What Are Negative Thoughts?

Sometimes our thoughts do not correspond to the real world. Various "what ifs", "nevers", or "should haves" interfere with our performance, self-esteem, and social life and influence our feelings. They also might be overwhelming and so they can prevent us from living a full life. These thoughts might appear in connection with certain situations, such as before an important performance, or they can be stuck in our minds and create unhealthy patterns.

Such thoughts are called negative thoughts. It is however possible to change our thinking patterns. Instead of trying to avoiding them, it is important to learn, how to work with them.

The first step is to realize that you have a negative thought and to articulate it. This step might not be the easy one, but there are various techniques to help. One of the most used is a diary that helps to find some repeating patterns of our thoughts. After the realization, you can learn different coping strategies to deal with feared situations. Also, reframing techniques can help to look at your current situation differently. This can make you realize, that sometimes when things seem helpless, there might be different options and perspectives.