MIAW 2019 - Challenging Negative Self-Talk

We all have a little inner chat with ourselves on a pretty constant basis, thinking about and interpreting the various situations we find ourselves in. This self-talk includes our conscious thoughts, but also our unconscious assumptions or beliefs.

People experiencing depression can often have self-talk that is skewed toward the negative, such as "Well, I'm definitely going to suck at this" or "Of course that didn't go well, I'm terrible." A lot of times these beliefs are flat-out wrong, but it's hard for us to challenge them and think about the situation more realistically or helpfully.

There are several types of questions you can ask yourself to test the accuracy of your perceptions and reflect on your thinking.

1. Reality testing: Are my thoughts factual or just my interpretations? What is the evidence for and against my thinking?
2. Look for alternate explanations: Are there any other ways that I could look at this situation? If I were being positive, how would I perceive this situation?
3. Putting it into perspective: What is the best thing that could happen? Is this situation as bad as I am making it out to be?
4. Using goal-directed thinking: Is thinking this way helping me to feel good or to achieve my goals? Is there something I can learn from this situation to help me do it better next time?

Sometimes even just asking yourself "Is this thought useful?" can be enough to adjust your perspective. By thinking about how you are thinking, you can help change the irrational parts of your thoughts into more reasonable ones.