Skip to main content
Featured

How to Stop Negative Thoughts from Fueling Anxiety

By September 1, 2023September 4th, 2023No Comments

 

 

We listen and believe what our mind tells us. Start making changes by questioning if what your mind is telling you is helpful, neutral or harmful.

Negative Thoughts and Anxiety

Thoughts come in and out of our minds all day long. Sometimes they are helpful, sometimes they are neutral, and sometimes they are harmful. For people with anxiety, harmful thoughts tend to come more frequently and sometimes we are unable to let them pass. Anxiety can feel like a heavy burden, weighing us down and making it difficult to function or enjoy life. Very often, we believe what we tell ourselves. ⁠This is referred to as “cognitive fusion,” our tendency to become stuck to the thoughts we have and believe what we think. Cognitive fusion pulls us away from things that are valuable and important for us.

negative thoughts and anxiety

Nervous System Regulation

Nervous system regulation is our ability to respond to stressors in our daily lives. Our nervous system regulation or dysregulation brings us its own set of feelings, thoughts, behaviors and bodily experiences. There’s so much more to us than just what we think about daily. Don’t over identify with your thoughts, you are more than that. Changing our thoughts and emotions when we are feeling anxious or upset is difficult because it really is not under our direct control. When this happens, it’s important to acknowledge and accept the feelings even if they are unpleasant. Doing this, instead of denying the feelings and trying to force yourself to feel better, can help the feelings resolve themselves and put you back in sync with your nervous system.

negative thoughts

 
When having an anxiety response, it can be easy to get caught up in your thoughts and start the downward spiral of negative thinking. Here are some things I want you to remember when you notice a pattern of negative thoughts in your head:

 

  • Thoughts are just thoughts. Not everything we tell ourselves is true. Thoughts aren’t facts. They don’t predict the future. We are not our thoughts. Thoughts simply give us information about what we feel/our state now
  • It’s what you do with those thoughts that counts. Do you allow them to change your behavior? Can you stop and observe your thoughts? Pause. In that pause is your power to choose differently.
  • Remember that your anxious mind will tell you lies. Not to hurt you, but to protect you. Treat it as a well meaning friend.

Therapy and  Healing

Sometimes we are not given the proper tools in childhood to be able to practice nervous system regulation to combat our anxiety. If you feel that your anxiety can easily overwhelm you and you have trouble stopping negative thought patterns, please know that you are not alone. There are tools that you can learn to change your thinking patterns and have more control over your mind and your thoughts. There are therapists in your area who can help you with anxiety and nervous system regulation skills. Reach out to one today to take back control of your thoughts.