While this may seem like a lot as well, once students get to know each ANT Buddy, they also get to know which ones they use the most often! Some sources will reference as many as 200 different distortion types (yikes!), but I have focused on 15 that seem to be the most common among the students I work with. I have been using the Automatic Negative Thoughts video and ANT Buddies to help my students understand how our mind can play tricks on us to convince us of something that isn’t actually true. And thus, the ANT downward spiral is formed. Getting stuck with ANTs can then create a negative thinking pattern, which then creates a negative thinking neural pathway. Unfortunately, our imagination can sometimes get the best of us – making us get stuck in negative thought patterns. You can then use this information to fix problems as they come up (or before), and also learn from mistakes. Your brain uses ANTs to imagine potenital threats and problems. ![]() ANTs are completely normal, and they actually do serve a purpose.Īt their core, ANTs are around to keep you safe. The term for this is, Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs), which was coined by Dr. The problem is, many of our thoughts are negative and seem to just pop up out of nowhere. Imagining a monster under your desk (check). The conversation you had with your friend (check). The mistake you made on an assignment (check). Pie-in-the-sky thinking and low levels of anxiety are associated with underestimating risks, a lackadaisical attitude toward your health, and making bad decisions.Our brains are always thinking. ![]() Some anxiety is absolutely critical to good health and success. Note: I am not a fan of positive thinking. This skill alone can completely change your life if you embrace and practice it. You can learn to eliminate the automatic negative thoughts and replace them with more helpful thoughts that give you a more accurate, fair assessment of any situation. Allowing yourself to believe every thought you have is the prescription for anxiety disorders, depression, relationship problems, and prolonged grief. If you do not question or correct your erroneous thoughts, you believe them, and you act as if they are 100% true. They lie a lot, and it is your uninvestigated or unquestioned thoughts that steal your happiness. Just because you have a thought has nothing to do with whether it is true. Repetitive negative thinking may promote the buildup of the harmful deposits seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and may increase the risk of dementia, according to a 2020 brain imaging study in Alzheimer’s & Dementia. Your thought patterns can also have long-term effects. The opposite is also true-positive, happy, hopeful thoughts release chemicals that make you feel good. Negative thoughts cause your brain to immediately release chemicals that affect every cell in your body, making you feel bad. As I thought about my patients that day, I realized that just like my kitchen, they were also infested with ANTs that were robbing them of their joy and keeping them stuck in hurts from the past. There were thousands of the pesky invaders, marching in lines on the floor, crawling in the sink, on the countertops, and in the cabinets.Īs I wetted paper towels and began wiping up the hoard of ants, the acronym ANT came to me-Automatic Negative Thoughts. That evening, when I arrived home and walked into the kitchen, I was greeted by an ant infestation. I coined the term ANTs in the early 1990s after a hard day at the office, where I had seen 4 suicidal patients, 2 teens who had run away from home, and 2 couples who hated each other. ![]() Disinfect your thoughts and kill the ANTs to overcome anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief. It’s time to disinfect your thoughts and kill the ANTs to overcome anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief. “There’s so much uncertainty, I can’t handle it.”ĭuring the pandemic, mental hygiene is just as important as hand washing. ANTs are the automatic negative thoughts that ruin your day, steal your happiness, and prolong grief. I have a terrible ant infestation in my house, and there’s a terrible ANT infestation in our country that’s driving anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief. Hormone Evaluation and Replacement Therapy.Marital Conflict and Relationship Issues.
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