How to
change thoughts
I have a
thought, for instance “I'm a loser” and I
want to change it, as it causes me distress through my emotional and
behavioural response to it.
Arguing
with the thought wont always be successful as you might hold the belief not due
to evidence but rather its function. In other words I want to punish myself so
that I seek to motivate myself by trying to overcome it.
Likewise
there can be so many pieces of evidence for and against you wont ever resolve
this, by argument. Arguing with a belief can also be self defeating as it
highlights the significance of the thought, which in turn means its something
to care about.
Beliefs seem
intricate, composed out of their
function, relation to evidence, , related to how I see myself, how others see
me and this is both currently and in the past. So as holding a belief is
significantly more than evidence changing this generally is never enough.
So one way
to help change a thought is not to, rather to decide if its helpful or not and
whether to take any notice of it. Mindfulness can be a great help in this .
Changing attention to something more helpful than this thought can be helpful.
This
approach comes from Acceptance and commitment therapy and you can read more
from the
