The 6 most important types of negative thoughts and how to manage them

Our mind is a place where all kinds of thoughts are projected in the form of ideas, images, opinions and beliefs that, like everything in life, can be good, can be neutral and, of course, can be negative, very negatives.

Negative thoughts are not something pathological, nor should we think that anyone who comes up with any of these thoughts throughout the day is a rather pessimistic person. No, they are part of our mind, but it can be said that sometimes they get out of control and bring a lot of discomfort

They are various the types of negative thoughts that we can identify in our mind, thoughts that can trap us in a vicious cycle of negativity but that, fortunately, there are ways to control them. Let's find out which are the main ones and how to solve them.

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What are negative thoughts?

As long as we can remember, all kinds of ideas and thoughts can pass through our heads. There are positive, beautiful and motivating ones, cogitations that present us with ideas or images that help us to be happy, to think about a great past and a promising future; but there are also negative, ugly, murky and disturbing ones that make us believe that we are worth nothing, that we do everything wrong or that if something has to go wrong it will.

Giving a definition of what negative thoughts are is not difficult. We can define them as those pernicious ideas that appear in our head without us looking for them and that produce all kinds of emotions that disturb us.

They induce negative emotions, related to psychological distress such as fear, anxiety and stress and, if they occupy our attention and time too much, they can damage our mental health.

Although negative thoughts have been addressed by many psychologists and psychiatrists throughout the history, it is worth mentioning the work of one of the founders of cognitive therapies, Dr. U.S Aaron Temkin Beck, who defined them in the 1960s. For Beck, these types of thoughts strongly determined our psychological well-being or, rather, they were a direct source of discomfort.

In his 1983 definition, Beck endows negative thoughts with characteristics such as being rigid, inflexible, absolutist, and in the form of "I have to" or "I must to", in imperative terms. On the other hand, the positives are flexible, possible, adaptive and acquire a structure of the type "I would like it to" or "I would like it to", in more desiderative and open terms.

Beck believed that automatic negative thoughts sabotage the best of ourselves. and, in case of not having the slightest control over them, they will end up provoking emotions such as insecurity, anxiety and anger, feelings that fuel new thoughts of this type.

That is, negative thoughts cause a negative emotional reaction in our mind, the same as causes more negative thoughts to appear and we fall into a vicious cycle from which it is difficult to escape.

Thinking negative attracts more negativity, invites things to go wrong. This is called a self-fulfilling prophecy that, if it occurs, will not be a matter of fate or bad luck, nor because we do not have certain characteristics or abilities, but because we have fallen into negativity, negativity that invades our mind and affects our ability to action.

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The 6 most common negative thoughts

The negative thoughts that may come to mind can have any type of content, it is In other words, it can be about very varied ideas, events or facts, varying enormously depending on each person. However, it is possible to elaborate a classification where we find the main types negative thoughts depending on their characteristics and the type of idea on which they are center.

1. Dichotomous thinking

Dichotomous thinking is a rigid and inflexible type of thinking, without nuances, corresponding to what we would say culturally to think in black and white.

It implies being based on the assumption that with respect to a subject or question there are only two categories, which are mutually exclusive, and the existence of intermediate elements or nuances. That is, it is thinking in extreme terms. For instance:

"Either I do it well or I don't"

"Now or never"

"You are with me or against me"

"I have completely failed"

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2. Fear of what they will say

The fear of what they will say is a type of thinking that we have all experienced. It is that psychological process that It makes us worry if people look at us with bad eyes because of the way we are dressed or fear that, when speaking in public, they will think that we are bad.

It is about any thought that makes us pay more attention to what we think others think and say about us than what we feel or how we are.

