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Do you find yourself having anxiety and negative thoughts that you can’t shake? When faced with a decision do you have anxiety and think of the worst outcome? This is called catastrophizing, or cognitive distortion. During times of stress, it’s common to have negative thoughts more often. It can be easy to take a situation coming your way and assume the worst outcome. These thoughts can interfere with your life and getting things done.
I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which can cause worry and negative thoughts. At times, I have felt I’ve exhausted entire days with overthinking. As I was explaining this to my counselor, she suggested that I try to take a step back, and reframe the thought. It may seem simple, but it can be a helpful tool in managing anxiety.
During one day, on average I have about five negative thoughts. They can linger in the background, or stay in the forefront. They can last an entire day, or up to a week. The trick is to catch the thoughts before they become too negative to turn around. Challenging what you’re thinking with Cognitive Reframing is a way to counteract these negative thoughts.
What is Cognitive Reframing?
The term refers to the psychological way in which you take a thought and challenge the way you view it. It’s a tool in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which focuses on talking things out with a psychotherapist and looking at how you think. While helping people with mental illness, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT techniques, can help just about anybody. They can be helpful when managing general stress and emotions. So, basically Cognitive Reframing can be explained as taking your negative thoughts and challenging yourself to make them positive.
Something that helps me reframe my thoughts is to ask a set of questions. Writing them down, or saying them out loud can lead you to a positive thought. Here is a worksheet, and some questions that I use.
Questions to ask yourself:
- Would I tell someone about this?
- Am I in control of the outcome?
- What would happen if this actually occurred?
For example, when you’re applying for a job, your immediate thought could be that you won’t get it. This has happened to me, and I would dwell on it all day. Well, if you don’t get the job, what is the worst outcome? That you don’t hear back? Okay, fine. The world won’t end if you don’t get a callback, but it sure can feel like it will. Using worksheets and the questions can help you change your perspective.
It isn’t easy. I have had some negative thoughts that have taken a few days to get out of my head. I find it helps to take a step back and say the thought out loud. Hearing myself say it can be enough to make me laugh it off and move on. Or, it helps me see the real issue and take steps to fix it.
In conclusion, handling your anxiety can be a lot of work, and using tools like Cognitive Reframing can help. I speak from personal experience in which this worked for me, so I encourage you to try it out on your mental health journey.