Negative attitude

[theharvestmouse]

I need to stop the negative thoughts that seem to always be there lingering and waiting to take over as soon as i feel anxious.

Sometimes I get a wave of positivity in my mind that makes me feel good but when I'm really down I feel like that I am a million miles from that place.

Does anyone else find it difficult to keep the negative thoughts at bay?

Mine seem to quickly spiral out of control, I hate them. I seem to have a good few days and then wham they come back, sometimes I wonder if I will ever banish the negativity from my mind, it seems like its a habit I have formed over many years.

[Anxious_gal]

It helps to be aware and to write them down and really challenge them.
Like of I'm depressed I'll feel like everyone always let's me down but then I'll try to be logical and ask my self how true that statement really is , then I'll remember times how when people were there for me.
Memory and emotion is inter linked , how we feel often triggers of memories of times we felt that way before :) so the tick is to remember something positive to help change how you're feeling

[JM9258]

Everyone always has good days and days with their thoughts no matter how good or bad they are as mood and thoughts lead to how you feel ttoughout the day, I tend to focus now on things I enjoy doing and tell myself just to take my time and relax, keep calm and carry on basically just getting some time to chill and not let things get on top of me, keeping a diary helps and also talking about whatever's on your mind helps instead of bottling things up as that will only make you feel worse, is there anything that still gives you pleasure like any hobbies you enjoy doing?

---------- Post added at 08:48 ---------- Previous post was at 08:45 ----------

Just one more thing: Remember that YOUR mental health and mood is just as important as everyone's, that's what I was told and think everybody knows that, I hope this helps :)

[theharvestmouse]

Thanks for the replies, the thing is that last night I was at an art class and I enjoy the class but I felt a bit anxious and the old thoughts started coming back.

But my therapist said that I have to keep doing these social things and in the end I will become much more used to it and the anxiety will go away.

[robinbrum]

You're doing well to be out and about the way you are. My mood is so low and my nerves so bad that I can not face social situations at the moment. I only come into contact with one other person most of the time where I'm working and can just about handle that. My mind at the moment is just flooded with negative energy and I just can't think through the fog of it all. It's so easy to isolate yourself when you're feeling low, you just want to turn your back on the world.
Good on you for getting out there and facing your problems head on.

[mmb]

I also feel desperate for the negative thinking to stop and it's not going to be an easy task since I've being doing it for most of my life :weep: but there are good days and those are the days you have to try to remember, what were you doing and how it felt... I understand how you feel and I hope that all of us can get through this... it might take some time but keep on doing the things you enjoy and be kind to yourself :hugs:

[theharvestmouse]

Cheers Robin, it does make me feel a bit better that I am at least trying to face things head on. I am quite hard on myself and expect to progress quickly when the truth is that its going to be a long process.

I've spent a fair bit of time like you are doing, I turned my back on the world for a while and just thought if that's how it is then I'm not cut out for it but isolating yourself makes you just as unhappy in the long run, in my case thats what I found.

Just have to keep going I suppose, and one thing to bear in mind RObin, is that we can keep saying that we're not ready to go out there but as my therapist said, how do we know when we are ready?

[Wuboo]

I get like this too. Some days it's hard to get the negative thoughts out of your head which is why it's important to keep busy. Though today I am having a lazy day as my head feels like it's on another planet.

[clc]

It's so hard to push them out! And I don't even know why I have them because my life is pretty good. One thing I learnt in CBT is to name your thoughts after villains and to sing your thoughts in a funny tune to make them less scary. Keeping busy is definately important!

[theharvestmouse]

Yes but I hate the fact that I need to keep busy to stop my thoughts, life shouldn't be like that. But its just the way things are at the moment.