Negative thinking is like driver ants

Dr. Daniel Amen an American psychiatrist shares another way you can fight depression is to identify and kill the ants, the Automatic Negative Thoughts that keep you feeling down. This List is from an article, Two of the Most Important Ways to Beat Depression Dec. 8, 2016

#1 All or nothing thinking – also known as black and white thinking

#2 “Always” thinking – using words like, always, never, no one, everyone, every time and everything

#3 Focusing on the negative – selectively seeing only the bad in a situation and disregarding the good things that occur

#4 Fortune telling – predicting the worst possible outcome to situations

#5 Mind reading – believing that you know what another person is thinking even though he or she hasn’t told you

#6 Thinking with your feelings – happens when you believe your feelings and don’t question them– even when there is no evidence to support how you feel

#7 Guilt beatings – thinking with words like should, must, ought and have to

#8 Labeling – calling yourself or someone else a derogatory name diminishes your ability to see situations clearly

#9 Blaming – when you don’t take responsibility for your actions, you lose your power to make changes

Try to come up within an example of each of the nine negative thoughts.

I'm going to take a look at #3 focusing on the negative. When we are depressed we actually see everything from that point of view. When it comes to ourselves always see is bad things. When you look at your day all you can recall is the bad things that happen. Those bad things are all you're thinking about.

You can help your depression by challenging each negative thought. What is not true about that negative thought? Think of three things you are thankful for. Think up two things that were good for you today. You had a meal today. Before you went to bed it started to cool off. You saw a child smile today. You saw a snake in the bush and were able to walk away from the snake. Now think of three things in your experience today that was good.

Overcoming depression isn't it easy. It is harder when you don't have today's medications. But I can tell you even if you had the best of medicine you still have to do the work at it like identifying the ants, negative thinking that we all look at. Keep walking

http://danielamenmd.amenclinics.com/1-2-punch-to-beat-depression/

I am not a doctor. But I do want you to know things that may help you with depression.