Constant stress, troubles, failures and other negative events that occur in life lead to bad thoughts.
They can spin in your head for hours, days and simply poison ordinary life, preventing you from sleeping and preventing you from concentrating on work and leisure. How to distract from bad thoughts and try to rethink the situation? This article will help you find the answer to your question.
Instructions for Avoiding Negative Thoughts
Initially, it is worth thinking about what brought you into a similar state, where negative thoughts come from. Perhaps this is due to mistakes made in the past or fear for the future. Understand everything in detail, try to accept the situation and start moving on.
Favourite buisness. This will help you switch. Walk more often, draw, fish, go hiking, just meditate. Such actions will allow you to relieve the emotional burden and get a little distracted from oppressive thoughts.
Go in for sports. Physical activity in such a situation will come in handy. Thanks to them, it is possible to get a lot of positive emotions, cheer up, and it never hurts to keep the body in great shape. 
Muscles relax and thoughts along with it. A great sport is yoga, Pilates. They clear the mind. By the way, it does not hurt to find a good mentor for regular training.
Communication. Make appointments with friends, walk around the city, get a four-legged friend, attend exhibitions, concerts. Try to be in a circle of positively charged people, you can adopt a smile from them and not think about the bad.
Letting out emotions. Never keep negativity in you. Resentment, indignation, sadness, grief, irritability or anger are not the best advisers, and if these feelings visit you, speak up, talk about it, you don’t need to be silent and only aggravate the situation.
If necessary, cry, shout, bang on the table or break dishes, beat your hands against the wall, but let the negativity out. This will help get rid of bad thoughts and discharge.
Where do negative thoughts come from?
In fact, there are many options, and in order to start getting rid of something, you will have to identify the source of the appearance of negative energy, and therefore already try to eliminate it.
The most common sources that can influence a person and engender a lot of bad, heavy and sad thoughts in his head.
- Television;
- The opinion of others;
- Internet;
- Press;
- We ourselves.
Let's take a closer look at some positions.
TV, internet, press
All these information providers quite often like to procrastinate and chew on information about catastrophes, criminal events that have occurred: who killed whom, robbed whom, who was attacked, and so on. 
And now such an everyday tub of dirt overturns on the head of a normal person and the more sensitive ones begin to be afraid to go out after dark, eat at public catering places, just get to know each other.
Therefore, watch, read, listen only to what you really need, and not everything and everyone.
Environment and ourselves
The opinion of others. It also includes the opinion of acquaintances, colleagues, parents and even neighbor grandmothers sitting on benches at the entrance.
How often you can hear frequent tactless questions, recommendations or complaints. Shame on you why you are not married or not married, you will remain an old maid and other negative things.
If you do not abstract and do not stop responding to such statements, negative thoughts will become frequent guests.
We ourselves. Surely you have noticed that you are engaged in banal self-criticism, and often thinking about how to distract yourself from bad thoughts, you addressed a similar question only to yourself.
And rightly so, it is natural for a person to wind himself up, reopen old wounds and succumb to the memories of bygone days.
How to get rid of negative thoughts
The first step is to learn how to write lists. Just take a piece of paper, divide it into two parts and write down what really worries you and what has no serious reason. 
Quite often, the first part is much shorter than the second, that is, most of the negative thoughts are simply far-fetched and have no basis.
Meditation does a good job of getting rid of negative thoughts. What does that require:
- Comfortably sit in a chair or on a sofa;
- Relax and take a deep breath;
- Try to visually represent the problem that worries;
- To think that she is a clot, black and unpleasant, which is slowly coming out of you;
- Imagine that a black clot envelops with golden threads, and it turns into a luminous shell;
- Watch how everything in this shell burns down and flies away.
Watch the video:
You can also imagine yourself in nature, by the river, as you swim and along with the babbling river, all the troubles go away. Even taking a shower would be a good idea. Draw positive pictures in your mind.
