NHS Fife Department of Psychology

Negative
Thinking
CBT Tools

Help Yourself @ moodcafe.co.uk

Negative Thinking

Negative thoughts are associated with negative feelings such as sadness,

anxiety, anger, and hopelessness. Often we are not aware of our negative
thoughts as they occur automatically, seem reasonable and believable. The
worse we feel, the more likely we are to think negatively and believe these
thoughts to be true, even though they are unreasonable and unrealistic.
Negative thoughts are experienced by all of us at at some time but are more
prevalent and extreme whenever we feel stressed, anxious, irritable or
depressed.

Thought Traps

There are different types of common negative thought patterns known as

Thought Traps that occur whenever we thinking negatively. The type of
thought traps may vary depending on our mood and the particular situation
that we are in at any given time, Some example are given below. Learning to
recognise these thought traps is the first step in overcoming them.

Mind reading: Believing that you know what another is thinking.

Example: “He thinks I’m a loser.”

Labelling: Calling yourself or others names in an unduly negative way.

Example: “I’m a failure,” “He’s an idiot,” “I’m useless”.

Fortune telling: Making negative predictions about the future

Example: “I’ll get rejected,” “I’ll make a fool of myself.”

Catastrophising: Predicting the absolute worst case scenario, ‘making a

mountain out of a molehill’.
Example: A loved one is home late from work, imagining there has been a
terrible accident and they have been taken to hospital, or worse – they have
died.
Overgeneralising: if something didn’t work out once, assuming it never will.
Example: If you have been working hard one day but don’t quite finish
everything, you may think “I’ve got nothing done” and this deprives you from a
sense of achievement for what you have done.

All-or-Nothing Thinking: seeing things as being either, or.

Example: black or white with no shades of grey, success or failure, good or
bad.

Ignoring the Positives: focusing on the negative in a situation rather than

seeing the whole picture.
Example: You have done well in a task at work, but you keep focusing on
earlier mistakes. You have good friends that have known you for years but
you focus on the friendships that didn’t work out.

Emotional Reasoning: using your emotions or mood as a means of

interpreting whats happening around you
Example: I feel uptight so something dreadful is about to happen

Personalising: taking things personally, assuming responsibility

Example: My neighbour did not speak to me this morning, therefore I must
have done something to upset them; or my boss is irritable today so I must
have annoyed her.

Shoulds and Musts: assuming that things have to be a certain way, that we
have to abide by certain rules
Example: I should always give everything I do 100%, I must not fail, or I must
not be rude so other should not be either.

Challenging Thought Traps

When you are able to identify the common negative Thought Traps you can
then challenge these by applying a more rational, balanced approach to our
thinking. Searching for evidence that a particular thought trap is true can be
an effective challenge for most thought traps.
Challenging Unhelpful Thoughts
Why is it a Good Idea to Challenge Negative Thoughts?
One of the first things people do when they are experiencing a lot of negative
thoughts is to try and not think about them, or push them out of their mind.
However, this doesn’t always work. In fact the more you try not to think about
something the more it can intrude into your mind.
The following pages show you five ways to challenge unhelpful thoughts.

1.) What are the chances...

‘putting your money where your mouth is’
This challenge assumes that the things you worry about are unlikely to
happen. It asks you how much of your own money would you bet on it
happening. Here are some examples:

"If I don't get out of here, I'm going to faint"

Challenge "What are the chances of me fainting? I always think
that I am going to faint yet I never have since I was pregnant. On
the few times when I haven't been able to get out, I have felt very
faint but then the feeling passed and I was OK. So just stay and
brave it out. I'll be fine"

"My heart is pounding and my pulse is racing. My fingers are

tingling. I'm going to have a heart attack"
Challenge "What are the chances of me having a heart attack?
I've been through this many times before and I've never had a heart
attack. My doctor has told me my heart is in fine shape. I saw all my
symptoms in the handout. Even although they can come on when I
feel calm, I now know that this is normal in stress”
2). What is the worst thing...?
(‘putting the lid on it’)
This challenge assumes that the things you worry about may well happen but
are you making too much of them. So you learn to put the lid on the stress.

