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Title: How to tame the monsters in your mind Experts call them ANTS - Automatic Negative Thoughts and unless you learn how to stop them, they'll ruin your life
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URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a ... arn-stop-theyll-ruin-life.html
Published: Dec 27, 2010
Author: Louis Atkinson
Post Date: 2010-12-28 16:31:26 by Eric Stratton
Keywords: None
Views: 209
Comments: 12
Ever dipped into the biscuit tin then decided you57;ve ruined your diet so you may as well eat the lot? Or thought that because you didn57;t get a promotion this year, you57;re destined for failure in your career? You57;re not alone. Even the most optimistic person is not immune to negative thoughts, but for some, the destructive chatter of self-doubt can be relentless. Psychologists now believe that just as feeling embarrassed can cause a physical reaction (blushing) so self-destructive thoughts can lead to ill-health, weight-gain, poor skin and misery. Psychiatrist Dr Daniel Amen has spent a lifetime studying how thoughts influence our appearance, energy and diet success. Catch-22: Negative thoughts can make negative things happen His studies have revealed that by flipping negative thoughts to positive, we can transform our lives for the better. In his new book Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, Dr Amen identifies the infuriatingly common scourge: the ANT (Automatic Negative Thought), which he describes as 56;the little voices that pop into your head and tell you you57;re not good enough, not thin enough, a rubbish daughter, mother, worker57;. But he warns to watch out for ANT infestations 52; when thousands of negative thoughts start to take over. The answer, he says, lies in simple ANT-eater techniques that stop the bugs in their tracks, ensuring they never return. 56;Your brain is a powerful organ,57; he says. 56;If you see yourself as fat, old, wrinkled or forgetful, you boost production of the stress hormone which affects your health, your weight and your mind. 56;Negative thoughts can make negative things happen. In the never-ending battles, redemption lies in building your own arsenal of ANT-eater solutions. 56;Develop an ANT-eater in your brain that can eat up all the negative thoughts that come into your head. Whenever you feel mad, sad or frustrated, write down your ANT, then write down what your ANT-eater would say to that ANT to kill it. Make a pact with yourself to not listen to your ANTS. If you do this, your thoughts will translate into actions and those actions will cause your body to transform into the body you57;ve always wanted. Your body follows your mind. It has no choice.57; Stress buster: Try to put a positive spin on anything you can to raise your mood NINE SPECIES OF ANT (and ANT-eater solutions) (Watch out for the red ANTs 52; these ones really can sting!) ANT: All or nothing This is the black-and-white thinking that leads you to believe everything is either all good or all bad. It57;s the warped logic that dictates that if you miss one day at the gym you therefore have no self-discipline and might as well give up the whole idea of exercise completely. ANT-eater: Force yourself to acknowledge that one slip-up doesn57;t mean you should give up. If you skip the gym one day, make sure you go the next. If you find yourself saying 56;I will never lose weight57; you are acting as if you have no control over your actions. ANT-eater: Never say never 52; put a ban on over-generalised words If you find yourself dwelling on negatives at the expense of positives you57;ll be more inclined to give up than to persist. ANT-eater: Try to put a positive spin on anything you can to raise your mood. When you assume your feeling about something is true, you may not question it. ANT-eater: Think with logic instead 52; look for evidence to support and challenge your view. Using the words 56;should57;, 56;must57;, 56;ought to57; and 56;have to57; allows feelings of guilt to build up and start to control your behaviour. ANT-eater: Banish feelings of guilt, do what you can, but not at the expense of your own health or sanity, and use the word 56;should57; only when it suits you. If you label yourself (56;I57;m a loser57;) you take away your control over your actions and you57;ll start to believe your negative labels. This defeatist attitude will then mean you have a tendency to give up easily. ANT-eater: Avoid labelling yourself, and flip the labels you57;re stuck with (56;I am not a loser57;). Predicting the worst even though you don57;t know what will happen (56;I know I57;m never going to be able to stick to this exercise programme57;). These ANTs are very common and can quickly become an ANT infestation. The problem with fortune-telling is your mind is so powerful it really can make these terrible things more likely. ANT-eater: Ask yourself what right you have to be a fortune-teller. You don57;t know what the future holds. Instead, be curious about the future in a positive way. When you think you know what someone else is thinking (56;he57;s looking at my bottom, he must think I57;m too fat57;). ANT-eater: You have no idea what people are thinking. If someone looks at you it does not necessarily mean they are judging you. It57;s toxic to blame others and take no responsibility for your own successes and failures. When you begin a sentence with 56;it is your fault57; it can ruin your life. These ANTs make you a victim. ANT-eater: You are responsible for how your life turns out. You can57;t keep blaming others. If your ANT infestation is proving to be particularly bothersome, try this remedy. Write down your ANT 52; for instance, 56;my skin is so wrinkly and there57;s nothing I can do about it57;. Then ask yourself: Is this ANT actually true? How does this ANT make you feel? Who would you be and how would you feel without this ANT? Now take your original thought and turn it around and ask: is the opposite of my original thought true? Answer: So there is something I can do to prevent wrinkles 52; I57;ll start looking into getting more sleep, cutting back on alcohol etc. Extracted from Change Your Brain, Change Your Body by Dr Daniel Amen, published by Piatkus on January 6 at £12.99. To order a copy (p&p free), call 0845 155 0720. How to tame the monsters in your mind
Experts call them ANTS - Automatic Negative Thoughts and unless you learn how to stop them, they'll ruin your life
A few ANTS, he says, can be managed.
ANT: Using 56;always57;, 56;never57;, 56;every time57; or 56;everyone57;
ANT: Focusing on negatives
ANT: Thinking with feeling
ANT: Guilt
ANT: Labelling
RED ANT: Fortune-telling
If you allow yourself to get stressed about something, it can depress your immune system and increase your odds of getting sick. In fact, chronic stress has been implicated in a number of diseases.
RED ANT: Mind-reading
RED ANT: Blaming others
SUPER-BOOSTER
ANT-eater solution
Answer: Yes, I have wrinkles. Then ask: Is there really nothing I can do about it? For instance, can I prevent any more wrinkles coming?
Answer: Sad and old.
Answer: I57;d feel great, as if I have more control over how I look.
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#5. To: Eric Stratton, 4 (#0)
Excellent article. Negative talk produces negative thoughts, and negative thoughts produce negative results. And in me, I'll add welts. There was a point in my life when I was in my early 30s, where I was in the NYPD, owned a successful business that was beginning to boom, and I was studying for my RN, all this while raising three young children with my wife. From out of the blue, hives began to spontaneously develop, and the only cure was an antihistamine, which made me sleepy. Since I didn't have time to be sleepy, I found a Dr. who turned me on to biofeedback. It was simply a matter of getting myself into a quiet area for 20 mins, and then listening to music. He suggested light classics, like Ravel's Bolero, etc. Well dammit if it didn't work like a charm. If I felt hives coming on (redness, itching), I'd get out my tape recorder and find a place to relax for 20 mins or so. I haven't done it in years, but I highly recommend biofeedback to anyone who tends to stress out.
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#9. To: Jethro Tull (#5)
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