Such a technique can help to cope with the raging stream of negative thoughts. What can be imagined:
- How you make a brilliant career, how the boss praises and shakes hands;
- How do you play sports, and the opposite sex looks at you with delight and admiration;
- How you bask in the shade of palm trees, and the gentle sun tickles your face.
“Stop whining”, “Pull yourself together”, “Smile”, “Many are much less fortunate than you”, “Just forget about it”, “Be simpler” ... All these countless phrases are uttered by people around, seemingly with the most benevolent intentions. As if depression and disturbing ideas will leave the head with a wave of a magic wand. As if from these phrases all problems will be solved. Some people who advise on how to distract from bad thoughts also often have false ideas about the recipients of their parting words. They tend to regard depression as an ordinary whim.
Is there any chance of winning the fight against negative thinking?
If everything were as simple as these advisers think, then pessimists would not exist in principle - after all, who is able to consciously choose suffering for himself? Even if this happens, most likely, such a person simply wants to get rid of even more fear and pain.Nowadays, almost everyone has heard about the importance in the fight against negative thoughts of such techniques as meditation, exercise, relaxation and being in the here and now. The catch is this: all these practices are a challenge that is almost impossible to accept in a state of anxiety or depression.
However, there are ways that once again prove a simple truth. People who often suffer from negative thoughts should have much more willpower compared to those who are simply generous with "helpful advice." After all, it takes a lot of self-control to fight depression. The basis for the application of these methods is the skill of switching attention and its concentration on a certain type of mental activity.
Evolutionarily formed functions of the brain
To understand how concentration on solving, for example, logarithmic equations, can help overcome, it is necessary to dwell a little on the structure of the human brain. The fact is that according to one of the theories belonging to the American researcher Paul McLean, it has three whole departments. They differ in the time of formation, and perform different functions.
The oldest part of the human brain has been figuratively called the "reptilian brain". Its function is to implement a program of behavior in a life-threatening or health-threatening situation. This reaction, as in all living organisms, can be of two types: to flee or fight.
The next part, which was formed in the course of evolution, is called the "mammalian brain." She is responsible for emotions and feelings, as well as for getting pleasure.
And, finally, the peak of evolution is the neocortex - that part, which, in fact, distinguishes a person from an animal. This part of the brain is responsible for logical analysis, abstract thinking, and other operations that are unique to Homo Sapiens.
The human brain and anxiety
All three of these brains are equally necessary for a person - it cannot be said, for example, that the brain of a reptile is less important than the human brain. After all, if he did not fulfill his function, a person would not be afraid of obvious threats to life and would not take the necessary measures in a really emergency situation. But the fact is that over millions of years of evolution, the reptile brain is so accustomed to responding in a stereotyped way, within the framework of the “fight or flight” instruction, that it often cannot distinguish fiction from reality. The more pronounced the state of anxiety or aggression, the stronger the influence on the person of the “reptilian brain” occurs.
To understand how to get rid of bad thoughts in the head, it is necessary, first of all, to understand the mechanism of action of various parts of the brain. Having arisen at different times, they also correspond to different levels of development of living beings. In order not to turn into a small animal limited in its consciousness, it is necessary to use such a tool as distraction.
Ways of distraction
How can I do that? Let's look at a few ways that will help in a moment of anxiety or worry to transfer the "reinside" from the reptilian brain to the conscious and thinking part that every person has.
- Firstly, it can be the performance of simple mathematical operations in the mind: for example, multiplying the first two numbers that caught your eye. You can get distracted by remembering the birthdays of friends or the brands of their cars;
- Further, you can list five professions that begin with the same letter. It can also be a listing of five flowers or plants, favorite foods, fruits. Try to think of five luminous objects, or five things with a soft surface. By the time you have done several of these exercises in a row, the negative ones will have lost most of their power;
- Try to take a good photo. It can be either something from the environment around you, or even a selfie. Not only does the act of taking a photo help you relax, but the photo itself can have a calming effect.
