QUESTION ON THOUGHTS AND THINKING

[CrispsnDips]

I am wondering if (and I’m putting this in General Health as opposed to Mental Health)...we simply CHOOSE positive thoughts and thinking habits, rather than allowing negative thinking to take over, we can ultimately take control of our mental health, OR is it not as simple as that? Can we choose to change a negative situation/thought into a positive one (see the positive in everything)?...I am interested in your thoughts please ....

I would say it's not as simple as that. You can want to be positive but be so overwhelmed by outside events that you are unable to be positive.

It’s not as simple as that.

I think the more positive thoughts you think then the easier it is to be positive as your brain is used to working in that way. Obviously hormones & other factors also come in to play but it can be a learned habit

For people with depression, it's not a choice at all. It's like asking a type 1 diabetic to choose to regulate their insulin.

For people without mental illness, I'd say there is an element of choice.

I've found that relentless positive self talk can to some degree counter my anxiety and hypervigilance. I also treat that little voice that is constantly "catastrophising" and dishing out horrid intrusive thoughts and images as an impostor, as opposed to "me" and I find telling the voice to bugger off and stop being a dick does nip it in the bud.

I've never been on medication for anxiety so I'm possibly only mildly affected.

Clearly for profound mental problems or when you are struggling with awful life events this won't necessarily help but maybe a helpful suggestion for others.

I find it more helpful to acknowledge the negative thoughts and let them pass by, without following them down the rabbit hole, much more helpful than trying to force positive thoughts onto myself.

I'm not a Buddhist, but seeing things from either positive and negative points of view is like the buddhist idea of craving and repulsion. You get more peace of mind by accepting things/feelings the way they are, rather than constantly grasping for the positive or pushing away the negative imo.

It's not easy, but it is simple. Basically when you have a worrying or negative thought, just think in your head "Ah - there goes a negative thought" and let it go. Gets easier the more often you remember to do it.

you can certainly interrupt the negative thought process to stop you going down the same old neural pathways and make some new more positive ones.

@lazylinguist - love that approach!

Thoughts are just random ideas and there's no way to regulate what you think about but you can chose what do with your negative thoughts (although it does take practice and discipline). You can do what lazylinguist does and simply let them happen and float by, you can stop them in their tracks and analyse them for validity, you can journal them (very useful) or you do as @UniformSchmooniform does and tell them to bugger of!

I can do this. For example with worrying. If something is playing on my mind which I can't do anything about, I can mentally decide not to worry about it. It works - I can stop thinking about it. I get on with other stuff and it doesn't get in the way of me enjoying the present.

However, I have never personally experienced mental illness. I can imagine it's not that simple for everyone.

Some really interesting responses here...LOVE that we can tell a negative thought to Bugger Off 😂 ...I am also aware that the Buddhist view of accepting negative thought processes is the best way to gain peace of mind: accepting that life isn’t perfect and we all feel a whole range of emotions - good and bad. I love the idea of acknowledging those awful thoughts but not following them down the rabbit hole.

My experience has been that one negative thought can pile onto another, and then another and then another so I step in to switch those thoughts - I feel we have a choice, when we first wake up, of what we want to fill our heads with BUT I know it’s not easy and there are millions of people suffering 😔

People with depression do not have a choice. People processing trauma do not have a choice.

Seeing the positive in everything is not normal human behaviour. And in some cases maladaptive.

It's more complicated than that.

It is also saying by default that people who are unhappy are at fault because they are in some way not trying hard enough.

That's my opinion anyway....

It is also saying by default that people who are unhappy are at fault because they are in some way not trying hard enough.

I agree.

I think it can be useful to challenge our own negative thought processes at times, asking ourselves if the situation is as bad as it feels. Some therapies focus on reframing the way we view scenarios so that our attention is drawn to positive aspects of situations.

But all of those things require you to be in a reasonably calm and resilient mental state.

Having negative thoughts and feelings do not lead to a mental health crisis. Being unable to break out of a pattern of negative thinking can be a symptom of a mental health crisis.

Couple of random thoughts (!);

It's not possible to be traumatised by something that hasn't happened yet. It's not possible to fear something that has passed.

When you feel that you are about to be overwhelmed by negative thoughts about a future event write down the best possible outcome, the worst possible outcome and the most likely outcome - which is probably neither of the first two. Writing down fears is a really good way of putting them in perspective.