Taking Your Thoughts Captive by Jane Robb, M.A., LPC

Did you know that we have over 50,000 thoughts going through our heads a day?  Probably more!  If just a small portion of those thoughts are beating you up or dwelling on the past, you’re going to be depressed.

If on the other hand you are a worrier, overwhelmed by the future, fearful or thinking about the “what ifs” of life you are going to be anxious, and depression and anxiety can go hand in hand to cause serious emotional issues in your life. 

That is why it is very important to get a handle on the thoughts you are saying to yourself.  Of course you will not catch all 50,000 thoughts but you can begin by just catching a few.  It is important to know what you are saying to yourself; how are you beating yourself up.  What are the negative thoughts (tapes) going through your mind at every turn?  Take time to write down some of the negative thoughts you are saying to yourself. 

As humans we do a good job of beating ourselves up and we also have all the tapes from childhood that add to this negativity.  So, as you learn what you are saying to yourself it is important to come against these negative thoughts.  When a negative thought comes through your mind you stop it.  Some people say “Stop; get out of here” where others might be creative and pretend there is a stop sign in their head that pops up to stop the negative thought.  Some women might pretend there is a Prince Charming in their mind that draws his mighty sword to whacks out the negative thought. 

The bottom line is to stop the negative thought and immediately replace it with a positive I-statement.  An example of this would be a thought that goes through your head that says, “I don’t like myself.”  Immediately say, “Stop get out of here” and continue by saying “I like myself.”  You don’t have to believe what you say because our subconscious mind is such that if you say a thing over and over again it will pick it up as the truth (negative or positive). So, stop the negative and immediately replace it with a positive I-statement. 

It takes about 30 days to break an old habit so continue to do this everyday all day long and over time you will catch many of those negative thoughts and take them captive developing a sound mind and possibly the peace of mind you have been trying to achieve. 

Here is a few examples of things you can say to yourself for positive I-statement.  This is from a list called Happy Homework.  Read them over daily and let them become part of your thinking but do not memorize them.

1. I am a unique and precious human being; always doing the best I can, always growing in wisdom and love.
2. I am in charge of my own life and I am gentle toward me.
3. My #1 responsibility is my own growth and well-being.  The better I am to me the better I am to others.
4. I refuse to be put down by the attitudes and opinions of others.
5. I make my own decisions and assume responsibility of my mistakes.  However I refuse to feel shame or guilt about them.
6. Nothing that life has to offer is worth the price of worry.
7. I live a day at a time, do first things first.
8. I am patient and serene for I have the rest of my life to grow.

This is part of the process of life-long learning and by practicing this discipline daily you can work toward the peace of mind (sound mind) you seek.

Try this book. It’s great!

This entry was posted on Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 9:35 pm and is filed under Mental Health, Depression, Therapy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.