While on a rational level we all know that positive thoughts are good, and negative thoughts are bad, for mental and emotional health. However, being cognizant of their impact does not always work to dispel the perpetual cycle of toxic negative thoughts.
Negative Thinking: The ugly truth
Negative thinking is a state of mind that is very hard to live with. People suffering from it always fixate on the things that are wrong, amiss, and worrisome.
They tend to forget the good moments, the achievements, the compliments, and dwell instead over just the things that are lacking in them.
There are many side-effects of being perpetually negative, and most important is the inability to be happy. Negative thinking often rears its ugly head smack in the middle of some happy moment. This then increases the tendency for stress, anxiety, and even depression, requiring the help of an expert whom you can book over oladoc.com.
Types of negative thinking
There are many dimensions to negative thinking. Often, it is propagated by the thinking patterns including:
Assumptions: In this toxic train of thought, people assume things about what others are thinking. They then end up projecting their insecurities and fears onto other people, due to which they always end up thinking negatively.
For example, saying I know for a fact that the other person is irritated by me and my conversation, even if it’s not remotely true.
Generalizing: This is a common negative thinking pattern tracking, In this case, people use the bad experiences from the past and superimpose them on all the future experiences. A common example of this is patterns including just because I drove poorly last time, therefore, I will not be able drive well any further.
This then ends up posing a great barrier for growth of the person, as they limit themselves to their negative and generalized behavior only.
The extreme: This negative thinking pattern entails thinking only in binaries of good and bad, without there being a more moderate tone. For them, a thing can either be good or bad, but this ends up taking away joy from their otherwise good performance.
For example, someone coming in third might not laud themselves for achieving this goal, for they were not first. For them, being third is akin to being last.
Fixating on the mistakes: Another common negative thinking pattern is being fixated on the mistakes. This then makes the people exaggerate their fears, and they then refrain from experimenting again.
For example, someone not guessing a thing right will berate themselves for being wrong, even if it is something they were supposed to guess to begin with, and not know.
It is worse when people have a fragile sense of self. What happens then is that they magnify their mistakes, and then berate themselves and talk down themselves for making it. They think they made a fool out of themselves, and everyone involved is either judging them or making fun of them.
The dark side of negative thinking
Many a times, pessimists are thought to be practical; it is okay for them to think that things are going to go wrong, as they then have a game plan for countering it. Their preparation then gives them an advantage over the dreamers.
However, while it is good to be pragmatic, negative thinking is downright toxic. Not only does it alter your perception of reality and even people, but it also limits your growth in so many domains.
Negativity can make you fearful of things, due to which you never get in the creative and daring zone.
Furthermore, too much negativity can also leech happiness out of your life and make you hopeless. When combined with sadness, negative thinking then leads to the increased propensity towards depression. Thus, actively change your patterns of negative thinking, and consult Best Psychologist in Karachi if you are too daunted otherwise.
