How do you stop your own negative thinking

[LuckyStar]

Wow! I can't seem to stop reading because I am gaining clarity with each post! Grama-Herc you have shown me another symptom that my husband shows that I never thought was a symptom. He often gets so caught up in negative thoughts and they have increased. I wish you and your kittens well and have faith your daughter will contact you when she can. Thank you for sharing so others may learn.

 

[Grama-Herc]

Lost

You just hit on another trait that seems to follow many of us here. The number of failed marriages. There is an old poll here asking how many times people have been married: [DLMURL]http://www.ptsdforum.org/thread6695.html[/DLMURL].

 

[Lost_in_FL]

It seems amazing, doesn't it? As stated above, it's becoming more and more clear what the monster inside my husband is that he could never acurately describe. Thank you, Grama Herc, for sharing your thoughts!

 

[joyfull]

What has been a bit helpful for me was to create a "dream board" with positive happy images and phrases. I chose pictures from magazines of people doing things I hope to do (dancing, playing with my kids, watching them play with each other, yoga, snorkeling etc.) and some of the phrases I chose were "I love my body now", "Your tougher than you think", "Every day is an opportunity", and "imagine choosing your own path to wellness.
I framed this even though there are still some white spaces I continue to add to it when something I see is inspiring and moves me. It is right by my bed so I see it first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
My therapist (Who I just recently started seeing) told me to tell myself something good about myself when I wake up (like I am strong, I am funny, I am worth it whatever) and also when I have the negative thoughts run through my mind to launch a counter attack even if I don't believe it.
So this has helped me, I am happier and the thoughts come less frequently. Also writing them down gives me some release too.

 

[Grama-Herc]

What a great idea!

When I was in the treatment center the activity director had us doing something like that. She gave each one of us a shoe box. We were to decorate it anyway we wanted using things cut from magazines. The outside of the box was to show how "WE" thought others saw us and the inside of the box was to display exactly how we felt on the inside.

It was an eye opener to say the least! That was in 1997 and I still have my box, treasure it and look at it often. Sometimes I match the things I see on the inside and other times I feel like WOW! I've come a long way since then

The amazing part of the exercise was what was actually in and on the box when we wee done. I said several times "I don't remember putting that in there." BUT THEN, we had to get up in front of the entire group and explain what we put in and on our box and WHY! I cried through my entire explaination.