Unwanted thoughts cause a lot of harm to people. These injuries put a lot of pressure on people at any given time. How you control and deal with negative thoughts varies from person to person. Psychologists have offered various solutions to stop these thoughts. Of course, no matter how much we want to weave negativity, even if you don’t believe in karma, you put up with a lot of stress. So it is better to think positively and strive for success in your life.
Success requires effort. In fact, you need to communicate to be successful in life. You can find someone who wants to be alone for life. Loneliness can cause various psychological damage to people. In previous articles, we talked about loneliness and its effects on people. Relationships fall into positive and negative categories. Sometimes you may inadvertently get into a negative relationship. Sometimes you yourself cause this negative relationship. Next, we want to see how scientists have revealed how to train your brain to avoid unwanted thoughts.
Relationships and the effects of unwanted thoughts
Doctors and psychologists say that people should think about the harm each word can do to the other person. If they want to get into a relationship with a problem they have in themselves or if they have negative behaviors, they can cause serious damage to their spouse and relationship. In continuation to this article, which was written on the Hamada website as the first and largest online psychological counseling center in Iran and a provider of counseling and psychological services, we would like to discuss with scientists how to train your brain to block unwanted thoughts. Know, let’s talk.
You may like to read: Researchers have uncovered some habits that harm people’s mental health
Doctors and psychologists say that people should think about the harm each word can do to the other person. If they want to get into a relationship with a problem they have in themselves or if they have negative behaviors, they can cause serious damage to their spouse and relationship. In continuation to this article written on Hamada website as the first and largest online psychological counseling center in Iran and a provider of counseling and psychological services, we would like to talk about how to stop negative thoughts.
What problems do unwanted and negative thoughts bring?
Negative thinking can contribute to problems such as social anxiety, depression, stress, and low self-esteem. The key to changing your negative thoughts is to understand how you think now (and the problems they cause), and then use strategies to change those thoughts or make them less effective. Our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are all interconnected, so our thoughts influence how we feel and act. So, even though we all have unhelpful thoughts from time to time, it’s important to know what to do when they pop up so we don’t. Rachel Goldman, PhD, a psychologist and clinical assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine, explains that letting them change the course of our lives.
Point related to this area
Therapy can often be helpful in changing unwanted and negative thoughts. But you can also learn how to change your thinking patterns. This article discusses some of the steps you can take to change your negative thoughts.
Practice mindfulness and self-awareness
Mindfulness is rooted in meditation. It is the practice of separating yourself from your thoughts and feelings and observing them as an outside observer. Practicing mindfulness can help you become more aware of your thoughts and develop greater self-awareness. Mindfulness is about changing your relationship to your thoughts. Try to see your thoughts and feelings as things floating in front of you that you can stop. Notice or let these thoughts pass through your mind.
Be aware of the effect your thoughts have on your emotions and behavior. Watch your thoughts and ask yourself if this idea helps. How does this thought cross your mind? How does this idea make you feel? The goal of mindfulness is to allow the thinking part of your brain to control your emotional reactions to situations. It has been hypothesized that practicing mindfulness may facilitate the ability to use thoughts more consistently.
Studies related to this field
One study found that people who participated in a mindfulness practice experienced fewer negative thoughts after being exposed to negative images. This suggests that mindfulness may reduce the impact of negative thinking.
Identify your unwanted and negative thoughts
While noticing your thoughts, work to identify and categorize negative cognitive distortions. For example, if you tend to think of yourself as a complete success or failure in any situation, you are engaged in “black and white” thinking. Other negative thinking patterns include:
Quick conclusion
This distortion involves making assumptions about what other people think or making negative assumptions about how events are going.
Disastrous
This negative thinking style is characterized by the assumption that the worst possible outcome will occur without considering the most likely and realistic possibilities.
Excessive generalization
This style is characterized by the tendency to apply what happened in one experience to all future experiences. This can make negative experiences seem inevitable and contribute to feelings of anxiety.
