Negative Thoughts - Fact Or Opinion?

The first step for reducing negative and unhelpful thoughts and increasing positive ones insteadis to become aware of the thoughts we're having.

By doing this, you can significantly reduce how often and how strongly you experience negative thoughts and moods that unnecessarily make you more unhappy than you need to be.

The starting point is to begin paying more attention to what goes through your mind and becoming aware that you may not be responding an accurate read-out of the world. They're simply thoughts and thoughts are not facts.

There’s a range of possible interpretations for the one set of facts, but the facts are still the same. Just because we think something, doesn’t always mean it’s true. So don’t always believe your thoughts, just as you wouldn’t believe everything you read in the paper.

Our thoughts about situations we face in life - how we interpret these situations - affect the emotions, responses and behaviours we have as a result (known as the cognitive model). The way we think largely determines how we feel. We can’t control everything that goes on around us but we can control how we interpret and respond to these events and experiences.

It might not always feel like it, but we have the power to change our thoughts. So if you'd like to reduce negative thoughts and feel happier, the way you can do that is to develop positive, realistic and helpful thinking patterns. It takes practice over time, but it is possible.

The good news is thatyou have the powerto change how you think, feel, and behave and therefore thepower to change your life!

Let's start with a simple exercise to help you get started...

EXERCISE:

It's common to assume that our thoughts are facts. However, this is not always the case.

And it often takes a bit of practice to become an observer of our thoughts and to be able to see if a thought is a fact or an opinion.

This simple exercise will help you to practice noticing if a thought is a fact or an opinion. Simply select whether each statement is a fact or an opinion. (There is a correct answer for each. Answers are below.)

FACT / OPINION
1. “I’m a bad person”
2. “Sam told me that she didn’t like what I said about her”
3. “Nothing ever goes right”
4. “This will be a disaster”
5. “I’m not as attractive as they are”
6. “I failed the test”
7. “I'm overweight”
8. “He shouted at me”
9. “I’m selfish”
10. “There’s something wrong with me”
11. “I’m lazy”
12. “I didn’t lend my friend money when they asked”
14. “My feet are too big”
15. “I’m ugly”
16. “No-one will ever love me”

Once you've made your selection for each statement. Have a look at the answers below and see how you went. Answers: Facts (2, 6, 7, 8, 12), Opinions (1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16)

What can you learn from your results?

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