How can i have the peaceful, positive thoughts i once had? The thoughts that i have these days are full of anxiety and fear. Just pray for peace of mind. Hate these intrusive thoughts they don’t make any sense. Don’t like visualizing these thoughts either. I will try harder to think more positively. Or empty my mind of all negative content. Maybe i’ll try meditating or talking about my intrusive thoughts to someone. Hopefully this will help.
Meditating is really helpful. Also, the practice of mindfulness has been widely known to aid people in living more peaceful lives.
If you can do things to distract yourself, you should. Do something that you enjoy that requires moderate concentration. Get lost in music, art, reading, cooking or conversation. If you’re having troubling visualizations, try changing them in your mind slowly, one detail at a time, until it becomes something beautiful
Breathe and know that you are an important part of the universe and you are essential to your own destiny. Sometimes we feel so powerless, when really we are drowning in our own power unaware of how to use it.
You can do this @see121! 
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It’s generally the premise of CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy)
Anther way is reading positive affirmations to yourself. In front of the mirror was what they use to suggest.
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I’d start by writing out a list of positive things. Repeat them over and over in your mind. Keep adding to the list, and keep grinding them into your head. It should take after a while.
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Don’t try to get an entire day back at once – that won’t happen. You’ll get frustrated and give up. What I did at first was aim for five minutes. Just five minutes. Light a candle, pour a good cuppa tea, relax, and get that five minutes of Serenity. When I did, I made a note and put it into a box describing where, when, and how.
As I kept doing this the calm periods started getting longer. Now I can get up to a couple of hours in some days before I have to start with, “shut UP, brain!” I try different things to relax. I write down what works. If I can’t relax at all, I write that down too and also put it in the box.
When you’ve got lots of little notes, take them out and spread them in front of you. See what worked when you had your biggest successes. What rituals worked. See what didn’t. Do more of the things that worked and less of the things that failed.
This was my utterly unscientific approach that I was given by a sponsor in a 12 Step program, but it has kept me going for over two decades without my wife divorcing me or my daughter being labeled ‘at risk’ at school (she’s 13 now).
So that’s something.
Peace out.
Pixel.
Edit: What I meant to say earlier but failed to articulate is that humans are driven by habits. Healthy ones and also not so healthy ones. The unhealthier you are as an individual, the more at risk you become for developing bad habits. That’s why, when the meds kick in, we’re still fairly miserable. Yeah, the symptoms that were torturing us may have been alleviated some, but we’re stuck with the bad habits we developed while ill (being depressed can become a habit!). It takes ongoing effort to develop positive new habits to replace the old ones. It could be a workbook and mindfulness exercises given to you by a therapist, or just some comforting rituals from a sponsor in a 12 Step program, but you need to change things up to change for the better.
Noting changes if nothing changes as they say in recovery circles.
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As do I see121. What seems to help is to reminisce of all the people that have helped me along the way thus far, even if it was a rude comment I have learned that is not for me to say unto another as I too am only human yet no different than an animal.