Putting signs
When people describe themselves negatively, it affects how they feel about themselves in many ways. For example, a person who considers themselves “bad at math” often feels negatively about activities that include that skill.
Sentences with the word “must” for unwanted and negative thoughts
Thinking marked by “should” only contributes to the negative outlook by thinking about what you “should” do. Such statements are often unrealistic and leave people feeling defeated and pessimistic about their ability to succeed.
personalization and blame
This thinking style involves personalizing things, even when they are not personal. They often make people blame themselves for things they have no control over.
Scientists have revealed how to train your brain to avoid unwanted thoughts?
University of Cambridge researchers have identified a key chemical in the brain that allows us to suppress unwanted (opposing) thoughts. Dr Michael Zanderson, Professor of Neuroscience – with his team of researchers at the University of Cambridge – discovered this chemical in the area of the brain responsible for memory formation. “Our ability to control our thoughts is fundamental to our well-being. When this ability is lost, it causes some of the most debilitating symptoms of mental illness.” ~Professor Michael Anderson, University of Cambridge
Hint
Additionally, this research helps explain why people who have unwanted thoughts — such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, and schizophrenia — often struggle with persistent aggressive thoughts.
Professor Anderson says the ability to control thoughts is very important for mental and physical health:
When this ability is lost, it produces some of the most debilitating symptoms of mental illness: intrusive memories, images, hallucinations, rumination, and persistent pathological fears. These are all major symptoms of mental illness such as PTSD, schizophrenia, depression and anxiety.
Stop negative thinking and unwanted thoughts
In many ways, the ability to stop negative thinking is similar to physical self-control. “We can’t survive without controlling our actions,” Anderson says. “We have a lot of quick reactions that are often helpful, but we have to control these actions and prevent them from happening.” Anderson posits that we as humans have a “similar mechanism” to stop unwanted thoughts. The prefrontal cortex, or PFC, supports the “executive function” area of our brain. The PFC is associated with planning complex behaviors, attention, critical thinking, problem solving, self-awareness, decision making, social cognition, and working memory.
Hint
The PFC can also be considered the “control center” of the brain, as it regulates other brain regions such as the motor cortex and hippocampus. Only recently has a region of the PFC been discovered that plays a major role in stopping unwanted thoughts.
Studies related to this field
Anderson’s research was published in Nature Communications on November 3, 2017. The researchers conducted an activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. They observed the participants’ brains as they attempted to suppress their thoughts about a particular task.
Spectral feedback showed that “the ability to suppress unwanted thoughts depends on a neurotransmitter – a chemical in the brain that allows messages to pass between cells – called GABA”.
Hint
GABA is the brain’s primary inhibitory neurotransmitter that helps regulate the activity of excitatory (excitatory) neurotransmitters such as glutamate and dopamine. Here is a detailed summary of Anderson’s findings:
The concentration of GABA in the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for memory formation, determines a person’s ability to control unwanted thoughts.
Suppression of unwanted thoughts depends on the activity of the PFC such as the hippocampus. (This slows down the process, as most neuroscientists focus on the PFC for such roles.)
People with lower concentrations of GABA in the hippocampus were less able to suppress the prefrontal cortex, and repressed thoughts much less quickly.
The study findings may lead to additional insights – and potential treatment options – for schizophrenia. (Patients with schizophrenia show hyperactivity in the hippocampus, which is thought to be responsible for hallucinations and other disturbing symptoms.)
Scientists have shown how to train your brain to avoid unwanted thoughts:
Increased GABA levels and unwanted thoughts
Because Anderson’s research is so new, potential treatments have not yet been explored. However, it is clear that correcting a GABA deficiency – a neurochemical imbalance – can be helpful in suppressing unwanted thoughts.
For those who deal with aggressive thoughts, increasing GABA levels in the brain may help. Fortunately, there are many natural ways to do this.