Psychologists advise many ways on how to do this and at the same time learn to control your mind and emotions.
So, the advice of a psychologist: how to distract from bad thoughts? In order to distract from bad thoughts, psychologists advise to understand their essence. After all, bad thoughts are those unresolved problems, those things that have remained unexplained for us, as well as problems that may have already gone into the subconscious. From this it follows that in order to stop the flow of bad thoughts, you need to understand their essence, find out where they come from and at the base of what problem they grow. Analyze the flow of this information well: what do your thoughts have in common, what topics do they have, try to guess what subconscious problem they may carry. Having found it, try to solve it, first remembering why it arose afterwards, what was the reason for this. By finding a solution to the problem, you will get rid of the constant bad thoughts that it inspired you.
Sometimes it also happens that the negative becomes something ordinary for you, and the consciousness is more and more often filled with bad thoughts of various subjects. They will become commonplace for you, and dealing with them becomes an almost impossible task. Philosophers have said that nothing travels as fast as thought, and nothing is so hard to stop.
For example, imagine in detail the sea, forest or other beautiful nature, besides, feel it, get involved in it with your consciousness, expose yourself to this idea. Now imagine a large pendulum against this background, draw every detail of it, imagine well what it looks like. Now run it and imagine each of its oscillations. You can change the tempo from faster to slower and vice versa.
Imagine sound and ticking, create the whole picture. After some time try to stop the pendulum and you will see that it is very difficult, almost impossible. The pendulum, drawn by our imagination, ceases to obey it, and it is sometimes very difficult to imagine how it begins to stop. This is an example of how hard it is to eradicate a thought or idea. But still, we can learn it.
If you notice that you have become sad and you are overcome by bad thoughts, you become more anxious, remember what brings you the greatest joy or pleasure. This is a very good and effective technique that helps to regularly cope with negativity. For example, you really like one humorist, or you have a favorite childhood book that you re-read with pleasure, and this gives you a smile, a good mood.
Another good way to fight like this is to do something that requires special attention and concentration. When you are happy to get involved in an interesting or stressful business, you are very good at distracting yourself from the back thoughts, filling your head with those necessary ones that go to the solution of the work being done.
Psychologists also recommend the visualization method. Bad thoughts arise from obsessive fear, and fear arises from feelings of self-doubt. Repeat to yourself often about your importance, about your virtues, become more convinced of your virtues.
You can eradicate obsessions like this: imagine yourself as a large and bright solar ball that is filled with positive energy, brings goodness and joy, radiates a lot of light and warmth. Now imagine your bad thoughts as little bugs swarming around you. The more satirically you imagine it, the funnier these midges will be - the better. You will soon notice how stupid your bad thoughts look, how much they interfere with you, and also learn to laugh about it. A very good way to deal with fear is laughter. Imagine your fear with something small and funny, dress it up in a wonderful outfit or simulate a funny situation - it will already appear before you in a different light. Laughing at your fear, you overcome it and eradicate it. Satire is a good tool for dealing with such problems.
Also, a good weapon to fight bad thoughts is… good thoughts. Ask them a counterattack and put a good thought on all the bad things that arise in your head. Learn to see the other side of the coin, namely, its better side. Be more optimistic and you will see that in all those bad thoughts and thoughts that you fight, there are good points and aspects, and that there are even more of them than you imagine.
For example, you constantly think about your shortcomings, do not love your personality and body, sometimes it even seems to you that you are the weakest person you know, you are tormented by the fact that you are worse than others. You constantly criticize yourself, look for your mistakes, which then spin in your head and haunt you. What to do in this case? Look for your good qualities, consider yourself from the other side. If you cannot find enough positive qualities in yourself, or if you are unsure of yourself, ask your friends to express their opinion about you and support you in this. They will point out to you what they value you for, why you are an individual and a person, what you should be respected for. See that negative thoughts will disappear very soon.
Well, good day, dear readers!
