Thought stopping is an approach that is especially useful when nagging, repetitive thoughts make you feel anxious. Cognitive therapist Dr. Aaron Beck uses the word automatic thoughts to describe thoughts that are negative and illogical but they are still believed, experienced as spontaneous, couched in terms of "should" or "ought," or predict catastrophe or even the worst possible result.
Such thoughts are persistent and self-perpetuating, with different unique way of viewing a scenario; they repeat habitual themes (for instance, danger) that result in tunnel vision and make it impossible to determine situations in other ways. Often they are learned in childhood and conditioned by family or friends, or even the media.
There are a number of patterns of limited thinking that create anxiety and that could be reduced or even overcome by thought stopping. Ill discuss seven of these here. Filtering occurs when you only hear a part of a message. For example, your boss lets you know the report is nice but that next time you ought to make it shorter. In filtering, you only hear the negative comment, mess it up up out of proportion, and then think that youre going to be fired for writing a too-long report.
Polarized thinking occurs if you notice everything in black and white with no room for shades of gray as well as one mistake. If youre a perfectionist and someone criticizes you or your work, you'll begin to get down on yourself and your anxiety will soar.
Mind reading relies on the false idea that you can tell what other people are thinking, especially about you. This can raise your anxiety when you interpret a cough or perhaps a raised eyebrow as a sign youre disliked or that you probably did something wrong.
Overgeneralization occurs when you take one incident and assume others are the same. You reach a conclusion depending on only one case. For instance, youre overgeneralizing when one person doesnt like your drawing and also you assume no one might like it. This can lead to low self-esteem and subsequent anxiety.
Magnifying may appear when you enlarge small things way beyond their true importance, especially anything that implies in in whatever way that youre not perfect. A little mistake becomes a fatal tragedy in your mind and your anxiety increases.
Youre catastrophizing when you get a stomachache and youre sure its an ulcer requiring surgery. You read a newspaper report of someones death or hear about some other problem and start wondering what if that happened to you.
Personalization occurs when comparing yourself with other people and conclude your worth is questionable, or you assume everything others do or say is in a reaction to you, or if you constantly test your value and are available out on the short end.
Types of automatic negative thoughts usually precede anxiety. If youve tried to listen for your automatic thoughts or tried to record them and also have been unsuccessful, thought stopping may help you. The first way to try when using thought stopping is just to count the mental poison you have. Dont do anything whatsoever to stop them. You can get a knitting stitch-counter or golf stroke-counter and keep an eye on them. This will help you get some distance from your mental poison. Just count the idea and then say, "I release that thought. It is no longer part of me."
Another thought-stopping method is to set a timer for twenty or thirty minutes. When you hear the timer ring, stop what youre doing and pay focus on your thoughts. If youre having negative thoughts about yourself or someone else, count the number and kind of negative thoughts. You can write them down in a journal if you prefer, or simply picture releasing the negative thought(s), perhaps as a color.
When using thought stopping, you can also employ the command "stop," an image of the letters for that word stop, a loud noise (like a buzzer or bell), or a negative stimulus, for example wearing a rubber band around the wrist and snapping it when the unwanted thought occurs.
Thought stopping may work because (a) distraction occurs, (b) the interruption behaviors serve as a punishment and what is punished consistently is likely to end up inhibited, (c) it is an assertive response and may be followed by reassuring or self-accepting comments, and (d) it interrupts the chain of negative and frightening thoughts resulting in negative and frightening feelings, thus reducing anxiety.
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