Unwanted and intrusive thoughts often cause anxiety and depression. In this state, attention is focused on negative events, which are presented in darker colors than in reality.
When a person gets hung up on various trifles, he looks eternally dissatisfied and begins to find fault both with himself and with those around him. But what to do if negative thoughts constantly haunt you and haunt you? Psychological techniques will come to the rescue, thanks to which it is possible to drive away unwanted thoughts and return positive thinking.
Possibility of positive thinking
According to numerous scientific studies, for the most part, a person's well-being depends on how he thinks. Therefore, by changing your thinking, it is possible to improve your health.
Also, the direction of thinking can affect the development of a person, success in a career and harmony with oneself and others.
Thinking positively does not mean completely ignoring the negative events around. This can only help you quickly navigate your capabilities and act more constructively. Changing your mindset will not come quickly, because in order to achieve results, you need to work on yourself every day.
Technique for Stopping Anxious Thoughts
This technique helps to get rid of intrusive disturbing thoughts by eradicating them.
The Thought Stop method was first mentioned in 1928 in the book Thought control in everyday life.
The method consists of five steps. At each stage there is a complication of the task.
5 Steps to Stop Worrying Thoughts
Step 1. First, you should start making a list of disturbing or intrusive thoughts that you find difficult to get rid of. Then ask yourself questions about each thought.
List of issues to pay attention to
1. Can something that causes anxiety happen? How likely is this?
2. Is this thought a hindrance to achieving results and productivity?
3. this thought – hindrance to concentration?
4. is there a danger that this thought will turn into a "self-fulfilling prophecy"?
5. Does this thought cause inner discomfort?
6. Will getting rid of this thought make me happier?
If at least one answer is yes, the "Thought Stop" method can help you. Choose one idea from the list and work on it for a week. It is not recommended to work with several thoughts at the same time.
2 Step. Close your eyes and imagine the situation when the feeling of anxiety usually reappears. After that, try to "stop" the thought, thinking about what has a calming effect on you.
3 Step. This step uses an external signal, which is a stopwatch or timer that is set to three minutes. After that, close your eyes and try to fully concentrate on the disturbing obsessive thought that haunts you.
After the timer beeps, say "Stop!" loudly. After that, for some time you need to think through only neutral or positive thoughts. In case the disturbing thought comes back, repeat the exercise.
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4 Step. The main goal of this step – learn to control your own thoughts without using an external source. In order to stop the thought, you can loudly say "Stop!". After the "Stop" command takes effect, you can pronounce this word with normal intonation, without raising your voice.
Then you should move to a whisper, and eventually use a mental command. To enhance the effect of a mental command, you can imagine that you are saying it in a loud voice or shouting it out. In this way, it is possible to avoid attracting the attention of others.
Step 5. This step replaces the disturbing thoughts with those that have a calming effect. For example, if a person suffers from aerophobia, he can mentally say: "Airplane is the safest means of transport where you can sit comfortably in your chair and absolutely relax."
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Once you have managed to control the feeling of anxiety associated with one of the obsessive thoughts, you can move on to eliminating the next one.
Additional Ways to Manage Anxious Thoughts
An elastic band can be worn on the arm. In case you return a negative thought, mentally say “Stop!”, pull back and release the tape. At the same time, it is possible to control thoughts due to a slight pain signal.
You need to constantly remind yourself that your thought is not a fait accompli. For example, if you constantly think that there is a possibility that you will lose your job, say to yourself: "I have a thought that I might lose my job." Thanks to such a phrase, it can be emphasized that this phrase is just a thought, and not a reality.
Some find it easier to combine the command "Stop!" with visualization, in other words – represent the disappearance of the disturbing thought.
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This method is recommended for panic attacks, depression, phobias, obsessions, self-doubt, anxiety, morbid jealousy, and aggressive behavior.
Not all clinical studies of the method have yielded positive results. For example, a side effect of "Thought Stop" is that anxiety may increase as attention is fixed on the need to eliminate the unwanted thought.
Source estet-portal.com
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