I would like to choose one of the most popular topics in the world full of fuss, running around, human relationships and other complex psychological things as the topic of today's conversation. So, today I would like to talk about overwork and how to deal with it. All of us can give more than one, or even more than a dozen examples when we literally "exploded". We say, "accumulated", "sore", "tired". Not exactly a pleasant feeling, is it? Sometimes it is fraught with disappointment, a decline in vitality and self-esteem. At such moments, you want to get drunk, forget yourself, or completely disappear from the white world. This happened to me recently as well. Burning with longing, I did not want anything, neither sleep, nor drink, nor smoke, nor anything else, but simply nothing. Disappear, or so that everything around disappears. But as soon as I open my playlist and remember that there is a lot of good music, some kind of, albeit pale, interest already appeared in my head.
So rule #1:
1. Change the music
Nothing relieves stress like well-chosen music. Listen to something that you have not heard for a long time, preferably something pleasant and calm.
Put? Now you need to get up or get out of that physical position in which longing has caught you. Imagine how much time you waste just sitting with your thoughts. I assure you, all these thoughts are just guesses of what could or could actually be. No need to tease your imagination.
2. Take a shower
Nothing refreshes and invigorates like water in all its manifestations. Have you ever noticed that after drinking a glass of water, you already feel some kind of inspiration?
3. Tidy up the room
And in general, in an apartment (house, dacha, office, underline what is necessary) it is high time. Finally sort out a bunch of dirty clothes or wipe the table once more.
4. Try to work
Liked? It was a warm up. Now is the time to go and do all the little things: change a bar of soap, fix an outlet, go to the supermarket, etc. If only your brain was busy with something abstract.
5. Change activities
Probably the most significant rule in this article. Go to the cinema, museum, exhibition or just take a walk in the park. It will not take much time and effort, but look - and you are already busy.
Now that your head is in order, just look back and laugh at your own problems - how small and low they were. You now know exactly what needs to be done, how to act, and you have enough determination to pull it all off.
and 7. Smile
Smile! More smiles! Smile to yourself, passers-by, scavengers and cashiers. Wish someone a good evening or good luck on the road. And don't forget: be kind to people and kindness will come back to you.
I hope I managed to help you.
Often, negative thoughts and feelings prevent us from enjoying the good things in life. Gradually, we begin to think about the bad more and more often, and immersion in negative thoughts becomes a habit that is difficult to eradicate. In order to overcome this habit (however, like any other), it is necessary to change the way of thinking.
When we're stressed about something, the last thing we need is for negative thoughts to add to our stress, so it's important to learn how to deal with the endless stream of thoughts. In this article we will talk about how to save yourself from unnecessary experiences.
Steps
Change your way of thinking
- There is one simple technique: look at a calming image (photo, painting). This will allow your head to rest and let go of all bad thoughts, and this happens only naturally - that is, when you do not intentionally try to get rid of thoughts and do not wait for you to finally succeed. This is a very simple but effective way to calm down and relax.
- If that doesn't work, try distracting your mind by counting from 100 to 7, or choose a color and search the room for all the objects of that color. So you can get rid of the chaos in your head, and then you can again focus on the present moment.
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Don't lock yourself in. One of the consequences of focusing on bad thoughts is often an increasing distance between you and the world around you. If you decide to get out of your shell and reconnect with the world, you will have less time and energy for bad thoughts. Do not scold yourself for negative thoughts or emotions - this will only make things worse. You may have often thought about the fact that you really dislike someone, and then felt guilty about such thoughts or angry at yourself because of it. Because of this perception, causal relationships and incorrect attitudes are strengthened in the head, which become extremely difficult to get rid of over time. Here are some simple ways to switch from your inner world to the outside world.
Develop self-confidence. Self-doubt in all its variety of manifestations often becomes the main cause of difficult thoughts and strong feelings. This feeling constantly haunts you: whatever you do, it is everywhere with you. For example, when talking with a friend, you constantly worry about how you look, what impression you make, instead of just talking. It is necessary to develop self-confidence, and then it will be easier for you to live a full life and not torment yourself with destructive thoughts.
