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Why is it important to turn negative self-talk into positive self-talk?
Research shows that positive self-talk can: improve self-esteem, stress management and wellbeing. reduce any symptoms of depression, anxiety and personality disorders. improve your body image and can help treat people with eating disorders. Studies have shown that negative self-talk also often goes hand-in-hand with mental health struggles and personal relationship problems. Focusing on negative self-talk can lead to feelings of hopelessness and depression. And when we’re depressed, our inner dialogue can become more negative, creating a vicious cycle. Motivational self-talk is designed to assist performance by increasing confidence, effort, and energy expenditure and by creating a positive mood (25). Instructional self-talk is designed to facilitate performance by triggering desired movement through correct attentional focus, technique, and strategy execution (25). The tricky thing about negative self-talk is that it can come in many forms. According to Mayo Clinic, there are four main ones to be exact: personalizing, filtering, catastrophizing, and polarizing. Self-talk can be both negative and positive. Many people don’t know this, but there are actually three types of self talk: Positive, Negative, and Instructional.
What creates negative self-talk?
Negative self-talk is a stressful and often involuntary form of self-criticism. These are thoughts that can be self-deprecating and may even contribute to or stem from mental health concerns like depression, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Negative thoughts are cognitive components of negative psychosocial variables such as depressive symptoms, anxiety, loneliness, and hostility. Depressive cognitions, for instance, include thoughts of hopelessness, helplessness, and diminished self-worth. Negative thinking has many different causes. Intrusive negative thoughts can be a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or another mental health condition. Negative thinking is also symptomatic of depression (Negative Thinking and Depression: How One Fuels the Other). “Self-talk strategies involve the use of cue words or small phrases aiming at enhancing performance through the activation of appropriate responses,” he says. Some examples of positive self-talk: ‘I can do it. ‘ ‘I’m good enough. ‘ ‘If I want to, I can. ‘ ‘It doesn’t matter if I make a mistake.
What is the root of negative self-talk?
Negative self-talk can come from a place of depression, low self-confidence, and anxiety and be part of a more significant mental health concern. However, you may also have habits that are causing negative self-talk. Some of these habits include: Not addressing relationship problems. Negative self-talk can have some pretty damaging impacts. Negative-self talk has been found to “feed” anxiety and depression, cause an increase in stress levels while lowering levels of self-esteem. This can lead to decreased motivation as well as greater feelings of helplessness. Positive self-talk makes a person feel good about themselves. It can encourage and motivate a person to keep going, look on the “bright side,” and put things into perspective. Examples of positive self-talk are, “I am really happy for myself,” “I am doing well,” or “That is not great, but it could be worse”. A critical inner voice may develop during times of extreme stress. It’s also sometimes seen in mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression. In such cases, your mind may engage in negative self-talk by criticizing the way you work, socialize, participate in family circles, and more. Summary. You can’t completely avoid negative people in your life, but you can learn to work with them. If you don’t consciously act around negative people, you give them the power to control your emotions thereby impacting how you feel and what you achieve. Many people don’t know this, but there are actually three types of self talk: Positive, Negative, and Instructional.
Can negative self-talk be good for you?
Rumination: Negative self-talk Thinking through a problem can be useful, but if you spend a lot of time ruminating, small issues tend to snowball. Constant rumination can make you more likely to experience depression or anxiety. Negative self-talk can come from a place of depression, low self-confidence, and anxiety and be part of a more significant mental health concern. However, you may also have habits that are causing negative self-talk. Some of these habits include: Not addressing relationship problems. 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. Write down a list of positive things that are going on in your life. When you find yourself starting a cycle of negative thoughts, pull out that list and focus on one of the positive things going on in your life or focus on a person you are grateful for.
What are two benefits of positive self-talk?
The Importance and Benefits of Positive Self-Talk As the research suggests, positive self-talk is important for a number of reasons. From helping to overcome body dysmorphia to sports performance, mediating anxiety and depression, to more effective learning: positive self-talk can make a world of difference. Motivational self-talk is designed to assist performance by increasing confidence, effort, and energy expenditure and by creating a positive mood (25). Instructional self-talk is designed to facilitate performance by triggering desired movement through correct attentional focus, technique, and strategy execution (25). “Self-talk strategies involve the use of cue words or small phrases aiming at enhancing performance through the activation of appropriate responses,” he says. Some examples of positive self-talk: ‘I can do it. ‘ ‘I’m good enough. ‘ ‘If I want to, I can. ‘ ‘It doesn’t matter if I make a mistake. It fires up your neural pathways and makes changes to those areas of the brain that makes you happy and positive. Various studies also confirm affirmations: decrease health-deteriorating stress, increase the amount of exercise people do, help you to eat more fruit and vegetables and achieve more academically. Whether you’re feeling proud of yourself after a major accomplishment or feeling down on yourself after a day when you can’t seem to get it right, the way you talk to yourself matters. That’s the idea behind affirmations — short phrases you can repeat to change the way you think and feel about yourself.
Is positive self-talk a skill?
This skill involves developing a few key phrases that are powerful and will jolt your brain from thinking negative to thinking positively. Two of the most effective are positive reframing and examining the evidence. These can help shift your interpretation of a negative situation and your feelings about it. I will give respect to others and I will receive it back. I have unfathomable power to in my mind to create an amazing life for myself and those around me! I will help others and they will help me. My good thoughts are POWERFUL and my negative thoughts are WEAK. We dive straight into solving the problem without asking for other people’s perspectives. So, the first step is to recognize it and simply ask for as many different perspectives as possible.