I write in a gratitude journal, go for walks, and I’ve been eating better, but I still feel like I’m too negative about things. The stuff that comes out of my mouth at times is…yikes! I’m sometimes passive aggressive too, or downright aggressive. I watch a lot of comedy and that helps a bit with the sadness I feel. I’ll be starting CBT soon, but I’m not sure how much that will help. What else can I try?
There was a day in January where I felt 100% sane and happy, but I can’t seem to re-create it, even when I documented all the conditions that caused it.
Do you ever block out sections of time in the organizer for different things? I try to do that but can’t seem to do what I write down, at the designated time periods. I get things done but I’m all over the place.
I always plan to start normal eating patterns but it has gotten delayed many times in my diary. And therefore, several other things get delayed correspondingly…
It’s tough getting into an eating pattern. I wrote eating times into my planner. I set main eating times at 6:30 am, 12:30 pm and 6:30 pm, with 9:30 am, 3:30 pm, and 9:30 pm for light snacks. And never follow it. I just waste red ink writing it in each day.
Being negative is somewhat normal. Its called “negativity bias” in psychology. You can look it up on google and read about it. As an example 9 people can give you compliment and 1 person can insult you and your brain will focus on the insult (The negative)
I use to have a lot of negative thoughts, one CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) trick is to write down your negative thought, then beneath it write out a positive thought that counters it. The trick is that the positive thought has to be realistic.It can be hard at first but it gets easier over time as you practice. Sometimes it would take me 1/2 an hour to come up with a positive thought when I first started doing this.
Through repetition you will eventually train your brain to automatically think in a more positive way. This doesn’t mean you won’t have negative thoughts, but there will be less of them and they won’t bother you as much because you’ll become better at countering them with positive thoughts.
CBT basically says that when you change your thinking you then change the way you feel.
endorphins are your friend. Idk to me depression isnt a choice. You’ve got to do something about it. Change requires effort. In which direction? thats for you to decide
I forgot to mention the reason why the positive thought has to be realistic. If you replace a negative thought with a positive thought that isn’t realistic you won’t believe it and then this exercise won’t work.
Yes, I remember from an anxiety “program” I ordered as a young man, the trick to changing your thoughts I think is to catch yourself when you are having a negative thought and force yourself to think something more positive instead. Sounds simple enough but managing your thoughts in this manner is more difficult than it sounds. It might help to write these things down when you catch yourself. It was a long time ago but I think I remember them mentioning writing these instances in a journal.
What else can I try?