"What if I start to blush in front of the people at work? I would want to

die"

Challenge "What is the worst thing that can happen? I've blushed in
front of them a few times and I was very self-conscious. Nothing else
happened. So if it happens again - will it be the end of the world? - will they
disown me? - No. So, at worst, I would be embarrassed. I hate it but it isn't
going to kill me. Don't make too much of it"

"What if I forget all the prices? I'll come across like an idiot" (salesman)

Challenge "What is the worst thing that can happen? The worst thing is
that I'll forget the prices. Big deal - I'll look up my price book. I may not come
across like the world's greatest salesman but I won't look like the worst. I've
looked up the book hundreds of times in front of customers in the past. Keep
things in proportion"

3). Am I right to think that....?

(‘weighing the evidence’)

This challenge assumes that you may be missing some important evidence. If
you look for that evidence, your stress might lessen. Here are some examples
(think what would happen if the person doesn’t challenge these fears):

‘They are all looking at me. They can all see that I can’t cope with this’
Challenge ‘Am I right to think that they are all looking at me? Look around
- they are just getting on with it. They are not bothered about me. I’m being too
sensitive. I know I can hide my stress well. I think I look OK. In any case, I
might be very tense just now but I am still coping’

‘I’m a failure’
Challenge ‘Am I right to think that I’m a failure. I know I shout at the wee
ones a lot but depression makes me do this. I try my best and a lot of the time,
I can be OK. I’m holding down my job - just but I’m still coping. I ask too much
of myself - I can’t be perfect. I’m far from it but I’m not the worst by a long shot’

4). The five year rule

(‘the history game’)

This challenge assumes that the thing you are worrying about has happened
or will happen. It then asks you to stand back from it and work out how bad it
really is. You ask yourself ‘will this matter in 5 years' time?’.

‘I really messed things up this morning. I made a real fool of myself. I’m not
going back’

Challenge ‘How big a deal will this morning be in five years time? Get
things in perspective here. It was awful this morning but it is over and I am still
on my feet. I’ve learned something and it won’t happen again. If that is the
worst thing to happen to me for the next five years then I will be lucky. Stick in
there’
‘My life will never change. I will always feel like this’

Challenge ‘Will I feel the same in five years time? How should I know? I
can’t read the future. I do feel in the pits just now but I’ve been here before
and picked up. I can do the same again. But this time, I have the chance to
learn better ways of coping. Life can change - don’t give up’

5). What is this worth?

(‘is life too short?’)
This challenge asks you, given all the other things in your life, whether you
are spending too much time thinking about things that don’t deserve it.

‘I go to bed each night worrying about how I coped today. Did I say something
silly to my neighbour?, Was I too hard on the kids? I always feel I have failed
and I feel that I am stuck in a very deep rut’
Challenge Is life too short to worry like this? No-one at home says I’m
failing. In fact, they often say how well I deal with the kids. My neighbours
always talk to me so they must think I’m OK. On one level, things are going
fine. Yet my life feels miserable. I should learn to pat myself on the back a bit
more’

‘I feel envy and hatred towards so many people. I hate myself but I don’t make
any moves to change. I am wasting my life
Challenge Is life too short to think like this? When I’m on my death bed,
do I want to look back on all the chances I have not taken? all the people I’ve
snubbed? all the fears that have held me back? I’ve only going to be on this
earth once. I’ve got to confront life. I’ve got to give it my best shot. If things
don’t work out then at least I’ve tried.
Thought Trap Challenge
Write down your negative thoughts and identify any Thought Traps. Then
use one of the five challenges from above to free yourself from the Trap

Negative Thought Traps Trap Challenge

Unhelpful Thinking Styles
We have spent some time looking at how low mood and anxiety can bias
thinking and lead people to experience more negative thoughts. However,
anxiety and depression can also impact on our style of thinking. For
instance, someone with depression is more likely to dwell on or ruminate
about the past; whereas someone with anxiety is more likely to worry about
the future. Perfectionism can also be an unhelpful style of thinking and can
lead people to experience low mood, irritability and anxiety. Rumination, worry
and perfectionism are summarised below.

Rumination
Rumination involves thinking repeatedly about past events, some people call
it ‘dwelling’ on things or analysing things. People with low mood usually
engage in this type of thinking in an attempt to make sense of their past and
why bad things have happened to them. Some people with depression also
tend to believe that dwelling on past events can help them to reach a better
understanding of their problems and make them feel better.

