Don't believe every thought you have
Don’t believe every thought you have! Some of your thoughts may not be true or healthy for you and contribute to your unhappiness. Treatment for anxiety, depression, trauma and relationship issues often have you pay attention to your thoughts and beliefs.
Dr Amen in his book, “Change your Brain Change your Life”, outlines some common thinking patterns that can contribute to some crumby mental health. These thoughts can ruin your day, steal your happiness and have you feeling down. He termed these thoughts as ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) and you may be dealing with an ANT infestation that you may need to take care of.
WHAT ARE ANTs?
Dr. Amen coined the term ANTs in the early 1990s after a hard day at the office, where he had seen 4 suicidal patients, 2 teens who had run away from home, and 2 couples who hated each other. That evening, when he arrived home and walked into the kitchen, he was greeted by an ant infestation. There were thousands of the pesky invaders, marching in lines on the floor, crawling in the sink, on the countertops, and in the cabinets.
As he was cleaning up the mess of ants, the acronym ANT came to him—Automatic Negative Thoughts. As he thought about his patients that day, He realized that just like his kitchen, they were also infested with ANTs that were robbing them of their joy and keeping them stuck in hurts from the past.
WHY ARE ANTs SO HARMFUL?
Negative thoughts cause your brain to immediately release chemicals that affect every cell in your body, making you feel bad. The opposite is also true—positive, happy, hopeful thoughts release chemicals that make you feel good. Your thought patterns can also have long-term effects. Repetitive negative thinking may promote the buildup of the harmful deposits seen in the brains of people that can cause some harmful health problems
WHY YOU NEED TO ELIMINATE THE ANTs
Dr Amen suggests that just because you have a thought has nothing to do with whether it is true. Thoughts lie. They lie a lot, and it is your uninvestigated or unquestioned thoughts that steal your happiness. If you do not question or correct your erroneous thoughts, you believe them, and you act as if they are 100% true. Allowing yourself to believe every thought you have is the prescription for anxiety disorders, depression, relationship problems, and prolonged grief.
You can learn to eliminate the automatic negative thoughts and replace them with more helpful thoughts that give you a more accurate, fair assessment of any situation. This skill alone can completely change your life if you embrace and practice it.
HOW TO KILL THE ANTs
Here are the simple steps he recommends to eliminate the ANTs. Whenever you feel sad, mad, nervous, or out of control, do the following:
Write down your automatic negative thoughts (ANTs). The act of writing down the ANTs helps to get the invaders out of your head.
Identify the ANT species. There are 9 types of ANTs. ANT Types
All-or-Nothing ANTs: Thinking that things are either all good or all bad
Less-Than ANTs: Comparing and seeing yourself as less than others
Just-the-Bad ANTs: Seeing only the bad in a situation
Guilt-Beating ANTs: Thinking in words like should, must, ought, or have to
Labeling ANTs: Attaching a negative label to yourself or someone else
Fortune-Telling ANTs: Predicting the worst possible outcome for a situation with little or no evidence for it
Mind-Reading ANTs: Believing you know what other people are thinking even though they haven’t told you
If-Only and I’ll-Be-Happy-When ANTs: Arguing with the past and longing for the future
Blaming ANTs: Blaming someone else for your problem.
3. Ask yourself if the thought is true. Are you 100% sure it’s true?
4. Ask yourself how you feel when you have the thought. Then ask how you would feel without the thought.
5. Talk back to the ANTS
ANT: You never listen to me. Species of ANT: Always/ Never thinking
Kill the ANT: I get frustrated when you don’t listen to me, but I Know you have listened to me and will again
ANT: My boss doesn’t like me. Species of ANT: Mind Reading
Kill the ANT: I don’t know that. Maybe she’s just having a bad day. Bosses are people, too.
ANT: It’s your fault we have these marital problems. ANT Species: Blaming
Kill the ANT: I need to look at my part of the problem and look for ways I can make the situation better.
4. Make ANT-killing a daily habit. Killing the ANTs takes practice. You can’t just do it once and think you’ve mastered your thinking patterns. When you make it a daily practice, you will feel freer, less anxious and depressed, and less trapped in past hurts or losses.
Anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief can’t wait. Take care of it now so you can have better brain health and live life with happiness and meaning. Try these tips, read “Change Your Brain Change Your Life”, Talk to a therapist to help sort out your thoughts and improve the quality of your life. You can do something about it!
Josh Burnett is an individual and couples counselor in Charlotte, NC. He has helped many couples, men and women connect with their faith, values, self and others. His big-heart, depth of understanding, and ability to relate, help his clients feel comfortable to share the hard stuff, heal, and grow.