automatic thoughts they take something - almost anything and it leads to a negative filled in response (note 2).
Working with automatic thoughts is important work to begin to shift thought patterns. This process is often referred to as challenging our thoughts. Often this is done with softer thoughts (note 3).
As one writer notes, "Putting in the work to identify and correct automatic thoughts helps us to rewire our brains, updating problematic thought patterns to more adaptive ones" (note 4).
With OCD, repeated thoughts and actions can lead a person to feel obsessed or compelled to do something over and over (Note 5). There is process to work through to help have strategies to begin to shift repeated thoughts.
If you feel stuck repeated negative thought patterns and want to get unstuck reach out today and one of our certified therapist will help support you in this process.
Notes
1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/basics/ocd
2. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/chronically-me/202401/working-with-automatic-thoughts
3. Try Softer by Aundi Kolber.
4. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/chronically-me/202401/working-with-automatic-thoughts
5. BrainLock by Jeffrey Schwartz.