However, dwelling on the past and focusing on why bad things have
happened doesn’t always help, as we often don’t know why bad things
happen and focusing on them doesn’t help us to move forward. In fact there
is a lot of research evidence to suggest that ruminating about the past actually
maintains depression and is unhelpful. Over analysing things and dwelling on
things is not going to make us feel better or happier. When you think about it
you don’t often meet many cheerful philosophers!

Rather than continually asking why i.e. ‘Why don’t I feel any better’, it is
more helpful for people to ask themselves what i.e. ‘What am I going to do
to make myself feel better?’.

Worrying
People tend to worry when they feel anxious about the future. People who
suffer from anxiety tend to think that worrying is going to help them to prepare
for the worst. They also think that worrying may help them to solve their
problems. In fact worrying doesn’t help us to prepare for the future or help us
to solve problems. Instead worrying can make us feel even more anxious
about the future and less able to cope if in fact the worst did happen.

To help manage your worry it can be useful to set yourself some ‘Worry
Time’. This involves setting a specific 10 minute slot when you will sit with a
pen and paper and write down all your worries.
You then ask yourself : “Is there anything I can do about this worry right
now?”.
If the answer is yes, then go ahead problem-solve and come up with a plan of
action. However if your answer is no, then ask yourself: “can I deal with
later?”, and if the answer is still no, then try to let your worry go and focus on
something else such as another activity or relaxation.

It is important that if you find yourself worrying outwith your allocated worry
time, that you defer your worry until then. For example if your worry time is
7pm and you worry at 10am, you say ‘I will deal with this worry during my
allotted worry time so will dismiss it just now and focus on what I was doing
instead’. What people have found who have used this technique is that they
often forget some of their worries, or realise that they are unnecessary and
unrealistic.

Perfectionism
There are 3 ways in which we can be perfectionists, we can believe that:
1. we have high expectations of ourselves and become critical when
we do not meet these expectations

2. we have high standards for other people and become critical of them
when we feel that they do not meet them

3. other people have high expectations of us and can lead us to feel

rejected, ashamed or angry if we think that we have not achieved what
is expected of us.
Thinking this way can lead to low mood and anger. This is because we no
longer get any enjoyment out of what we do because we are too busy
worrying about the outcome. If our standards are not met we can become
critical of ourselves and other people. When this criticism is directed at
ourselves it leaves us feeling down. If our anger is targeted at other people
this can lead us to feeling guilty and damage our relationships. Ultimately this
can leave us with low self-esteem.

Challenging Perfectionism
It is common to think that if we do not hold high expectations of ourselves and
others then we will not be successful in life. However, success is about being
able to fail. After all if we are able to cope with failure then we are more likely
to try again. Consequently, by accepting that failure is part of life we may be
more likely to achieve our goals without damaging our relationships.

Quick Questions to help challenge unhelpful thinking

It takes time to learn thought challenging. It can be useful then to have some
handy and quick questions that you can ask yourself when ever your thinking
is negative. It can be good idea to write these down on a pocket sized piece of
paper/card or keep them on your mobile so that you can read them if needed.

1). Is it helpful to think in this way?

- If not, Why not?

2). What are the consequences of continuing to think in this way?

-feel worse, better?

3). What would you say to a friend who was being so critical of
him/herself?
- Would you agree with them?
- If not, why not?
Cost-benefit Analysis
Another way of challenging our thinking is called Cost-Benefit Analysis. This
really means looking at both the advantages and disadvantages of continuing
to hold a particular thought or belief. Firstly you need to select a thought or
belief which you wish to work on. Then try to think of the advantages of
holding that thought. Put them in the benefits column in the table below.
Following this, list the costs that holding the thought has on your life. Make an
effort to list more costs (disadvantages) than benefits (advantages).

Thought: “I should always strive to get others approval”

Benefits of Thought Cost of Thought

It means I try hard to get people’s It’s exhausting and means I’m
approval and not let this slip. always striving.
If I stop trying people might not Trying hard all the time actually
like me as much. makes me feel worse!
It puts me off meeting people.
Lowers my mood.
Makes me feel more anxious around
people

This is a useful exercise to show that what you may believe is a useful way for
you to think actually costs more than you realise. Hopefully this will help you
be motivated to change your thinking. This exercise can also be used to
examine the costs/benefits of a behaviour too.
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Reviewed 2013