- Try to regularly do something exciting - this will make you feel confident in your abilities. For example, if you are good at baking pies, enjoy the whole process of baking: enjoy kneading the dough, enjoy the aroma that fills your home.
- When you develop the ability to enjoy the present moment, remember this feeling and reproduce it as often as possible. Remember that the only thing keeping you from feeling in the present is your perception, so stop tormenting yourself with self-criticism.
Understand how consciousness works
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Analyze your attitude towards negative thoughts or feelings. Since bad thoughts are often just habitual, they can come as soon as you stop looking after yourself. Promise yourself not to focus on these thoughts, because you need to learn not only to let them go, but also not to allow new ones to arise.
Watch yourself . Determine how thoughts or feelings manage to control you. Thoughts have two components - the topic (what you think about) and the process (how you think).
- Consciousness does not always need a topic - in cases of its absence, thoughts simply jump from one to another. Consciousness uses such thoughts in order to protect itself from something, or in order to calm and distract from something else - for example, from physical pain, from fear. In other words, when the defense mechanism kicks in, often the mind is just trying to cling to something to give you something to think about.
- Thoughts that have a specific theme have a completely different character. Perhaps you are angry, worried about something, or thinking about some problem. Such thoughts are often repeated and always revolve around the same thing.
- The difficulty lies in the fact that consciousness cannot be constantly absorbed by a topic or process. In order to correct the situation, it is worth remembering that thoughts alone cannot help the cause. Often we do not want to let go of thoughts and feelings because we want to better understand the situation: for example, if we are angry, we think about all the circumstances of the situation, all the participants, all the actions, and so on.
- Often our desire to think about something is either simply think it turns out to be stronger than the desire to let go of thoughts, which greatly complicates the whole situation. The desire to think just for the sake of the process of "thinking" can lead to self-destruction, while this struggle with oneself is another way to escape from the situation that originally caused thoughts. It is necessary to overcome the desire to constantly comprehend something and learn to let go of thoughts, and after a while the desire to let go of thoughts in all cases will be stronger than the desire to scroll through something in the head without stopping.
- Another problem is that we are used to considering thoughts as part of our personality. A person is not ready to admit that he himself can cause pain and suffering to himself. There is a generally accepted opinion, according to which it is believed that all feelings regarding one's "I" are valuable. Some feelings lead to negative experiences, others do not. Therefore, it is always necessary to look closely at thoughts and feelings in order to understand which ones are worth leaving and which ones should be let go.
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Try some experiments.
- Try your best not to think of a polar bear or anything out of the ordinary, like a crimson flamingo with a cup of coffee. This is a rather old experiment, but it reveals the essence of human thinking very well. By trying to refrain from thinking about the bear, we suppress both the very thought of it and the thought that we need to suppress something. If you specifically try not to think about the bear, the thought of it will not go anywhere.
- Imagine that you are holding a pencil in your hands. Think about what you want to throw it. In order to throw a pencil, you need to hold it. While you are thinking about leaving him, you are holding him. Logically speaking, a pencil cannot be dropped as long as you are holding it. The more you want to throw, the more force you hold it.
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Stop fighting with your thoughts. When we try to overcome any thoughts or feelings, we try to gather more strength to strike, but because of this, we cling to these thoughts even more strongly. The more effort, the greater the load on the mind, which responds to all these attempts with stress.
- Instead of trying to forcefully get rid of thoughts, you need to loosen your grip. A pencil can fall out of your hands by itself - in the same way, thoughts can leave by themselves. It may take time: if you tried to forcefully eradicate some thoughts, the consciousness could remember your attempts, as well as its response.
- When we go through our thoughts in an attempt to make sense of them or try to get rid of them, we do not budge, because there is simply nowhere for thoughts to go. Once we stop dwelling on this situation, we let them go.
