Tips On How To Think Positive

With all the problems we are facing at the moment,we can't help but fall into a pattern of negativity. When things don't go right for us, we lean towards bitching and complaining before we take any actions. For some, it gets more serious and they fall into a fit of depression. Here's some tips on how to stay positive from WebMD.

Depression is an illness that makes a person feel sad and hopeless much of the time. It's different than feeling a little sad or down. Depression can be treated with counseling or medicine, or both.

Positive thinking also can help prevent or control depression.

Key points

• If you have thoughts of harming yourself or others, you need to see your doctor or therapist right away. Positive thinking can help with depression. But you may also need medicine and therapy.


• Negative thoughts can make depression worse or can raise your chance of having depression.


• Cognitive-behavioral therapy, or CBT, is a type of therapy that can help you replace negative thoughts with positive ones.


• Changing your thinking will take some time. You need to practice healthy thinking every day. After a while, positive thinking will come naturally to you.

What is positive thinking?

Positive thinking, or healthy thinking, is a way to help you stay well by changing how you think. It’s based on research that shows that you can change how you think. And how you think affects how you feel.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy, also called CBT, is a type of therapy that is often used to help people think in a healthy way. CBT can help you learn to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. These negative thoughts are sometimes called irrational or automatic thoughts.

Working on your own or with a counselor, you can practice these three steps:

• Stop. When you notice a negative thought, stop it in its tracks and write it down.


• Ask. Look at that thought and ask yourself whether it is helpful or unhelpful right now.


• Choose. Choose a new, helpful thought to replace a negative one.

The goal is to have positive thoughts come naturally. It may take some time to change the way you think. So you will need to practice positive thinking every day.

Why is positive thinking important to help you cope with depression?

Changing the way you think can help you replace negative thoughts with helpful ones. This can help you cope with depression and may help keep it from coming back.¹

Maybe you weren't able to close a sale or get a big project done at work. Or perhaps a relationship has ended. It's normal to feel down. But you've had trouble sleeping. You can't enjoy many of your usual activities. And you're blaming yourself. "I'm a failure at everything," you tell yourself.

The more you think about yourself in a negative way, the harder it is to feel hopeful and positive. The negative thinking makes you feel bad. And that can make you feel more depressed, which leads to more bad thoughts about yourself. It's a cycle that's hard to break.

But with practice, you can retrain your brain. After all, you weren't born telling yourself negative things. You learned how to do it. So there’s no reason you can't teach your brain to unlearn it and replace negative thinking with more helpful thoughts.

Positive thinking also can help you manage stress. Too much stress can raise your blood pressure and make your heart work harder, which can increase your risk for a heart attack. Stress also can weaken your immune system, which can make you more open to infection and disease.

Although you can use CBT on your own, it’s important to talk to your doctor or a counselor if you feel that your mood is getting worse. You may need more help.

How can you use positive thinking to cope with depression?

Stop your thoughts

The first step is to stop your negative thoughts or "self-talk." Self-talk is what you think and believe about yourself and your experiences. It's like a running commentary in your head. Your self-talk may be positive and helpful. Or it may be negative and not helpful.

Ask about your thoughts

The next step is to ask yourself whether your thoughts are helpful or unhelpful. Does the evidence support your negative thought? Some of your self-talk may be true. Or it may be partly true but exaggerated. There are several kinds of irrational thoughts. Here are a few types to look for:

• Focusing on the negative: This is sometimes called filtering. You filter out the good and focus only on the bad. Example: "I'm sad that I don't have many friends. People must not like me." Reality: You have some friends. So that means you're likable and can make more friends if you want them.


• Should: People sometimes have set ideas about how they "should" act. If you hear yourself saying that you or other people "should," "ought to," or "have to" do something, then you might be setting yourself up to feel bad. Example: "I should get married before I'm 30. If I don't, it means I'm a loser." Reality: There's nothing wrong with having a timeline in mind. But you're not being fair to yourself if you make your self-worth depend on meeting a deadline.


• Overgeneralizing: This is taking one example and saying it's true for everything. Look for words such as "never" and "always." Example: "I got laid off. I'll never get another job." Reality: Many people lose their jobs because of downsizing and other things beyond their control. It doesn't mean that you won't be able to get another job.


• All-or-nothing thinking: This is also called black-or-white thinking. Example: "If I don't get a big raise at my next review, then it means I have no future with this company." Reality: There's nothing wrong with wanting a big raise. But if you don't get the raise, there may be reasons for it that have nothing to do with you.

Choose your thoughts

The next step is to choose a more positive, helpful thought to replace the unhelpful one.

