You Need to Avoid Toxic Thoughts Like the Plague
Guess what? Most likely you think thoughts that negatively impact your mood and determine your behavior all the time without knowing it. How do I know? Because 80% of my clients suffering from anxiety do. Those unexamined thoughts are toxic.
As you know we are continually exposed to toxic substances like the chemicals in our food and water. People who know the short-term and long-term implications of this seek to do everything in their power to reduce their exposure to the chemical toxins.
Mental health is no different than physical health. We all are susceptible to illness, in fact the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that 1 in 5 Americans will experience mental illness each year. However, many of us don’t realize that we actively invite toxic mental habits into our lives. This makes us more susceptible to suffering from a serious mental illness.
Are you worried that you might be entertaining too many of the 12 types of toxic thoughts? Well I’m here to help you get into mental shape!
In the coming months, I will help you clean up your mental health and take preventative steps to support your precious mind, body, and soul.
The 12 Types of Toxic Thoughts
As for now, here is a list of the 12 Types of Toxic Thoughts from TherapistAid.com.
How many of these types of thoughts do you think daily? The more you think the more unhealthy your mental hygiene is.
Magnification and minimization: Exaggerating or minimizing the importance of events. You might believe your own achievements are unimportant or that your mistakes are excessively important.
Catastrophizing: Seeing only the worst possible outcomes of a situation.
Overgeneralization: Making broad interpretations from a single or few events. “I felt awkward during my job interview. I am always so awkward.”
Magical Thinking: The belief that thoughts, actions, or emotions influence unrelated situations. “If I hadn’t hoped something bad would happen to him, he wouldn’t have gotten into an accident.”
Personalization: The belief that you are responsible for events outside of your control. “My mom is always upset. She would be fine if I did more to help her.”
Jumping to conclusions: Interpreting the meaning of a situation with little or no evidence.
Mind reading: Interpreting the thoughts and beliefs of others without adequate evidence. “She wouldn’t go on a date with me. She probably thinks I’m ugly.”
Fortune telling: The expectation that a situation will turn out badly without adequate evidence.
Emotional reasoning: The assumption that emotions reflect the way things really are. “I feel like a bad friend, therefore I must be a bad friend.”
Disqualifying the positive: Recognizing only the negative aspects of a situation while ignoring the positive. You might receive many compliments on an evaluation, but focus on the single piece of negative feedback.
“Should” statements: The belief that things should be a certain way. “I should always be perfect.”
All-or-nothing thinking: Thinking in absolutes such as “always,” “never,” or “every.” “I never do a good enough job on anything.”
Try it out: Practice Thinking About Nature the Toxic Way
- Go outside and fix your gaze on a natural world subject. Example: Your snowy yard.
- Select 3 types of toxic thoughts. Make observations of your snowy yard using only the 3 types of toxic thoughts you think. Example: Catastrophizing “This snow ruined my life!”
- Reflect: Are my toxic thoughts compelling me to enjoy the view or recoil from it?
- Application questions: What toxic thought am I guilty of entertaining? What might happen to my outlook on life if refrained from using it?
The Main Takeaway
In summary, we can’t always choose to avoid toxic things in our lives. However, we can choose to be more mindful of the quality of thoughts we think. Repetitive toxic thoughts have no place in the life of an individual seeking optimal health and wellness. How might your everyday perspective shift if you monitored your thoughts and purged toxic thinking patterns from your mind?
Want to work with me? Find me here at Psychology Today. Or here at Chesapeake Mental Health Collaborative. Check out my office location on Google Maps.
Jasmine Lehman 