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Thursday, June 21, 2012 Depression: How to Challenge Negative Thinking |
If you or a loved one is among the 9 percent of Americans struggling with depression, you know that it can be a complicated condition. Finding a path to healing — and turning negative thinking to positive thinking — often takes more than just medication.
Depression can be so challenging, in part, because it alters your general way of thinking. Although a person who doesn't have depression will have a normal mix of positive and negative thinking each day, having depression tends to make you filter the world through negative thoughts to the point that it distorts reality and your overall outlook on life. Instead of seeing the glass as half full, you may see it as empty.
This type of negative thinking can be overwhelming. The problem is that people with depression get caught in a dangerous spiral, where depression leads to negative thinking, and negative thinking makes them even more depressed.
And putting a stop to negative thinking isn't as simple as just shutting off a switch. Over time, these patterns get so ingrained that they become your normal, everyday way of thinking. And negative thinking often becomes a defense mechanism to rationalize feelings of depression.
Read on for strategies that can help you overcome negative thinking.
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