How To Deal With Negative Thoughts Due To Anxiety? 8 Keys
How can recurring thoughts due to anxiety affect us? What can we do to detect these types of irrational thoughts? Find out how to deal with them.
We can all get carried away with our negative thoughts at one time or another, but when they run through your mind over and over again, this can be a sign that you may be dealing with an anxiety problem. In fact, when irrational fear often holds us back, this can be a symptom of both anxiety and a depressive disorder. So how can we know if our negative thoughts are due to anxiety?
How do I know if my negative thoughts are due to anxiety?
Research has identified two different types of negative thoughts, rumination and worry. On the one hand, worries imply that we have some apprehension within us, as well as having expectations that something negative will surely happen in the future. Although constant worries are a symptom of anxiety, it can also occur in a depressive disorder.
Instead, rumination is characterized by having negative thoughts about something that happened in the past. Mainly, this involves thinking about those moments when you did not perceive yourself well in the past because you failed or made a mistake. That is, you think about how you could have done it better.
Although both worry and rumination are different, the reality is that they are both negative thoughts typical of anxiety This implies that these ideas become intrusive, repetitive, prolonged and even uncontrollable. In fact, people with anxiety often have these two types of thoughts.
How can negative thoughts due to anxiety affect us?
The recurring negative thoughts Not only do they cause anxiety, but they can also lead to experiencing depression. This is because our thoughts play a decisive role in our mood. So much so that research shows a clear association between negativity, anxiety and depression.
It is obvious that by having these recurring thoughts, you probably tend to be in a bad mood constantly. Furthermore, on the other hand, people who have these negative thoughts usually create stories where they always end up in the worst role. By keeping these stories in mind too much, people can end up not taking certain actions that they really wanted because of it.
How to recognize thoughts distorted by anxiety?
In order to recognize if your negative thoughts are due to anxiety, the first step is to take into account the situation, your mood or the thought that has automatically arisen in your mind. That is, you must take into account the following:
What situation is causing the anxiety?: Being aware of when these types of irrational thoughts arise will help you know why they may arise. Start by asking yourself who you were with, what you were doing, and what time of day it was.
What is your mood?: When experiencing these intrusive thoughts due to anxiety, it is vital that you try to describe your mood and detect the degree to which it is affecting you. The important thing is to classify these thoughts.
What thoughts are repeated?: Create a list of recurring thoughts that often occur to you due to anxiety. For example, if it’s a work situation, try asking yourself if you’re afraid of this environment because you’ve had bad experiences in the past.
If you think that your negative thoughts are due to anxiety and these usually influence both your decisions and your behavior with others, it is recommended that you go to a professional psychologist to receive treatment.
How to deal with obsessive thoughts due to anxiety?
The reason is that these types of thoughts can become a problem when you end up believing that these ideas are true. Therefore, becoming aware of them is vital so that they do not affect you. Some techniques and strategies that can help you do it are the following:
Meditation: Meditation is the best way to become more aware of both our thoughts and our body. Plus, meditating not only helps you step outside of your thoughts, but it also allows you to step back from them and gain some perspective.
Write a diary: Thought journals can also help you get out of a negative spiral. To do so, you will have to identify their content, write them down and evaluate whether they are really true or not.
Analyze your thoughts: Another step that you should take into account if you suffer from negative thoughts due to anxiety is to try to look for patterns in them. For example, you can observe if these thoughts hurt your self-esteem or if they affect your relationships with those around you. Above all, you must analyze your thoughts to see if they are really true.
Challenge these thoughts: Criticize your negative thoughts if you believe they are not really true. That is, if you tend to think that you are a failure, remember those times when you did not fail.
Replace them with positive thoughts: When these negative thoughts arise due to anxiety, try to compensate them with positive ones. In the event that they arise because you are afraid of not fitting in at some new place of work, compensate them with a positive idea of how you have achieved it on many occasions.
Try to be more realistic: In many cases, negative thoughts are often because you have unrealistic goals for yourself. Maybe you think you need to be great and perfect at everything you do. These types of unrealistic goals can lead to these types of thoughts.
Don’t judge your thoughts: Judging the ideas that pass through your mind can make them gain greater strength. Additionally, you will end up feeling bad about yourself as a result of these judgments.
Don’t try to stop the thoughts: Trying to quell negative thoughts will only make more come. Therefore, it will be a bad decision to try to stop or remove them.
These are some strategies you can use to try to cope. negative thoughts due to anxiety The main key is not to believe that the content of these is reality and analyze why they happen.