Learn new things
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Learn to manage your thoughts. If a thought or feeling comes back to you over and over again, there are plenty of ways to keep it from engulfing you.
- Surely there is a movie that you have watched many times, or a book that you have re-read. You always know what will happen next, so you are not so interested in watching a movie or reading this book again. Or maybe you've done something so many times that you don't want to do it again because you know you'll be bored. Try to transfer this experience to the situation with thoughts: as soon as you lose interest in thinking about the same thing, the thought will go away by itself.
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Don't try to run away from negative thoughts and emotions . Are you tired of the exhausting thoughts that are always with you, but have you really tried to deal with them? Sometimes a person tries to pretend that something is not there, instead of accepting it. If you do this with negative thoughts or emotions, they can stay with you forever. Allow yourself to feel what you need to feel, and then let go of the emotions you no longer need. If your mind forces thoughts and emotions on you, it can make you judge yourself. There are many manipulative mechanisms in our minds, and we are not even aware of many of them. Consciousness manipulates us, because it seeks to control us through addictions to a variety of things and strong desires. By and large, we are driven by our addictions.
- Remember that your happiness is in your hands, that feelings and emotions should not determine how you manage your life. If you allow past or future worries and obsessive desires to control you, you will never be able to live a fulfilling life.
- Manage your own thoughts. Turn them inside out, change them - in the end, you will understand that you have power over thoughts, and not they have over you. Replacing negative thoughts with positive ones is a temporary measure, but it can be extremely useful at the right time. It will be easier for you to let go of thoughts if you feel that you yourself are able to control everything.
- If your thoughts revolve around a problem that you have yet to solve, try your best to come up with ways to get out of the problem situation. Do everything in your power, even if the situation seems completely hopeless.
- If your thoughts and feelings are related to a sad event (such as the death of a relative or the breakup of a relationship), allow yourself to feel the sadness. Looking at pictures of the person you miss, thinking about the good things you've had together, and crying if it makes you feel better - it's all human. It is also helpful to write about your feelings in a journal.
Remember the good
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Don't forget to remind yourself of the good things. If you're stressed, tired from work, or just feeling overwhelmed, bad thoughts can come back. In order to prevent them from completely absorbing you, use special methods of dealing with unwanted thoughts that will not allow them to take root.
Practice visualization. This method will be especially useful for those who are very busy and who do not have enough time to relax. It is necessary to imagine in detail some pleasant place: it can be a memory of a place where you had a good time, or a fictional place.
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Think about your achievements. The world gives us many opportunities to enjoy life: we can help others, finish our chores, achieve certain goals, or simply get out into nature with family or have dinner with friends. Thinking about pleasant things develops self-confidence and makes us more receptive to good things.
- Give thanks for what you have. For example, write down three things for which you are grateful to the universe. So in the head you can quickly “put things in order” and get rid of the flow of thoughts.
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Take care of yourself. Poor health will prevent you from fully enjoying life and remaining optimistic. When a person takes care of his body and takes care of his state of mind, negative thoughts and emotions simply have nothing to cling to.
- Get enough sleep. Lack of sleep lowers vitality and does not contribute to a good mood, so try to sleep at least 7-8 hours a day.
- Eat well. A balanced diet will allow your brain to get all the elements it needs. Include enough fruits and vegetables in your diet.
- Go in for sports. Regular physical activity will help you not only always be in shape, but also fight stress. Both will contribute to better well-being and allow you to free yourself from heavy thoughts.
Think about today. When you are tormented by anxious thoughts, what do you most often think about at that moment? You are probably reliving the events of the past (even if everything happened a week ago) or thinking about what will happen in the future. In order to stop worrying, you need to remember about the present moment, about today. If you shift your attention from what has already been or will be to what is happening now, it will become easier for you to stop perceiving everything too negatively. But, as is often the case, this is not so easy to do. In order to learn to live in the present, you must first learn to concentrate on what is happening to you literally at this very moment.
