Why people think negatively

It's a full-time job, and I'm not that gifted at it. I've been reading a lot about the chemicals in our brains that control behavior. I've written many times about dopamine and how positive experiences trigger warm feelings and thoughts. It's one reason we like to check email, hoping for an encouraging message. It's also why we check our phones so often for text messages. Curiously, in studying this topic lately, it turns out there's a competing chemical called cortisol that is related to your hormones and stress levels.

I find this so fascinating: Cortisol is a chemical in your brain that tends to flow more freely and spurs negative thoughts. Your brain loves cortisol. I've read dozens of books and articles about this, so I don't have one particular source for this information other than my own tacit knowledge and experiences, but there is a war between the wonderful pat-on-the-back of dopamine and the negative slap-on-the-wrist of cortisol.

Known as an alarm system, your brain releases the chemical cortisol as a way to warn you about an imminent danger, and, let's be honest, that's pretty helpful at times. The car in your rearview mirror is speeding up too fast; a toxic person in the office is spreading rumors about you.

These experiences are common, and they trigger cortisol in your brain with a snap, which means negative thoughts come more easily than positive thoughts. Think about how that works. When you see that car approaching too fast or you encounter that toxic person in the office, the default reaction--the one that is easier and more fluid, the one that seems oh-so-right to you--is to feel stress and anxiety, to assume the worst will happen, to unleash negativity.

The problem for a lot of us is that we develop a pattern of negativity because our brains prefer that pattern. The pump is already primed.

But they all involve distortions of reality and irrational ways of looking at situations and people. Goldman suggests that this step is all about identifying and labeling negative thoughts.

Just observe it and label it," she suggests. She also suggests pausing to accept the thought for what it is. Remind yourself that it's just a thought and not a fact. There are many different types of cognitive distortions that contribute to negative thinking. Learning more about these distortions and remembering that thoughts are not facts may help lessen the power of these negative thinking patterns. One of the basic parts of a treatment plan involving cognitive behavioral therapy CBT is cognitive restructuring.

This process helps you to identify and change negative thoughts into more helpful and adaptive responses. Whether done in therapy or on your own, cognitive restructuring involves a step-by-step process whereby negative thoughts are identified, evaluated for accuracy, and then replaced. Goldman suggests examining the evidence that either supports or contradicts the thought. Doing this can help you challenge negative thinking and explore alternatives that are more helpful and realistic.

Although it is difficult to think with this new style at first, over time and with practice, positive and rational thoughts will come more naturally. Cognitive restructuring can help you challenge your thoughts by taking you through steps including:. Johns Hopkins Medicine suggests trying to focus on the positive to help combat the negative thought patterns associated with depression. Ask yourself, is there any good to come out of your current situation?

However, Goldman recommends not replacing negative thoughts with overly positive ones. If the replacement thoughts are not realistic, they won't be helpful. You don't want to set yourself up for failure by replacing the thought with something that may not be realistic. A helpful technique could be to ask yourself what would you say to a friend in this situation.

One study found that a single cognitive restructuring intervention helped people reduce negative thoughts and biases that play a role in contributing to anxiety. Thought stopping is the opposite of mindfulness. It is the act of being on the lookout for negative thoughts and insisting that they be eliminated.

The problem with thought stopping is that the more you try to stop your negative thoughts, the more they will surface. This is known as thought rebounding. Mindfulness is preferable because it gives less weight to your thoughts and reduces the impact they have on you. Experts believe that the thought rebounding that takes place after trying to stop negative thoughts is much more damaging.

Instead, psychologists generally recommend finding ways to deal with the negative thoughts more directly. In addition to cognitive restructuring, another aspect of CBT that is sometimes helpful for those with social anxiety involves something known as the "assertive defense of the self.

Since it is possible that some of the time, people will actually be critical and judgmental toward you, it is important that you are able to cope with rejection and criticism. This process is usually conducted in therapy with a pretend conversation between you and your therapist to build up your assertiveness skills and assertive responses to criticism.

These skills are then transferred to the real world through homework assignments. For example, if faced with criticism in real life, having a set of assertive responses prepared will help you deal with these potentially anxiety-provoking situations. What's more, real-life encounters are welcome as a chance to put into practice this exercise, according to this method.

Some research suggests that facing potential "social mishaps" that contribute to anxiety and negative thinking can also be helpful. The goal of improving your ability to handle criticism and rejection is to help increase your tolerance of the distress these things may cause, which may combat your automatic negative thoughts. Thought diaries, also called thought records, can be used as part of any process to change negative thinking.

Thought diaries help you identify negative thinking styles and gain a better understanding of how your thoughts and not the situations you are in cause your emotional reactions. Most CBT treatment plans will involve the use of a thought diary as part of regular homework assignments. For example, a thought diary entry might break down the thought process of a person on a date, and the emotional and physical reactions that result from negative thinking patterns.

By the end of the thought analysis, you can replace irrational thoughts about rejection with more helpful and positive ways of thinking. Negative thought includes negative beliefs you might have about yourself, situations, or others.

They can affect your mood and can be present in certain mental health conditions. Examples are, "I'll never be good enough," "They must think I'm stupid for saying that," "That situation is destined to turn out badly.

Negative thoughts are quite common. You might have negative thoughts because we're more influenced by negative than positive, or have a negativity bias. It's also possible that evolutionarily speaking, negative thinking was more conducive to survival.

Negative thoughts could occur as a result of cognitive distortions. They can be symptoms of mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. If you struggle with negative thought patterns and it's impacting your life, consider talking to a mental health professional. Here psychologist Scott Bea, PsyD, answers questions about why so many people struggle with negative thinking and explains how to adopt a more positive outlook on life.

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. A: Negative thinking makes you feel blue about the world, about yourself, about the future. It contributes to low self-worth. Psychologists link negative thinking to depression , anxiety , chronic worry and obsessive-compulsive disorder OCD. But almost all human beings contend with it — even those born with a positive outlook on life.

Our amygdala and limbic system are built to notice threats, to protect our survival. In prehistoric times, it may have been a beautiful day on the savannah, but when we were stalked by a predator, we were trained to notice that danger. Today, the same parts of our brain are active even when physical threats are minimal. They can set our hearts racing. A: Absolutely. We practice worrying, and we get better at it over time. Worry is maintained by what we call ritualized reassurance.

We think of all the negative scenarios that can possibly occur, and then all the ways we would survive them, to calm ourselves down. But reassurance is a drug with a short half-life, like caffeine. If you use caffeine to combat fatigue, the more you use, the more fatigued you become over time.