Best of luck mate , you know you can do it !! Alan
Hi
Sounds like your having repititive negative thoughts (or specifically, you're self-conceptualisiing ).
It might help to try and get some distance from those thoughts, so you stop 'buying into them'. Thoughts aren't 'facts'- the type of thoughts your having are opinions about yourself. Now that you are making a commitment to stop, these thoughts aren't helping you (the sky is blue -is a fact. 'I'm a loser' is an opinion)
There are useful ways of distancing yourself from repetitive thoughts. One I like is this..
Identify what your negative repetitive thought is, it might be 'I've ruined my life by gambling', 'I'm a worthless person' - or ( my favourite) 'people won't accept me for who I am'. First, repeat that over and over in your head. See what the effect is (not great). Then modify the thought to 'I'm having the thought that...I'm a worthless person/people won't accept me for who I am'. Or 'I'm aware that I'm having the thought that..I'm a worthless person/etc'.
Another technique is to take your repetitive thought and turn it into a song. So you might, in your head, take your negative thought and sing it to the tune of jingle bells. Another technique is to take your repetitive thought and say it in your head, in the voice of a comic character, like Homer Simpson. What I find, after doing this, is that I don't take the thought so seriously. It just seems like a string of words. Try it. Do you notice a difference?
The point isn't to make light of your thoughts but to get some distance between your thoughts and your self. The mind generates thousands of thoughts, lots of them really aren't helpful, especially when they keep on coming up again and again. I'm not suggesting suppressing thoughts but just being able to step back from them, give you a chance to move forwards.
Louis
Thanks Louise I think I understand where your coming from il give that a try thanks ...
Well today is day 2 yesterday got a lot of help and got everything out in the open at last so time to move forwards...
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