Negative self talk

[victoria]

I'm wondering if any of you have had this experience, and if so, what have you done to conquer it? Upon waking the first thing I think, or say to myself, is that I am worthless, a particular word comes to mind. Other negative thoughts come, but I can usually replace those with positive ideas, that's a work in progress. But the first thing in my mind is how terrible I am. I have nightmares, what seems like every night, I'm not even sure of that. During the day something will remind me of bad dreams, & then I remember more details. If the nightmares are particularily bad, I of course remember all the details right away.

 

[Nighthawk]

Does this feeling go away or does it lingure?

 

[freakofnurture]

Congrats for battling your negative self-talk :)

If your nightmares are trauma related, this might not work, but at least for me, my random nightmares have ceased to feel scary and sometimes I am even a victorious heroine in them. Trauma nightmares didn't change, though :/

So: My T told me to write down the nightmare and give it a good ending. You can add helpers to it, a change of mind in the bad guys, give your dream-self magic abilities, whatever works for you. Whenever you think of the dream, remind yourself of the good ending. The point is to no longer feel a victim of your dreams by taking charge of the script.

Lucid dreaming could be helpful, too, but there are others on the forum who know a lot more about this technique than me, so I'll leave it to them to explain it :)

 

[Tinyflame]

As per nightmares or fear at night, it may sound silly, but I heard about a sick child once that held up their hand for their 'angel' to grasp.
It works for me.

 

[Heather]

This is what worked for me:

When I would hear the words in my head saying "you're stupid". "you're worthless" etc. I would have to make a conscious effort to say to myself "STOP". "Stop saying that!"

Then I would replace the negative word with something positive. I know I'm NOT stupid. So, I would say, "I'm smart". "I get really good grades in college because I'm smart".

I would have to say this over and over and over for months before I'd believe it. Eventually it worked. That was about 17 yrs ago. I KNOW AND BELIEVE that I am SMART.

I hope this helps. It takes practice. Lots and lots of practice.

Take care. Hugs. Heather

 

[Ted Moen]

As Heather said, immediately counter the negative with a positive, and back the positive up with something you have recently done, plan to do today, or expect to do in the near future. Sharing in a support forum counts. Your sharing helps others get through the day. Take care.

Ted