How you think about your thoughts
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,133
How you think about your thoughts
Something recently brought me in mind of this NPR radio broadcast I heard -- well, I guess it was in January, since that's the date on the webpage. It was so interesting to me I remember sitting in the car and listening even after I'd reached my destination.
It was about our relationship with our own thoughts, and part of the program focused on a man who'd watched a violent movie and then afterward suffered from these extremely frequent, intrusive, very violent thoughts. Thoughts about harming his wife, specifically. And he was so freaked out by them that they affected his whole life. And this was someone who'd never been violent or been plagued by these kinds of thoughts before.
So the broadcast went on to take listeners on a "brief tour of three phases in thought history." The first phase being that "thoughts have meaning" and are "intimately related to who you are." Basically, if you're having negative thoughts, you'd better find a way to get to the root cause of them, because there's some issue you need to resolve.
Second phase -- that thoughts (and the example in the radio program is specifically a negative, self-defeating thought) are often not "trustworthy" and that we can counter and "challenge" them. Voice in your head telling you you're worthless? You don't have to accept that -- you can identify ways X, Y, and Z that prove your value.
Third phase -- that thoughts can be something you don't really engage with at all. That you can let them float out of your head just as easily as they floated in. Have a disturbing, self-defeating thought? You don't even have to dignify it by giving it your attention. Nothing to see here, move on.
So what does all this have to do with sobriety? Well, I sometimes have urges accompanied by thoughts that undermine my sobriety. Specifically, "You'll give in eventually. You may not drink today, but you'll never stick with this long term." And it's disturbing and unproductive. But I remembered this NPR program and reminded myself that that isn't a thought I really need to engage with or let go unchallenged.
I know, too, that people here often have trouble dealing with past traumas and poor self-esteem and negative self-talk, and I thought maybe some of you might benefit from reading the transcript of this program. Maybe it'll help change your relationships with your thoughts in a positive way.
Anyhoo, for what it's worth, here it is.
http://www.npr.org/2015/01/09/375928124/dark-thoughts
You can listen or read the transcript. Really fascinating, I thought, and maybe of some practical use.
Stay strong, everyone. Thanks for being here.
It was about our relationship with our own thoughts, and part of the program focused on a man who'd watched a violent movie and then afterward suffered from these extremely frequent, intrusive, very violent thoughts. Thoughts about harming his wife, specifically. And he was so freaked out by them that they affected his whole life. And this was someone who'd never been violent or been plagued by these kinds of thoughts before.
So the broadcast went on to take listeners on a "brief tour of three phases in thought history." The first phase being that "thoughts have meaning" and are "intimately related to who you are." Basically, if you're having negative thoughts, you'd better find a way to get to the root cause of them, because there's some issue you need to resolve.
Second phase -- that thoughts (and the example in the radio program is specifically a negative, self-defeating thought) are often not "trustworthy" and that we can counter and "challenge" them. Voice in your head telling you you're worthless? You don't have to accept that -- you can identify ways X, Y, and Z that prove your value.
Third phase -- that thoughts can be something you don't really engage with at all. That you can let them float out of your head just as easily as they floated in. Have a disturbing, self-defeating thought? You don't even have to dignify it by giving it your attention. Nothing to see here, move on.
So what does all this have to do with sobriety? Well, I sometimes have urges accompanied by thoughts that undermine my sobriety. Specifically, "You'll give in eventually. You may not drink today, but you'll never stick with this long term." And it's disturbing and unproductive. But I remembered this NPR program and reminded myself that that isn't a thought I really need to engage with or let go unchallenged.
I know, too, that people here often have trouble dealing with past traumas and poor self-esteem and negative self-talk, and I thought maybe some of you might benefit from reading the transcript of this program. Maybe it'll help change your relationships with your thoughts in a positive way.
Anyhoo, for what it's worth, here it is.
http://www.npr.org/2015/01/09/375928124/dark-thoughts
You can listen or read the transcript. Really fascinating, I thought, and maybe of some practical use.
Stay strong, everyone. Thanks for being here.
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: US
Posts: 5,095
I am my thoughts. I also have the power to choose how I think. I can feel sorry for myself (5 yr anniversary of hubs death) or I can be grateful (give out candy to all the lil cuties....and some that are simply too old.....). I'll take gratitude!
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,443
I found this to be useful too:
Thought Stopping: A Technique to Quiet the Negative Voice in Your Head
Thought Stopping: A Technique to Quiet the Negative Voice in Your Head
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