Stress Center Peer Support

Has anyone else felt as if tracking your negative thoughts is like catching a fly with chopsticks? I know i have them but they pop in and out so fast and so frequent i cannot track them. Anyone have any pointers?

Hi..Catching a fly with chopsticks is the perfect description. Since most of us have so many negative thoughts it is hard to keep track of them. I floundered around with this my first go around with the program, but the second time I went through it I just wrote the negative thoughts that REALLY caught my attention. As I became more aware of my negative thoughts, I was then able to pick out the little ones that before had slipped through my grasp. Those were usually the ones that wreaked the most havoc. Now I can catch them before they can even finish being a thought. Well...most of the time. haha Don't pressure yourself during this lesson just do what you can when you can and soon you will catch negative thoughts without giving it much thought at all. Good luck to you.

Do you think it is a good idea to use another program at the same time? Before i found the attacking anxiety program i had one by bob grizwold called totally positive it is subliminal and there is another you use wide awake? Does anyone know if they can be used to compliment each other?

Good description. It felt like I couldn't catch my negative thoughts when I first tried to journal. So, that idea was my first negative thought. Positive rephrase was "Cool, there they are, and Im aware of them. I'll be able to gradually rephrase." Then another negative thought jumped in how I won't be able to continue it. So I wrote that one down, and wrote down another positive rephrase like "Oh, I can do it for today, and that is working". And so on. This continued till a positive rephrase came up that "after just a few positive rephrases, they seem to take off and spur more positive rephrases" That is a particular rephrase that has helped me. The first few written positive rephrases are cumbersome. But after a few, they take off on their own and create themselves. Its awesome.
Also, I noticed I can't rephrase well without writing down the negative and the positive because it seems like it doesn;t stick. Too fast. But, by writing my way through it, the positives take hold and change my whole demeanor. Like she says in the tape, my thoughts create me feelings. So, once I write down a realistic positive thought, my feeling changes to realistically positive. I feel good! Like I knew that I would now baby. Ha-ha, thats a song. Take care, Steven M.

That is so true...catching a fly with chopsticks!!! LOL. I'm the same way, 1 pops in and I try to right a positive but by the time I write a positive another negative pops in and so on and so forth!! It's never ending!!! But that was a good idea...writing the ones that really matter!!! I think I'll start doing that!! I wish you the best of luck & remember..think positive!!!

I thought it was just me. I couldn't find a complete negative thought. Then that would make me feel like I'm not doing something right. Thanks for the tips.

MY PROBLEM WOULD BE TRYING TO FIND A POSITIVE STATEMENT TO REPLACE THE NEGATIVE ONE. ON SOME DAYS IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME FIND SOMETHING GOOD TO SAY TO MYSELF. HOWEVER, THIS SESSION RELATED TO ME SO MUCH THAT I FROZE UP AND COULDN'T MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SESSION. I STAYED ON SESSION 3 WEEKS, AND I BEAT MYSELF UP FOR DOING THAT. BUT NOW I REALIZE THAT IT WAS THE PERFECTIONIST IN ME, THE UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS, WHICH SESSION 4 HELPED ME TO SEE.

I have had the same problem so I actually stopped ,my program. thank you for your honesty I want to work on my self in a productive way but im stuck, I will try to slow down and beaware of my negative thoughts I will start the program now thankyou.

good description. I think that maybe its like catching a fly with chopsticks when you have 1000's of flies around you and you can barely see anything but flies.

The advice here is pretty good and i agree with them. Don't fret, just keep trying. When i first started I kept asking myself, was that really what i was thinking or am i just making that up? I eventually got beyond that stage but it can take a bit.

I read in a book by dr.David D Burns about a technique you could use. You draw a stick figure with a sad face or angry face or whatever and write down the negative thoughts he's having. That sometimes helps.

As for the positive replacement. There are a couple of diffrent ways to approach it. Again David D Burns has some good ideas when it comes to that. He talks about it in his book Feeling Good (both the normal one and the handbook).

And don't expect yourself to master it in one week or even 4 weeks. It takes time.

Mike

It's so great to hear that, I was thinkin' what wrong with me? I don't I'll ever be able to track them...yay! Now I know with time it can happen.