Negative automatic thoughts (NAT's) make us feel upset, miserable and guilty. But we do not have to be victims of our thinking. With practice we can change unhelpful thoughts using four challenging questions. It's like taking our thoughts to court and cross examining them.
1. Am I making any thinking errors?
- Black and White Thinking. You see everything in only two categories - all or nothing. For example, if you don't do something perfectly you tell yourself you have failed. You work hard all the time, or call yourself lazy. Unless your clothes are immaculate, you see yourself as scruffy. People who think they need to do things perfectly use 'Black and White' thinking.
- Jumping to conclusions. You jump to a negative conclusion when there is no evidence, or hardly any evidence to support it. You also 'mind read': thinking that you know what someone else is thinking about you. E.g. You haven't heard from your friend for a while and you think, "She/He's upset with me."
- Magnifying (Catastrophising). You exagerate your problems and imperfections. Negative things that are just a remote possibility become a definite in your mind, and you believe they will end up in disasters. At the same time you minimise your strengths and ability to cope with your problems. E.g You've been asked to write a report and you immediately think, "This is it, I'll get a bad appraisal, I'm never going to get promoted".
- Overgeneralising. You think that because an unpleasant thing happened before, it will always happen. E.g. you make a comment which irritates one of your friends and you think, "I NEVER say the right thing".
- Should statements. You are a fierce task master and set yourself very high standards for yourself and others. You tell yourself that you SHOULD do this and OUGHT to do that. E.g. I ought to be a good son and visit my mother every weekend. You make yourself feel guilty if you fall short of your high standards. You might also set high standards for other people and then feel resentful if they don't measure up.
2. What is the evidence for and against my thoughts?
Here we ask "What are the facts?" Finding evidence to support our NAT's is easy when we're depressed or anxious, because our mood makes us notice them. But we have to ask ourselves "Is there 100% EVIDENCE to support them?" We also need to ask "Is there any evidence AGAINST my thoughts?" Sometimes it can be difficult to notice evidence against our NAT's because when we are anxious or depressed we tend to ignore information that goes against them. But this means we get a very one-sided (and often pessimistic) view of the situation. It's important to remember that thoughts are not facts, they're ideas or hunches - and they can be distorted. That's why we need to check the evidence.
3. What are the alternative ways I can look at it?
Typically, there's not just one way of looking at a situation - many different things effect it. But when we are depressed or anxious we tend to seize on one view without thinking about alternative ones. We need to learn to look for other ways of seeing the situation. A way to do this is to imagine your thoughts as a pie. Your first thought (the NAT) is one slice of the pie. It is one possible view of the situation. Then you look for other alternative views to fill up the other slices of the pie. Just thinking about the alternative ideas can make you feel better. But you need to go on and check out the evidence for and against each one of them. This is where the next challenging question comes in.
4. If my thoughts are true, what actions can I take?
Here you work out some ways to check your alternative ideas, or if the evidence shows your initial thought (the NAT) was true, ways to deal with the situation.
I've been using this technique for about 3 weeks now and I've found it really helpful in recognizing my own NAT's. I started off keeping a thought record and writing things down but now it has become almost second nature for me to challenge my thoughts and act accordingly. This is part of the CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)course I am doing at the moment called "Beating the blues" which is helping me a lot at present.
Love and Happiness
Hippie
xx
1. Am I making any thinking errors?
- Black and White Thinking. You see everything in only two categories - all or nothing. For example, if you don't do something perfectly you tell yourself you have failed. You work hard all the time, or call yourself lazy. Unless your clothes are immaculate, you see yourself as scruffy. People who think they need to do things perfectly use 'Black and White' thinking.
- Jumping to conclusions. You jump to a negative conclusion when there is no evidence, or hardly any evidence to support it. You also 'mind read': thinking that you know what someone else is thinking about you. E.g. You haven't heard from your friend for a while and you think, "She/He's upset with me."
- Magnifying (Catastrophising). You exagerate your problems and imperfections. Negative things that are just a remote possibility become a definite in your mind, and you believe they will end up in disasters. At the same time you minimise your strengths and ability to cope with your problems. E.g You've been asked to write a report and you immediately think, "This is it, I'll get a bad appraisal, I'm never going to get promoted".
- Overgeneralising. You think that because an unpleasant thing happened before, it will always happen. E.g. you make a comment which irritates one of your friends and you think, "I NEVER say the right thing".
- Should statements. You are a fierce task master and set yourself very high standards for yourself and others. You tell yourself that you SHOULD do this and OUGHT to do that. E.g. I ought to be a good son and visit my mother every weekend. You make yourself feel guilty if you fall short of your high standards. You might also set high standards for other people and then feel resentful if they don't measure up.
2. What is the evidence for and against my thoughts?
Here we ask "What are the facts?" Finding evidence to support our NAT's is easy when we're depressed or anxious, because our mood makes us notice them. But we have to ask ourselves "Is there 100% EVIDENCE to support them?" We also need to ask "Is there any evidence AGAINST my thoughts?" Sometimes it can be difficult to notice evidence against our NAT's because when we are anxious or depressed we tend to ignore information that goes against them. But this means we get a very one-sided (and often pessimistic) view of the situation. It's important to remember that thoughts are not facts, they're ideas or hunches - and they can be distorted. That's why we need to check the evidence.
3. What are the alternative ways I can look at it?
Typically, there's not just one way of looking at a situation - many different things effect it. But when we are depressed or anxious we tend to seize on one view without thinking about alternative ones. We need to learn to look for other ways of seeing the situation. A way to do this is to imagine your thoughts as a pie. Your first thought (the NAT) is one slice of the pie. It is one possible view of the situation. Then you look for other alternative views to fill up the other slices of the pie. Just thinking about the alternative ideas can make you feel better. But you need to go on and check out the evidence for and against each one of them. This is where the next challenging question comes in.
4. If my thoughts are true, what actions can I take?
Here you work out some ways to check your alternative ideas, or if the evidence shows your initial thought (the NAT) was true, ways to deal with the situation.
I've been using this technique for about 3 weeks now and I've found it really helpful in recognizing my own NAT's. I started off keeping a thought record and writing things down but now it has become almost second nature for me to challenge my thoughts and act accordingly. This is part of the CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)course I am doing at the moment called "Beating the blues" which is helping me a lot at present.
Love and Happiness
Hippie
xx
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