Although we are not sure of knowing what others are thinking, since we cannot read other people's minds, this type of thinking can have a lot of power over us. Some examples:

"They will say that I am boring"

"They think I'm clumsy"

"They look at me because I walk weird"

"They will laugh at my stuttering"

3. Believe that something can go wrong

Many people need total certainty that things are going to be perfect, because if not, they just won't. Believing that something can go wrong is a very powerful, frustrating and sabotaging negative thought. an idea that will end up being supported by our mind and that will make us abandon our endeavoreven before it has started. Some examples of this type of negative thinking are:

"I'm not good for this, so I quit"

"It sure will go wrong"

"It's not worth trying"

"As I will not know how to do it well, I better not even try"

4. Generalize the negative

Many people tend to focus only on the negative, which is why, when something bad happens, believe that it will become a universal norm, that is, they generalize the negative. They do not realize that on more than one occasion success comes after many failures and that is why we must never give up.

"I haven't lifted a weight, so I'm never going to get in shape."

"I have failed this exam, therefore it is not worth continuing studying"

"This date has gone bad for me, I will never find love"

"I do not know how to combine clothes well, this fashion is not for me"

5. Minimize the positives

It is also a negative thought to downplay the good things. Minimize the positive things or attribute an external causality to it, that is, that it has occurred by the action of other people or by sheer luck, is usually a very common cognitive process in people whose minds have been invaded by negative thoughts, such as depression. Some examples of this negative thinking are:

"I did well in the exam because it was very easy"

"I have passed gymnastics because the teacher values ​​only effort"

"I have won at chess because my rival has allowed himself to win"

"They told me that the interview went well out of pure pity"

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6. Dramatize

Playing the victim and creating melodramas is also typical of automatic negative thoughts, popping up right after something bad happened to us. For example, it is typical that, after a breakup, the words "I will never find the same again" or "What will become of me come to mind?"

What to do to counteract negative thoughts?

As we have seen, it is easy to fall prey to negative thoughts, caught in a vicious cycle. that brings us negative emotions that, in turn, feed and manufacture new thoughts of this kind.

To top, these types of dynamics are like snowballs, which start out small but get bigger as they roll downhill, since negative thoughts can start with a small e innocent thought, released in our conscience without any negative intention, but they end up becoming a toxic ideology that corrodes us by within.

Fortunately, there are a series of strategies to prevent negative thoughts from taking control of our mind and, consequently, of our conduct. Let's see some of them.

1. Observe the thought

As a rule, negative thoughts are the product of cognitive distortions, irrational thinking patterns. If we observe them as if we were a spectator, not letting them take over our mind, they will dissipate.

It is advisable to think of them as if they were leaves that float down a river, since sooner or later they will go downstream and we will lose sight of them. It is difficult to prevent these thoughts from coming to mind, but if we let them go without thinking too much about them, we will not let them cause us any discomfort.

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2. Reframe the idea

Ruminations are excessive thinking patterns. We can think over and over again of an idea convinced that the more we think about it, the more capable we will be of solve it, despite the fact that this is a totally useless action and that it wastes our time and much of our energies.

Therefore, the best we can do is rethink the idea that is the object of our rumination, find out what is really in our thoughts and discard what we ourselves have created in our mind before we start looking for a solution.

3. Act physically on the idea

Since negative thinking is going to burn and anger us, why not invest this psychic activation in physical exercise? Acting physically on the idea, although it is not a panacea, can help us to turn it into something of benefit, at least in the short term.

The idea is not to recycle negative thinking, but to exhaust it, consume it through exercise, keep the mind busy making the body work and thus not fall into the trap of our own Psyche. We can run, lift weights, do some sit-ups... With the body in motion, thought loses importance.

4. Avoid stimuli that trigger the negative idea

There can be many different stimuli that awaken those negative ideas in our minds. It is not easy to identify the triggers of our negative thoughts but, once we have found them, we can use the avoidance technique.

The ideal would be to get used to such stimuli to get our mind to get used to them being there and not waking up thoughts negative but, if they are too intense and it is possible to avoid them without affecting our lives too much, avoiding them is a good option.

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