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Remember that occasional bad thoughts are normal. Think about what makes the thought “bad. Slow down your thoughts with a few deep breaths. Ask yourself why you’re having negative or bad thoughts. Remain in the moment. Put your thoughts in perspective. Distract yourself with something specific that you know gives you comfort. Don’t try and run away from your thoughts or “push” them out. Work on “letting go” of problems. Literally “throw your problem away. Talk through your bad thoughts with someone you trust.

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This is possibly the single easiest way to start addressing your problems. Too often you believe that you are the only one with problems, or that no one understands what you are going through, but bad thoughts are a part of life and, most importantly, they will go away. Don’t beat yourself up for having bad thoughts, because they aren’t your fault.  Avoid language like “This is my fault,” “I shouldn’t be thinking this,” or “I hate this thought.” You’ve had bad thoughts before, and you’ll have them again. But you are still here, alive, and healthy. Your bad thoughts won’t kill you if you don’t turn them into monsters. ” Why are you upset about this thought? What is making it stick in your head? Oftentimes bad thoughts persist because you feel guilty, angry, or unsure about the future, so thinking about why you are caught on the same thought can help give it shape and find ways to address the problem. Common reasons for tough thoughts include:  Guilt Hurt Anxiety Jealousy Temptation Trauma Failure or fear of failure It is natural to feel anxious or nervous when a bad thought suddenly crops up in your brain, but resist the urge to get upset or fixate on the thought. Take 30 seconds to stop what you are doing and take five deep, long breaths. Give yourself a moment to address the thought instead of jumping right to irrational or extreme conclusions.  Try counting to 15 if you still feel nervous. You could also color, listen to calming music, or read for a short while. Alternatively, head outside, remove yourself from the room, or take a short walk to clear your head. Once you’ve slowed down and thought about the reason you are upset, it’s time to question why the thought is so negative. Some good questions to ask include:  What hard evidence do I have for my anxiety or fears? What are the positives of the situation I am forgetting? Is there another way to look at this situation? How would someone else see me? Will this matter in 5 years? Even if a situation isn’t ideal or is difficult, you can still be okay. You don’t have to let bad thoughts overwhelm you. You cannot control the future and you cannot control the past. What you can do is deal with the present. Many bad thoughts stem from forgetting this fact and making predictions or guesses about what is to come. For example, you may tell yourself that your test tomorrow is going to be super hard, and you will definitely fail, but your bad thought has no basis in reality. When the test does arrive on your desk you’ve already told yourself it will be terrible instead of finding ways to make it easier the night before. Don’t let your guesses about the future ruin the present. Your initial reaction to a bad thought will be to blow it out of proportion: “I was tempted by another woman, I must not love my wife,” “My boss didn’t like the presentation, I’m going to be fired,” “Everyone else has a nice car, I must be a failure.” These thoughts are not only simplistic, they are often flat-out wrong. Remember that you are not the center of the universe and that most problems in your life will not ultimately mean much to your happiness. Remember problems from years past, like getting grounded or dumped – while they might have felt like horrible thoughts at the time, chances are good you have long since moved on without any real damage. Return to something that you know and love to help take your mind off your problems or give you some perspective. Experiencing something tied to good memories can put the bad thought in perspective – things haven’t always been bad, and they won’t always be bad in the future.  Re-read your favorite book. Bake you mom’s chocolate cookie recipe. Go to see your team’s next home game. Put on an album you enjoy from your youth. Look through pictures of a fun event or vacation. Telling yourself not to think about something is as good as thinking about it. You spend all of your time saying “stop thinking about my breakup” that you don’t realize you are still talking about your breakup! You need to either move your thoughts in another direction or try and tackle the bad thought head on. Trying to consciously push the thought out, however, will only prolong your problems. In some situations it’s best to face the problem directly, while putting it aside for a while might be a better strategy for other situations. Instead of fighting bad thoughts, take a deep breath, acknowledge them, and move on. This is difficult to learn, but mastering this skill is the best way to fight negative thoughts for the rest of your life. For example, you may be worried that you’re going to be fired because you made a mistake at work. Instead of fixating on what you did wrong, learn from your mistake and take steps not to repeat it in the future. Focus on improving, rather than expecting the worst. Think things like, “I cannot control everything in the world,” “I can’t change the past,” and “it is time to move forward.” ” This may sound odd, but an Ohio State study found that people who write down their bad thoughts and then throw the paper away had a better self-image than people who kept the paper. Writing is a way of expressing your problems, and physically getting rid of them tells your body that it is time to move on. The same study found that even dragging a file to your computer’s Trash Bin has the same positive effects. Getting your bad thoughts off your chest and into the open is a great way to work through what makes a thought so bad. It also, more often than not, helps you realize that the thought is not as bad as it seemed. Once you’ve put words to your anxiety, you can get valuable advice and perspective from someone who has likely had similar anxieties. Many psychiatrists have found that simply telling your thoughts in a comfortable setting may be enough to eliminate them.  Bad thoughts are basically talking to yourself, and everything you say sounds true. Having another perspective can help you find the flaws in your logic and end the thought.  You could talk to a trusted friend or family member as well as a therapist or psychiatrist.