'What ifs' and Catastrophic Thinking- Part Two - Page 2

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May 19, 2000

Something else to try that is effective in controlling negative thoughts is 'thought stopping'. This is especially good for curbing negative thought cycles and repetitive thoughts. Basically all this involves is when you have a negative thought, basically say firmly and strongly (in your head, or out loud if the circumstance allows) STOP! If you picturing a stop sign while doing this it helps also. If the thoughts come again; do it once more. This method can also be quite empowering, as you are taking control of your thoughts. Through doing this you realize you don't need that particular thought, or thoughts, and that you're not even going to listen to them. Get into the habit of doing this. Don't allow negative thoughts into your mind, practice tools that will cease them.

Distraction is another good way to curb negative thinking; this can also be very easy and done in any circumstance. Basically this is just changing your focus from your fears and onto something else. For example, if you are feeling very agoraphobic and you are sitting in a car. Try and focus on the music on the radio, or perhaps the person walking past. Try doing the alphabet backwards or counting the number of red cars that drive past. Try and shift your thoughts from your worries and anxieties to a simple task or object.

Doing affirmations is also a very helpful tool to use. This retrains your thinking. Basically these are just short sentences that you repeat to yourself or meditate on such as 'every day, in every way, I am getting better and better'. To find more about affirmations please have a look at this website- http://www.io.com/~rga/affirm.html you can also find some other wonderful information here.

Something that has helped me tremendously is reading self help books- especially on negative thinking. If you read a little of these each day it's amazing how the ideas stay with you and help you through-out the day.

Negative thinking can be a very large obstacle in the recovery and improvement of agoraphobia. Through using some of the simple tools above you can retrain yourself to take control of what you are telling yourself and therefore take control of your agoraphobia.

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