Recognizing and Changing Negative Thought Patterns
Written by Alyssa Amarando, an undergraduate student at UNCW and a Public Health Intern at Going Beyond the Pink.
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.
As a breast cancer patient or survivor, negative thought patterns are more common because of the emotional turmoil that is associated with a breast cancer diagnosis. This devastating diagnosis can heavily impact psychological well-being as well as physical health. Negative thoughts are a part of life and truthfully inevitable, especially as a cancer patient and survivor.
Sometimes we as humans get stuck with interpreting negative and distressing situations, over and over again. Negative thought patterns, also known as cognitive distortions, can lead to incorrect assumptions, unrealistic self-criticisms, and even denial of reality.
Breaking the cycle of negative thought patterns involves learning how to cope with your feelings and recognizing emotional triggers that lead to negative thoughts. It’s important to learn coping mechanisms and triggers because these negative thought patterns can lead to poor eating, lack of motivation to exercise, trouble sleeping, and withdrawal from friends and family. Being a breast cancer patient and survivor is already tiresome for your physical health as well as your emotional health. Learning how to control these negative thought patterns can help lower your risk of depression and anxiety.
Negative Thought Patterns and Depression
The association of negative thought patterns and depression is a classic situation of the chicken and the egg. It is not determined whether depression is caused by negative thoughts, or if negative thoughts are caused by depression. Sage Neuroscience Center, reports that there a few different examples of negative thought patterns:
Polarization or Dichotomous Thinking: This all-or-nothing mindset makes issues hard to approach and oversimplified. It involves the act of thinking that everything you do has to be the best for it to be considered successful.
Emotional Reasoning: This is a mindset of replacing logic with emotional thoughts. This type of negative thought pattern is difficult, because those who do it will replace true facts with evidence based on their own feelings.
Overgeneralization: This is the act of taking a negative experience and fixating on it for an extended period of time.
Mind-Reading: This is a type of negative thought pattern that leads to assumptions on how someone else thinks and feels. Assuming someone feels negative towards you because they gave a short response would be an example of this negative thought pattern.
Magnification or Catastrophizing: This is a common negative thought pattern, it’s the act of taking a small situation and blowing it out of proportion. For example, allowing a small inconvenience to ruin the entire rest of your day.
Unfortunately, there are many other different types of negative thought patterns that could also be listed out. Some of the negative thought patterns could consist of one or more of the examples and some might not fit into a definition at all. Working on these negative thought patterns can be difficult, but is crucial for your mental health in the long run. Being able to recognize these negative patterns as they occur will help you stop and overcome them before letting them lead to depression or anxiety.
Changing Negative Thought Patterns
It’s important as a breast cancer patient and survivor to recognize that negative thoughts are completely normal to experience. You might often hear others tell you that staying positive will be beneficial in the long run, but that’s not always an easy thing to do. A cancer diagnosis will affect everyone's emotions and thought patterns differently. The American Cancer Society, reports that more evidence is needed to know how a person’s thought patterns might affect their cancer experience. However, some studies show that being optimistic and having a positive attitude can lead to a better quality of life as a breast cancer patient and survivor. There are a lot of coping mechanisms that you can practice to help take control over negative thought patterns:
Mental Shifts: Shifting the way you think by consciously stopping a thought pattern. When you think about a negative situation or thought, try to redirect it into something positive or reflect on how that made you feel. But think about these negative thoughts like a passing cloud in the sky, think about it for a few seconds and then move on to something else.
Keep a Journal: By keeping a designated thought journal can be beneficial for your mental health. Start by writing a thought down and write why you’re having that thought and any feelings associated with it. By writing this down, it can help you look back and reflect on these negative thoughts and determine why you’re feeling the way you feel about them.
Take a Break from the News and Social Media: The outside world can be overwhelming and stressful. Taking breaks from the news and social media is a good way to designate some time for yourself and your mental health. By ‘unplugging’ yourself from the outside world is a great way to practice boundaries and avoid being emotionally available 24/7.
Healthy coping mechanisms are not a one-time cure for negative thought patterns. It can lead to a healthy way of overcoming these pesky thoughts and can help influence a positive mindset. Be sure to treat yourself with kindness and patience, as you shift yourself into a more positive way of thinking.