As a psychological state writer, I’m constantly in conversation with therapists, counselors, and psychologists. And sometimes an equivalent tip pops up frequently enough that I finally need to say, “Okay, i assume this is often an enormous one.” Most of the time, those big tips are literally incredibly simple. Case in point? Keeping a log of your negative thoughts. Experts have recommended this small practice to me for articles on emotional regulation, managing anxiety, mindfulness, practicing self-care, increasing self-awareness, and more—so I figured it had been time to dedicate an entire article thereto .
If you’re anything like me, you would possibly think that you’re pretty tuned in to your own thoughts at any given time. Like, they’re your thoughts. But the method of taking the nebulous cloud of words and feelings floating around inside your head and translating them into solid, concise statements are often illuminating for a spread of reasons. First and foremost, tons folks have a habit of taking our thoughts at face value, which may have a negative impact on our psychological state as long as our thoughts—particularly our negative thoughts—are often distorted and need further investigation.
So next time you discover yourself having a negative thought, from a selected anxiety (“My friend hates me because she didn’t answer my text!”) to a hazy emotion (“I’m feeling really bad about myself today!”), stop yourself and ask, What am I thinking right now? Then write it down, either during a notebook, random word doc, or dedicated app. Here are a couple of reasons why:
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Writing down your thoughts helps you identify patterns.
Like i discussed earlier, albeit it’s easy to assume an idea is automatically true or important simply because we expect it, our thoughts can often be distorted. “A thought is sort of a pair of sunglasses,” Regine Galanti, Ph.D., licensed psychotherapist and founding father of Long Island Behavioral, previously told me. “If you check out the planet through sunglasses, things look a touch different.”
That’s because we’re vulnerable to “cognitive distortions,” or mental traps tons folks fall under that impact how we interpret our thoughts and experiences. Some examples you would possibly be conversant in include all-or-nothing thinking (“I’ll either nail this presentation or fail miserably”) or catastrophic thinking (“What if the plane crashes during my flight?”). Seeing them written out might sound dramatic, but if you’ve had these sorts of thoughts before, you recognize how real they feel within the moment.
Even if you’re not intimately conscious of all the official cognitive distortions out there, you'll still start to acknowledge patterns in your thinking also as specific triggers. for instance , you would possibly notice that you simply have a bent to take a position tons about things that are beyond your control or make yourself feel bad by comparing yourself to others. Whatever you learn, it’s sure to be helpful in learning the way to correct and keep off against distorted thinking.
It helps you work out the way to feel better too.
So many psychological state exercises around handling strong or difficult thoughts or emotions start with awareness—you need to know what you’re working with. Specificity is vital . As psychotherapist Ryan Howes, Ph.D., previously told me, “A big struggle immediately is that with all the emotions people are feeling, it are often hard to tease out and identify what’s happening .”
After you name an idea , you'll do the important work of investigating it: asking where the thought is coming from, brooding about what could be influencing it, challenging whether it’s true and helpful, and more. Sometimes this is often a super-quick and straightforward process, like realizing, Oh, I’m assuming the person I’m dating is ignoring my text because they hate me albeit i do know they’re busy at work, or, Wow, that was a very cranky thought for no good reason—I must be hungry.
The act of writing it down is additionally therapeutic in and of itself.
There’s something about taking a sophisticated thought out of your head and putting it onto paper (or screen) that takes a touch weight off your shoulders. For one, avoiding an idea rather than facing it head-on can often cause you to feel worse, Galanti previously told me, therefore the act of acknowledging it by writing it down can provide relief in and of itself. Especially if you’re someone who lets things compile in your head until you are feeling overwhelmed and bad and can’t even keep track of why anymore.
Also, writing them out can really highlight how overblown, irrational, silly, or otherwise wrong your thoughts are often . Which isn’t to mention your feelings and worries aren’t valid, but writing can assist you gain perspective and feel better. for instance , i used to be recently in an anxiety spiral about my health, and when it came time to physically spell out “I’m freaking out that i'd have cancer supported exactly one symptom I learned about by falling down a google rabbit burrow ,” I could only tease myself. Yes, my anxiety is real, but it’s also a dramatic bitch. Both are often true, which may be comforting to acknowledge .
All told, when it involves trying new self-care practices and coping mechanisms, I’m of the opinion that nearly anything is worth a try. Not everything will work for you, but you furthermore may can’t know if something will work for you until you are trying it. If you’re someone who, like numerous folks immediately , feels weighed down by anxious, sad, angry, overwhelmed, scared, and other distressing thoughts, maybe give this an attempt . we'd like all the tools we will get immediately .
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