If you have made it this far you have hopefully already read my blogs over the past 2 weeks regarding Core Beliefs and Unhelpful Thinking Patterns. Today we’re going to focus on a few different ways to challenge this negative unhelpful thinking. Some of this may look familiar if you read my blog “A New Year a New You.” In this blog I am going to give a few different ways to challenge this unhelpful thinking and let you decide which one(s) work best for you.

Unhelpful thinking patterns are very quick, automatic patterns of thinking that you have about yourself, others and life in general and they are often in line with your core beliefs. They are typically negative, judgmental, exaggerated, inflexible, rigid and very convincing. On top of that, they distort reality and contribute to feelings of depression, anger, stress, loneliness, hopelessness, helplessness, distrust, anxiety and fear. Other terms for thinking distortions are “Cognitive Distortions”, “Negative Thinking Patterns”, “Thought Distortions”, or “Automatic Thinking.”

Core beliefs are thinking patterns that we develop over time. We typically develop these beliefs through childhood and they become fairly fixed by late childhood or early adolescence. Our core beliefs direct how we judge our past actions and how we think about the future. Some core beliefs can be helpful, and some can be unhelpful.

Exercise is a natural anti-depressant. Not only does it make you feel good about yourself and doing something good for you. Science actually shows that it helps to change the chemistry of the brain, not only improving mood but also helping your brain to process anti-depressant medications more effectively.

Suicide is not a topic that many people openly talk about, even mental health providers often have a hard time asking patients about their suicidal thoughts, plans, if they have the means to follow through with the plan and what is their level of intent. But these are very important conversations we need to be having, not just as providers but with our loved ones.

Sounds like an oxy-moron right? By now you’ve probably gotten to the point where you feel like you’re losing your mind and trust me, you aren’t alone.

Apps and other ways to maintain social connection during the time of Social Distancing:

I’m going to a little off course here from my original plan as it seems this COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic is going to be sticking around for awhile.

Depression is often episodic, sometimes chronic, and/or comes and goes. Depression looks different in everyone and there are a variety of types of depression. Typical symptoms of depression include ongoing feelings of sadness, sleeping difficulties (typically over sleeping), loss of interest or pleasure in things you normally enjoy, feeling tired/fatigued daily despite adequate/excessive sleep, weight loss or gain, feelings of worthlessness and/or hopelessness, trouble focusing and being productive and possibly thoughts of death or feeling like the world would be better off without you.