Negative Thinking: Understanding, Recognizing, and Managing It

Negative thinking is like that unwanted guest who shows up at your door and stubbornly refuses to leave. In fact, negative thinking is the habit of focusing on shortcomings, expecting the worst, or viewing situations through a pessimistic lens. This type of thinking can affect your mood, productivity, and overall mental well-being.

Did you know that your brain is more inclined to negativity than to positivity? In scientific circles, there is even a term for this, the so-called negativity bias (negativity bias), and it means that the brain is more sensitive to negative stimuli. It is believed that this bias is an evolutionary mechanism that is designed to protect against danger. However, in today's world, this can lead to unnecessary stress and anxiety.

RECOGNIZING NEGATIVE THINKING PATTERNS

Negative thinking can creep into your life in many forms. One common pattern is "catastrophic" thinking, where the key word is “exaggeration.” For example, making a small mistake at work might make you think: “That's it! I'm going to be fired!". Another model is black and white thinking, where you see something in extremes, such as: "If I'm not perfect, then I'm a failure.". Overgeneralization is also one of the patterns of negative thinking. You will recognize it by making general statements based on just one event, such as the thought: "I failed this project, and everything goes to hell.". Mental filtering is also a type of negative thinking and occurs when you focus only on the negative aspects and ignore the positive ones, like when you receive one criticism and five compliments, but somehow you only hear the criticism. Another type of trap that is common is the so-called. Emotional thinking. This is when we think and make decisions based on emotions instead of logic. You will recognize it when you firmly believe that if you feel something, it must be true, such as thinking: "I feel nervous about this presentation, and I don't think I'm up to the job."

Why does this happen? Negative thinking can have a profound effect on your brain and body. When you experience negative thoughts, your brain's amygdala, often called the "fear center," becomes hyperactive. This small, almond-shaped structure is like an overactive alarm system, constantly on alert for potential threats and dangers. Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex, responsible for rational thinking and decision-making, is the part of the brain that makes you struggle to regulate these strong emotional reactions. This imbalance can lead to chronic stress, in which your body's stress response is constantly on, even when there's no real danger. Over time, this can damage your immune system, disrupt your digestive and reproductive systems, and even lead to changes in brain structure and function, especially in areas related to memory and emotion. Yes, really. On the other hand, something you've probably already experienced firsthand is that negative thinking can seriously damage relationships with your colleagues and loved ones, very often simply creating unrealistic perceptions and feelings in the people on the other side.

HOW TO DEAL WITH NEGATIVE THINKING

There are many ways you can deal with negative thinking. Today we will focus on just one of them, easy to implement, effective, and without consuming much of your time: practicing gratitude. Yes, that's right, being grateful or as it is known in other cultures, "counting your blessings."

Gratitude helps shift your focus from what’s wrong to what’s…right. Practicing gratitude has been shown to have numerous benefits for your brain and body. When you express gratitude, your brain’s amygdala activity decreases, which helps reduce stress and anxiety. Additionally, gratitude can strengthen the connection to the brain’s emotional activities, which makes it easier to regulate emotions and focus on positive experiences. Studies have shown that gratitude can strengthen the connection to the brain’s motivation for action, increasing your overall sense of well-being. On a physical level, gratitude can lower your heart rate and improve your heart rhythm, setting a good foundation for better physical and mental health. On the other hand, negative thinking can affect your self-esteem and change your perception. For example, if now that you’ve heard that you can practice gratitude to deal with negative thinking, you’ve thought "How exactly is this going to help me?!"...well, the situation is clear.

So what does it mean to be grateful? You just need to say thank you more often, maybe? Not only that. Here are four ways to practice gratitude today:

• Morning gratitude ritual: Start your day by writing down three things you are grateful for. This could be as simple as appreciating a good cup of coffee, a kind gesture from a coworker, or a recent success at work.

• Thanksgiving Holidays: Try to take 1 or 2 short breaks during the day to reflect on what is going well. This doesn't have to take a long time. For example, just trying to think about the positive aspects of your workday and your life for a minute is enough.

• Expressing gratitude to colleagues: Make it a habit to thank your colleagues for their help and support. Whether it's a quick email, a note, or a brief conversation, expressing gratitude can strengthen workplace relationships and boost morale. In the long run, try to make this a habit and express gratitude to a wide range of people in your life.

• Reflection at the end of the day: Before you leave work, try taking a minute to reflect on the positives of your day. Write down or mentally note three good things that happened, no matter how small or big they may be.

An interesting fact is that practicing gratitude can physically change your brain, literally. Regularly expressing gratitude can increase activity in the hypothalamus, which regulates stress, and boost the production of dopamine, the feel-good hormone. When you incorporate gratitude into your daily routine, you’ll find that negative thoughts have less power over you, leading to improved mood, better productivity, and overall mental well-being.

Other ways to deal with negative thinking that you could try are:

• Reframe your thoughts: Try to change your perspective. If you find yourself thinking: “I will never finish this project.", rephrase it to "This one ​​project is challenge, but I can handle it. step by step".

• Physical activity: Participating in physical activity can improve your mood and help clear your mind. Even a short walk can make a difference.

• Speak: Sometimes sharing your thoughts with a trusted colleague or friend can provide new insights and help you see things more clearly.

Negative thinking actually requires making conscious choices. One of them is to show gratitude to yourself. You can start with these powerful words below:

The topic of negative thinking is part of the training course StressOut. This is a project of BIC Innobridge through which we work hard to create quality resources to help you manage stress in the workplace. We invite you to follow the development of the project at LinkedIn and Facebook to access more quality information on workplace stress. We also invite you to take part in our international survey and tell us about your experience with stress by completing the following short survey.

The image for the article was taken from Freepik.