9 ways to prevent negative thinking
Everyone’s perspective on life is different due to their personality traits and past experiences.
Everyone’s perspective on life is different due to their personality traits and past experiences. Expert Psychologist Ezgi Dokuzlu from Anadolu Health Center stated that in line with this difference, the reactions to events and thoughts about the event are not the same, and said: “If we focus and train our minds to think positively, we will cope with negative thoughts more easily in the future, which will make us happier, less anxious and more peaceful over time.” “It means we are,” he said. Expert Psychologist Ezgi Dokuzlu shared tips to prevent negative thoughts…
An event that is considered very bad and unacceptable for one person may be interpreted as normal and ordinary for another. From time to time, one may feel helpless in the face of events encountered. This feeling may not have ended there, it may have occupied our minds for weeks and even become a part of our lives. We may look for a way out or ignore these thoughts to feel better, and often choose to postpone the problem. Neither procrastinating nor surrendering to the problem, that is, spoiling our quality of life, is not the right choice. When we are faced with negative thoughts, we must first believe that we can solve this problem and draft a simple and general plan to solve the problem. Let’s not forget that the first step to overcoming difficulties is to believe in ourselves.
Negative thoughts in the mind also negatively affect health.
Being prone to negative thoughts may depend on the amount of certain substances called neurotransmitters in the brain, or conversely, constant exposure to these thoughts or a certain lifestyle may negatively affect brain chemistry. In other words, those abstract thoughts that we think in our minds actually negatively affect our health. Therefore, let’s not underestimate the effects of negative thoughts. Let’s control our fear and anxiety without letting all negative thoughts, worries, fears and pessimism take over us. When we feel helpless and stuck, we can try to look at the positive side of the situation and maintain our power over the problem. Most importantly, we must know ourselves well in all aspects to combat negative thoughts.
Expert Psychologist Ezgi Dokuzlu explained 9 ways to prevent negative thoughts as follows:
- Don’t let negative thoughts take over you. Anxious and negative thoughts can make you feel helpless and hopeless. Just as your heart beats faster, your face turns red, and your hands sweat when you are excited or afraid, these negative thoughts have the power to negatively affect your health in a similar way. Therefore, do not let negative thoughts spoil your quality of life, make peace with them.
- Identify and identify negative thoughts in your mind. Think about the source of these thoughts and why they make you feel bad. Why does it occupy your mind?
- Instead of thinking about the negative outcome of an issue and making plans in that direction, focus on today. Now think about what situation you are in. The future may not always be as we planned, excessive anxiety will steal from your present.
- Know yourself well. You should definitely know what makes you feel bad. Look at how you have dealt with negativity before. This makes it easier for you to know yourself better and deal with negative thoughts.
- Be flexible for the future. No matter how much you plan, some positive or negative events may occur that you did not take into account. Therefore, avoid very clear, sharp plans.
- Don’t blame yourself. Like every human being, you may have made mistakes in the past. Just because these mistakes happened in the past doesn’t mean they will happen in the future. Remember, you are now more knowledgeable and experienced than before.
- Only benefit from regret, do not carry it in your mind. Regret is helpful for us to understand our mistake on that issue and learn lessons, but too much of it only causes us to carry negative thoughts as an unnecessary burden in our lives.
- Avoid using words like “I wish”, “I wonder”, “What if”, “Never”.
- Respect yourself for your decisions and avoid adapting other people’s ideas into your own life. If you know yourself well enough, you know best what is right for you.