Keeping a journal of your thoughts is one of the best ways to practice stopping, asking, and choosing your thoughts. It makes you aware of your self-talk. Write down any negative or unhelpful thoughts you had during the day. If you think you might not remember at the end of your day, keep a notepad with you so you can write down any irrational thoughts as they happen. Then write down a helpful message to correct the unhelpful thought.

If you do this every day, positive or helpful thoughts will soon come naturally to you.

But there may be some truth in some of your negative thoughts. You may have some things you want to work on. If you didn't perform as well as you would like on something, write that down. You can work on a plan to correct or improve that area.

If you want, you also could write down what kind of irrational thought you had. Journal entries might look something like this:

Thought diary

Stop your negative thought	Ask what type of negative thought you had	Choose a positive, helpful thought
"I'm sad that I don't have many friends. People must not like me."	Focusing on negative	"I have some friends, so I know I can make friends."
"I should get married before I'm 30. If I don't, it means I'm a loser."	Should	"There's no guarantee that I'll meet the right person by the time I'm 30. If I don't get married by then, I still have time to find a good relationship."
"I got laid off. I'll never get another job."	Overgeneralizing	"Our company ran into financial trouble, so I got laid off. It may take some time to get another job, but I know I will."
"If I don't get a big raise at my next review, then it means I have no future with this company."	All or nothing	"I would love to get a big raise. But it might not be in the company's budget this year."

Where to go from here

Now that you have read this information, you are ready to practice positive thinking to help cope with depression.

 

How can you use positive thinking to cope with depression?

Stop your thoughts

The first step is to stop your negative thoughts or "self-talk." Self-talk is what you think and believe about yourself and your experiences. It's like a running commentary in your head. Your self-talk may be positive and helpful. Or it may be negative and not helpful.

Ask about your thoughts

The next step is to ask yourself whether your thoughts are helpful or unhelpful. Does the evidence support your negative thought? Some of your self-talk may be true. Or it may be partly true but exaggerated. There are several kinds of irrational thoughts. Here are a few types to look for:

• Focusing on the negative: This is sometimes called filtering. You filter out the good and focus only on the bad. Example: "I'm sad that I don't have many friends. People must not like me." Reality: You have some friends. So that means you're likable and can make more friends if you want them.


• Should: People sometimes have set ideas about how they "should" act. If you hear yourself saying that you or other people "should," "ought to," or "have to" do something, then you might be setting yourself up to feel bad. Example: "I should get married before I'm 30. If I don't, it means I'm a loser." Reality: There's nothing wrong with having a timeline in mind. But you're not being fair to yourself if you make your self-worth depend on meeting a deadline.


• Overgeneralizing: This is taking one example and saying it's true for everything. Look for words such as "never" and "always." Example: "I got laid off. I'll never get another job." Reality: Many people lose their jobs because of downsizing and other things beyond their control. It doesn't mean that you won't be able to get another job.


• All-or-nothing thinking: This is also called black-or-white thinking. Example: "If I don't get a big raise at my next review, then it means I have no future with this company." Reality: There's nothing wrong with wanting a big raise. But if you don't get the raise, there may be reasons for it that have nothing to do with you.

Choose your thoughts

The next step is to choose a more positive, helpful thought to replace the unhelpful one.

Keeping a journal of your thoughts is one of the best ways to practice stopping, asking, and choosing your thoughts. It makes you aware of your self-talk. Write down any negative or unhelpful thoughts you had during the day. If you think you might not remember at the end of your day, keep a notepad with you so you can write down any irrational thoughts as they happen. Then write down a helpful message to correct the unhelpful thought.

If you do this every day, positive or helpful thoughts will soon come naturally to you.

But there may be some truth in some of your negative thoughts. You may have some things you want to work on. If you didn't perform as well as you would like on something, write that down. You can work on a plan to correct or improve that area.

If you want, you also could write down what kind of irrational thought you had. Journal entries might look something like this:

Thought diary

Stop your negative thought	Ask what type of negative thought you had	Choose a positive, helpful thought
"I'm sad that I don't have many friends. People must not like me."	Focusing on negative	"I have some friends, so I know I can make friends."
"I should get married before I'm 30. If I don't, it means I'm a loser."	Should	"There's no guarantee that I'll meet the right person by the time I'm 30. If I don't get married by then, I still have time to find a good relationship."
"I got laid off. I'll never get another job."	Overgeneralizing	"Our company ran into financial trouble, so I got laid off. It may take some time to get another job, but I know I will."
"If I don't get a big raise at my next review, then it means I have no future with this company."	All or nothing	"I would love to get a big raise. But it might not be in the company's budget this year."

6 Top Concentration Killers

Straying from the task at hand? Here's how to regain your focus.

By Jen Uscher
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

Unanswered emails are clogging your inbox, you’re wondering when you’ll find time to pick up the dry cleaning, and your brain is foggy from too little sleep.

