Automatic Thoughts
1 MINUTE READ • SELF HELP
All of us make split-second judgments about the world without even noticing them. These judgments are called automatic thoughts.
Oftentimes, these thoughts are rooted in previous, negative experiences and aren’t the most helpful. Someone with anxiety, for example, may come up to their final and think to themselves, “I am going to fail this.” That thought can cause all kinds of worry and is not 100% true.
To address these thoughts, you can use two strategies. First, ask yourself for external evidence for a thought. How many finals have you passed before? What’s the percent that you have passed?
Second, create a new thought that has some evidence in it. For example, “I failed a final before but passed 20 others. If I don’t do well, I can always work with my teacher to bring my grade up.” This replacement thought takes away the catastrophe and makes the worrying event something you can manage.
It may seem weird to do this at first, but you are changing the way you think. Stay the course, find evidence for the things you believe, and then go easy on yourself. You are doing your best, and your best is good enough.
Adam Dregely
Adam Dregely is a certified special education teacher in Arizona and California. He holds a Master’s degree in Special Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. Mr. Dregely has taught high school and middle school in various educational settings across Arizona and California. He has been an administrator for both large and small charter schools, served as a Principal, and has been in charge of school finance and IT.