What are trap thoughts and how to prevent them?

The belief that the human being is a “rational animal”, with the ability to be guided through logic and The reason, it takes many centuries in our way of seeing ourselves, of interpreting our actions.

For a long time, it has been an idea used to establish a clear dividing line between us and the rest of the members of the animal kingdom: we can live through the making of rational decisions, while "they" can only repeat over and over again the actions dictated by their instincts and their impulses, in a predictable way and without having any kind of vision to long term.

However, none of that is true; Human beings are closely linked to emotions and passions, we are not and cannot become purely rational organisms. Moreover, many times we fall, without realizing it, in taking advantage of our intellect to disguise with the appearance of rationality the decisions that we have already made based on feelings and desires. AND trap thoughts are a perfect example of that, of how we can create ideas specifically so that we don't feel bad about giving in to a short-term impulse

. Let's see how this kind of phenomenon occurs and what we can do to reduce its negative influence on our lives.

• Related article: "10 tips to learn to control impulses"

What are trap thoughts and what are their characteristics

As we have begun to see in the previous paragraphs, we are not made for reasoning based on logic govern everything we do: this is how computers work, not beings humans. For better and for worse our emotional side is always mixed with the psychological processes that lead us to think and make decisions. In fact, thanks to this we have the motivation to do so.

But one of the implications of this is that many times we make decisions that are not in our best interest based only on what we want in the here and now, and We only use our ability to reason as a way to legitimize those behaviors that are too impulsive or poorly adjusted to what is convenient for us. truth.

This is a phenomenon that we have known for a long time: more than a century ago, psychoanalytic figures such as Ernest Jones and Sigmund Freud called it rationalization, and years later, from cognitive psychology it was explained through the biases and heuristics: we create seemingly solid ideas to hide hasty decisions, a way of not centering our attention to the true motivations that lead us to do certain actions, or to think and feel as we make.

What These pseudo-argumentations provide an acceptable explanation (although very weak) about our way of being and behaving, we do not feel the need to question what we do, and we can keep repeating over and over again decisions that harm us.

That is precisely the trap thoughts: chains of ideas that look like an argument about why we should do something, which are actually excuses that we put ourselves and help us to fall into something that tempts us, something into which we are predisposed to fall out of habit, because it gives us instant pleasure or because it allows us to avoid discomfort in the short term (although it may generate more discomfort in the long term term).

Thus, trap thoughts are a constant in anyone who is trying to leave behind habits (such as taking a drug or stopping eating so much) or ways of thinking that do not They are convenient, because changing routines requires an uncomfortable effort, and it is much easier to make excuses to return to what we already know, which allows us not to leave the comfort zone.

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What to do to limit the influence of trap thoughts?

When it comes to curbing trap thoughts, there are two key tips to keep in mind: boost your self-awareness and create guidelines that structure your healthiest habits.

1. Set clear guidelines

Clear behavioral routines and in which it is specified what to do and at what times of the day to do it are a great help to prevent trap thoughts from tempting you to deviate from what you know is good for you.

For example, if you are trying to follow a diet but do not specify what types of food you will eat or when you will eat it, it is very likely that you will end up falling into Snacking on unhealthy snacks at multiple times of the day (even without being hungry, simply to alleviate the discomfort generated by your disorganization by eat).

In other words, not organizing your behavior patterns will make what tempts you gain power. about you, since you will not have a clear way of knowing if taking an action represents progress or recoil.

For this reason, the best thing is that you establish schedules and that you know in advance what are the behaviors that you should avoid. If you become obsessed with rigidly complying with the rules at all times, keep in mind that these exist and it helps you to know what you must do to reach your goal.

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2. Improve your self-knowledge

The best ways to prevent trap thoughts from overconditioning our well-being is to enhance our abilities to self-knowledge so that these allow us to be more aware of the true motivations behind our actions, feelings and ways of thinking.

This is a complex task and requires practiceAmong other things, because trap thoughts can take many different forms and it is necessary to develop a certain sensitivity to detect them. At the end of the day, the hardest thing when it comes to limiting the power they have over us is recognizing them as such, distinguishing them from other thoughts.

How to achieve this? Although each person is unique and there is no single way to achieve it, generally what helps the most is to adopt the habit of break down our reasoning and recurring thoughts into simpler units, so that it is easier to check to what extent those beliefs from which we started are held by themselves and can be used to build on them patterns of behavior, parts of our ideology, etc.

For example, if you are trying to quit smoking and want to know if you are systematically falling into trap thoughts when using a technique to overcome addiction, you can break down into simpler ideas the arguments you use to create exceptions, cases in which you can smoke a little: “I will not smoke more unless they offer it to me, so as not to generate rejection".

In this case, you can focus on the ideas of “being offered it” and “generating rejection”. Is the offering of tobacco really an element that comes from outside the addiction, if the people who invite us to cigarettes do so largely because we have accepted the other times? Is the fact of rejecting someone who does not smoke a normal or healthy dynamic in a group of friends, if this is not one of the main causes that we continue to smoke?

Examining face to face the ideas that support the concepts from which we "argue" for ourselves helps us to check whether these arguments are legitimate or not.

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A resource that can help you: Meyo

The Meyo app, available for Android and iOS, helps to internalize the habits necessary to manage trap thoughts in an easier and simpler way. This application has been designed as if it were a personal trainer in digital format, and includes content that will serve as a guide and exercises to develop psychological skills related to the management of emotions, self-knowledge, the ability to commit to habits healthy... You can download it at this link for Android and on this other for iPhone.