Traumatic Experiences Community Daily Check-In: November 18th, 2019
Good morning my beautiful community! I hope everyone is having a happy Monday. Today I'd like to talk a little bit about negative thoughts and what they can do to us.
Negative thoughts are thoughts that are negative and random in nature in reference to one's self. Negative thinking is a thought process where people tend to find the worst in everything, or reduce expectations by considering the worst possible scenarios. Negative attitudes and feelings of helplessness can create chronic stress, which upsets the body's hormone balance, depletes the chemicals in our brain that make us happy (serotonin and dopamine), and damages the immune system.
As far as your brain goes, every thought releases certain chemicals. Being focused on negative thoughts effectively saps the brain of it's positive forcefulness, slows it down, and can even hinder the brain's ability to function properly- This is turn, creates depression. So how can we fight our negative thinking? Keep yourself in positive company. Physically throw the negative thoughts away. Have a cup of tea. Meditate or exercise. Re-frame your situation- Try to focus on what is positive. Speak directly to the negative thought and do not expect everything to be perfect.
I would LOVE to know the following:
1. Do you experience negative thoughts? How often do you have them? How do they make you feel about yourself?
2. It's Monday! How is work? How is school? How are you doing?!
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Good morning,
Wondering which way to go or not go. Brain fog I guess 
?? may be feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
@scarletPear1945 Good morning friend! So your brain is in a fog... I actully know what you mean because my head gets like that too! I am sorry to hear you are feeling overwhelmed right now. I know I can't stand feeling like that. I hope your day gets better and thank you for checking in with me!
@baylinAnderson123
Hello, and thanks for the reply. I had a friend call me this evening and she was talking to me about some things going on in her life that triggered a flood of emotions and flashbacks that caused me to just burst into tears and I had to get off the phone and now I feel like I am in a tailspin. Things that I felt I had processed now come rushing in like a mighty storm. I guess that therapy has had no impact on helping me resolve this crap. I am tired of avoiding things because of fear of triggers. I hate the pain and memories that seem trapped in my body. Is there ever going to be a time when I am free of this????
@scarletPear1945 Yes Yes Yes! There will be a time when you are free of this! And I can tell you exactly how to conquer this if that's okay with you! I have been doing the same things as you... avoiding everything so I don't get triggered because I was so scared of feeling my emotions so I would always run away instead. Then I started something called acceptance and commitment therapy. What this means is to come to terms with your pain and trauma. It means do deal with the trauma and hurt and stop stuffing these feelings and emotions that we have deep inside us. ACT is about living peacefully with our fears and traumas, it's not about avoiding them. I cannot tell you how much this has helped me. I am dealing with my emotions that I feel. I acknowledge them, without judgemental. It's hard to do at first because you have to re-live the pain again but I feel that that is what I needed to do and that's what needed to happen. There is an ACT course on 7 Cups. If you are interested, I would recommend reading it. Thank you for messaging me about your struggles. You have so much courage!
@baylinAnderson123
yes, I am interested in the ACT course, how do I get to it?
@scarletPear1945 So what you do is you click on "my path" and go down to "self-help guides" and click on that. A list will come up and you will find Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. You will really like it and I promise it really helps! It's changed my whole perspective on life!
@baylinAnderson123
Thank you, still melting down, feels like grief but I don't understand what is happening to me.
@scarletPear1945 You are so welcome! My heart is with you, it really is! I used to know those feelings everyday. But I promise you, it can and will get better!
@baylinAnderson123
1. Do you experience negative thoughts? How often do you have them? How do they make you feel about yourself? I find myself having negative thoughts almost daily. They make me feel like I can't get rid of them.
2. It's Monday! How is work? How is school? How are you doing?! Everything is going well :)
@Mellietronx Hello there! I am with you on that for sure... I have negative thoughts daily too! It can be really tough sometimes you know? And it's just so exhausting! I am so glad to hear that everything is going well for you! I hope you have a beautiful day and thank you for checking in with me!
@baylinAnderson123
1. Do you experience negative thoughts? How often do you have them? How do they make you feel about yourself?
I do get them every so often. I don't feel much at the time, but when I recognise negative thought processes, it makes me feel a little sad that I am thinking so negatively. I know that they all add up and make a difference to my general mood and attitude.
2. It's Monday! How is work? How is school? How are you doing?!
Feeling pretty tired right now. Had training in work so sat down and listened for many hours and it made me so sleepy.
@MythologicalMayhem Hello there friend! I like that you are very aware of what negative thoughts are doing to you! It makes it easier to fight them if we can recognize why they are there! I hope you get a good rest soon and thank you so much for reading my post and checking in with me! Have a beautiful day!
@baylinAnderson123 hello! hope you are well.
1. Do you experience negative thoughts? How often do you have them? How do they make you feel about yourself?
i do experience them often, though less often than in the past. They make me feel really bad and they tend to destroy my success. Whenever i think negative, the experience often gets negative too.