It’s not surprising you have such a hard time tackling the projects at work and at home that demand your full attention.

To help you concentrate, experts say you first need to identify what's derailing you. Here are six common concentration wreckers and what you can do about them.

1. Multitasking

“Multitaskers might feel like they’re getting more done, but it almost always takes longer to multitask than to devote your attention to one thing at a time,” says psychologist Lucy Jo Palladino, PhD, author of Find Your Focus Zone: An Effective New Plan to Defeat Distraction and Overload.

We lose time shifting between tasks. In a 2001 study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, researchers from the University of Michigan and the Federal Aviation Administration did tests in which people solved math problems or classified geometric objects. The researchers found that people lost time when they switched between tasks. And when the tasks were more complex or unfamiliar, they took even more time to switch tasks.

The key, Palladino tells WebMD, is be choosy about when you multitask. It’s OK to talk on the phone while you’re folding the laundry, for example, but not while you’re working on a difficult or high-priority task - say, proofreading a report.

2. Boredom

Dull tasks can sap your ability to focus and make you more vulnerable to distractions.

“When you’re bored, almost anything else can be more attractive than what you’re doing,” says Gordon Logan, PhD, a psychology professor at Vanderbilt University.

Logan's tip: Give yourself little rewards, like a coffee or a favorite snack, for staying on task for a specific period of time.

“When a colleague of mine had to review a complex grant proposal, she rewarded herself with a chocolate-covered raisin each time she finished reading a page,” Logan says.

It’s also good to schedule breaks -- to take a 10-minute walk outside, for example -- so you’ll have something to looking forward to and a chance to recharge.

Boredom is one case when multitasking may work in your favor.

“Multitasking is often a help when you’re doing something so boring that you’re understimulated,” Palladino says.

If you’re having a hard time focusing on washing the dishes or filing your receipts, for instance, listening to the radio or texting a friend at the same time may keep you motivated.

3. Mental Distractions

When you’re worrying about money, trying to remember if you took your vitamins, and replaying a conversation in your head that didn’t go as planned, it's hard to settle down and stay focused on a project you’re trying to complete.

Those types of distractions -- the ones that are in your head -- “have a lot of power over us,” says Michael J. Baime, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and director of the Penn Program for Mindfulness.

One way to let go of these nagging thoughts is to quickly write them down. Add items to your to-do list, for instance, or vent your frustrations in a journal entry.

If you’re stressed about a certain problem, find a time to talk about it with someone you trust. “If you have a supportive, active listener, it can help drain away some of the tension that is bouncing around in your head,” says Daniel Kegan, PhD, JD, an organizational psychologist.

Meditation can also help.

“When you’re meditating, you learn to manage distracting thoughts so they don’t compel your attention so strongly. You discover how to refocus the attention and take it back and place it where you want it,” Baime tells WebMD.

In a 2007 study, Baime's team found that people who took an eight-week meditation course improved their ability to focus their attention.

To learn the basic techniques of meditation - such as focusing on the sensation of breathing and then transferring that focus to other sensations in the body -- Baime recommends taking an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction class, either in person or online.

4. Electronic Interruptions

“It’s easy to fall into aiding and abetting in your own distraction by checking your email all the time,” Kegan says. “If you’re trying to concentrate, you can lose your train of thought every time you hear ‘You’ve got mail’.”

We often feel like we need to respond to an email, text, instant message, or voice mail as soon as it’s received. But Palladino suggests drawing some lines so you’re not letting technology control you.

Carve out blocks of time when you can focus on your work without electronic interruptions. Try checking your email at set times each day (rather than constantly), and close your email program the rest of the time.

It may also help to change location. Take your laptop to a spot where you know you won’t have wireless access to the Web for a few hours, for example.

5. Fatigue

Many studies show that loss of sleep impairs attention, short-term memory, and other mental functions. “Your attention falls apart when you’re sleep deprived,” Baime says. Sleep needs vary, but most adults do best with 7-9 hours of nightly sleep. Getting at least seven hours of sleep will go a long way toward improving your focus during the day.

Also, try scheduling tasks that need more concentration during the times of day when you’re feeling the most alert. “Pay attention to your own biorhythms,” Kegan says, “and learn which times of day you work best.”

6. Drug Side Effects and Other Medical Issues

If your concentration problems hamper your ability to function at work or at home, or if you’re also noticing a physical symptom like weight gain or insomnia, tell your doctor. Poor concentration can stem from conditions such as ADHD, sleep apnea, depression, anemia, or thyroid disease. Certain medications, such as those used to treat depression, epilepsy, or influenza (flu) infections, may cause concentration difficulties as a side effect, as well.