Often, habitual negative thinking is the root of depression. The best way to fight depression is to become aware of your negative thinking and then take steps to improve the quality of your thinking. This article will show you some effective ways to get a handle on negative thinking and transform it into productive thinking that will end the duration and frequency of your depression.
Minimizing The Frequency Of Depression In Your Life
We all think negative thoughts from time to time. The problem is sometimes we make a habit out of negative thinking without being consciously aware that we are doing that. The constant negative thoughts actually create depression. Our emotions are, largely a product of our thought patterns. So, if you are experiencing depression, chances are you can relieve yourself considerably by learning to improve your thinking.
The first step is to become aware of what your thought patterns are when you are feeling depressed. This can be done by introspection and answering simple questions on paper as honestly as possible. Keep a daily diary to log your thoughts. When you feel depressed, write down what you were thinking about before you became aware of feeling down. Your goal is to become aware of your thoughts and feelings and not to judge yourself.
Simply jot down the thoughts you are having and what you feel, afterwards. After a day or two, you should have some examples to work with. Perhaps you were thinking about your dissatisfaction at work and thought, “I hate my job” and then you realized you were feeling tired and sad. Or, maybe you were thinking about how you wanted to get an A on a test in school but you only got a B. Maybe, you said to yourself something like, “I’m just a failure, I can’t do anything right.”
Help Yourself out of Depression
These are all examples of negative thinking. It is fine to think such things but it is dangerous to take those thoughts and believe that they are absolute truth. This is how negative emotions are created. In the first case, about work, you were generalizing by saying, “I hate my job.” The real truth is that you probably like some aspects of your job, for instance, the paycheck or certain tasks that are fun for you. By generalizing and say you absolutely hate your job, you focus on only the negatives and leave out all the positive things. So, if you are thinking in this all or nothing pattern, you are setting yourself up for depression. By writing it down and looking at the real truth and considering all aspects of the issue, you have a clearer picture of reality and your mood will be lifted automatically.
In the second case, about taking a test and not getting the desired grade, you said to yourself, “I’m just a failure.” By judging yourself solely on one grade, you distort reality again. If you think for a moment, you will probably find that there are many things you do well and just because you did not get the highest grade does not mean you are an abject failure. So, when are being harsh in your judgment of yourself, step back a moment and consider if the judgment is really true. In this way, you gently bring yourself back to reality and these bad thoughts become less frequent. And, when they do happen, you will be equipped to look at them in a logical manner to find any errors in your thinking.
So, to sum up–the best way to avoid depression is to get in the habit of asking yourself if you negative opinion is actually a reflection of reality or is it a powerless individual thought that has no power to bring you down unless you let it? This simple technique will help you improve your thinking and banish depression once and for all.