2. It's Monday! How is work? How is school? How are you doing?!
school is.... okay i guess. today i had a presentation planned for my english class, but another girl held one before my turn. And her presentation was so long, i started panicking since mine was only like 4 mins and hers 15mins. I ended up having a mental breakdown in front of my teacher (at least not in front of my class, as i asked her if we can talk outside) while explaining to her that i thought it should be shorter. She told me i should present it anyway so now i just hope ill still get a good grade for it.... I was in school until 5pm so now i am incredibly exhausted, but i need to study.
@dynamicHemlock1736 Hello there friend! I am doing just great, thank you for the warm wishes! I have negative thoughts very often too. They are just terrible aren't they? It's like they suck every last ounce of postive energy you have inside you. I am sorry that you have to go through this too. I hope everything worked out with presenting your project and you got a good grade! Good luck with your studying and thank you for checking in with me!
1. Do you experience negative thoughts? How often do you have them? How do they make you feel about yourself?
Yes, quite often. They make me feel terrible. Especially after the abuse starts to really kick or when combined with some of my more past traumatic experiences.
2. It's Monday! How is work? How is school? How are you doing?!
I didn't get to go to school today, since I was a tad bit ill. Unfortunatly, that meant more time around my family. I am really excited for my Vet Science competition tommorow. How are you, currently?
I hope everyone has a wonderful day/night/week/month/year/life!!
@aiko123 Good morning! I am sorry to hear about how terrible negative thoughts make you feel. I agree you with 100%! They suck all the happiness and energy right out of you and it just sucks you know?! Oh no, you aren't feeling well? I'm sorry and I hope you feel better soon! I am doing so great, thank you for asking! I appreciate that! Good luck at your Vet Science competition tomorrow and thank you for checking in with me!
@baylinAnderson123 Yes, I'd experience negative thoughts regularly. It can make me feel overwhelmed when they all start snowballing but it's just about reminding myself I am strong enough to get through it.
Ugh Mondays, I was in college today. Lots of assignments and lots of stress but it was a good day!
@azureLake697 Hi there! Yes, negative thoughts are bad and they affect me too but I really like your positive attitude on reminding yourself how strong you are to get through it. I am going to start doing that from now on! So college was overwhelming today huh? I'm sorry about that! I wish you good luck with your assignments and thank you for checking in with me!
1. I do experience negative thoughts-- I often don't know I'm having them. It's something I've been working on since I've started therapy; so I'm better, just not perfect. My negative thinking comes in the form of intense worry: I worry that if I say something wrong or make a mistake, people will stop loving me. I worry that I'll get into deadly accidents when I drive, or that I'll be attacked if I go somewhere public. I worry I'll get fired if I need extra help at my job, I worry I won't be appealing to my boyfriend if I don't look a certain way, etc. I feel so afraid, stressed, and sad all of the time when I have these thoughts. I'm constantly working on changing my thought patterns.
On Friday, I found out I made a mistake at work. It wasn't really my fault, but it was something I had done, so I worried and worried until I was convinced I was going to get reprimanded and that much closer to being fired! I was a mess. My boyfriend and I actually got into a small spat because I argued with him that, yes, it WAS a big deal and I AM going to get fired and lose my job and starve to death on the street (I didn't say all of that, but the overactive worrywart in my head did)! He was exasperated at how blind to logic and frightfully determined I was-- Monday was GOING to be a bad day! Eventually though we talked it out and I calmed down, and if I caught myself thinking negatively about the situation, I gave it a positive turnaround instead. Now it's Monday, I went to work, and everything went as smooth as silk. It was barely an issue. I had a great day.
2. I'm fantastic! Gonna build some new IKEA furniture when I get home with my boyfriend-- we're moving in together in January. :') My life is moving in such positive directions! I grew up with an abusive parent, and all I'd ever wanted was to move out of that house and support myself independently, and build a family of my own that could be happy and healthy. I also have always wanted a loft bed ever since I was a kid, and guess what we bought yesterday to maximize space? Hahaha. I briefly and quietly wept in that IKEA, standing under the bed I was gonna buy, hugging my boyfriend, thanking my lucky stars that I was not only safe, but prospering.
@betterchoices Hello there friend! I totally hear what you are saying about what you worry about with your negative thoughts. I worry about the same exact things! Negative thoughts are so intrusive and hard to bare but I am really glad to hear that you are working on it through therapy! I too am working on it with my therapist. Great job! That is great to hear that everything went well with work and the mistake wasn't a big deal! I understand why you worried so much about it though! You just make my heart so happy with the last paragraph you wrote! Congratulations on moving in with your boyfriend! What a huge and beautiful accomplishment for you! You rose above the abuse and you know what you want in life. I love it and I'm smiling so much for you right now! Thank you for checking in with me!
