Negativity Bias in the Brain & how to H.E.A.L. it

H.E.A.L - Negativity Bias in our brains.  Enhancing Happiness in your life

Negativity Bias - Everyone’s brain has a negativity bias. Our brain has evolved a hair-trigger readiness to go negative. It’s initial use in our evolution was from a survival standpoint. Our brains evolved to recognize that ‘bad things’ have more urgency than good ones, which saved our lives. However, in modern society today, we rarely face life threatening situations like we did when we were prey, but our brains are still wired to be ‘Velcro’ for the negative and ‘Teflon’ for the positive.

As a Therapist, I have many modalities I use to help people get what they are searching for in their lives. But I find that one of the more helpful approaches for our Negativity Biased brains is the H.E.A.L. method developed by Neuropsychologist, Dr. Rick Hanson. It helps our neurons to fire together, then wire together.

H.E.A.L. is not positive thinking. It is a way to enhance present positive moments that typically take place in your life. It balances our brains to to dwell on the positive rather than constantly overreact to the negative.

H - Have a positive experience that’s already present. Example: Being close to someone.

E - Enrich it. Stay with the positive experience for 5-10 seconds or longer. Open to it emotionally and physically. Let it fill your mind, enjoy it. Get those neurons firing, so they’ll really wire together. Example: Being close to someone. Open to the emotions you are having in the situation. Physically feel your emotions in your body. Does it feel like your chest is warm? Do you feel a contentment or excitement in your body?

A - Absorb it. Make a conscious decision that the experience is sinking into you as you sink into it. Let it really land in your mind.

L - (optional) - Link positive and negative material. Example: When you are feeling liked or loved by this person, link this experience with past feelings of lonliness.

*Author - Charity M. Loring, LMSW.  Loring Therapy LLC

Physical Symptoms of Depression

When thinking about the signs of depression, many of us would give examples of emotional signals such as feeling sad or not having interest in daily activities. What we sometimes overlook though is the possible physical signs associated with depression. We overlook these signs so much that some suffering from depression don’t get the help they need because they initially only showed physical signs. It’s important to become aware of these physical signs of depression because identifying them may lead to a fast discovery and treatment. Although these symptoms do not always suggest depression, below are some common physical symptoms of depression.

• Headaches
• Those who suffer from depression are three times more likely to have frequent headaches and migraines.

• Back Pain
• Back pain can sometimes be symptom of depression. Those who have depression are four times more likely to have back pain. 

• Muscle Aches and Joint Pain
• If you already suffer from chronic pains, depression can make it worse. 

• Chest Pains
• Pain in your chest can be associated with depression, however if you are suffering from chest pain it’s important to see a doctor right away and it could be a serious heart issue. 

• Digestive Problems
• Depression can cause digestive problems like nausea and chronic constipation. Depression should be investigated and ruled out before major treatments for these digestive problems are started.

• Exhaustion and fatigue
• Depression and fatigue go hand in hand. When suffering from depression sometimes no matter how much sleep you get, you still feel tired. 

• Sleep Disturbances
• Depression can have and opposite effects on your sleep. Some suffers have a hard time falling asleep or being unable to go back to sleep, whereas others may sleep far more than they usually do. 

• Changes in weight
• Many studies show that an increase in weight can be associated with depression. This change is usually present more in women than men. 

Written By: Jenai Muhammad, graduate level intern and Charity M. Loring, LMSW,  Loring Therapy, LLC www.loringtherapy.com Adapted from: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/9-physical-symptoms-of-depression.html?page=1 9 Physical symptoms of Depression. By Melissa Breyer.

Challenge Your Negative Thinking

 Everyone has had doubts about something at one point or another in his or her life. This is a normal part of being human, wondering if we are making the right choice, or doing the right thing. For some people, however, negative thinking can become a way of life. Every action or thought becomes an internal dialogue, beating yourself up internally about what is happening or going on. There are ways to challenge such thoughts. Slow down and ask yourself:

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What prompted the thought?

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What happened, what was the situation?

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Am I looking at this the right way?

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Is there a more realistic way to view this situation or its outcome?

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Are these thought helping my situation or hurting it?

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What can I do differently?

By challenging the thoughts, one can begin to learn to view situations differently the next time they arise and find ways to overcome them. However, if self help techniques are not working, contact your local therapist for more help.

Adapted from the article “Think This, Not That,’ by Rita A. Schulte in “Counseling Today,” June, 2013, Volume 55, Issue 12

By James Clapper, Graduate Level Intern, Loring Therapy LLC

Loringtherapy.com

 

How you deal with Negative Thoughts

How You Can Deal With Negative Thoughts

Depression can cause you to view everything in a negative light, from your daily living to how you view the future.  Trying to simply “snap out of it” or “think positive” often will not help unless you replace the negative thoughts with more even thinking.

How can you Challenge such Negative Thinking?

Do not be hard on yourself – Do not place expectations on yourself that you would not expect of others

Realize you are not Perfect – Allow yourself to make mistakes, no one is perfect and mistakes are a chance to learn, not the end of the world.

Spend Time with more Positive People – The people you spend time with will often shape how you view things. Spend time with more positive friends and try to adopt their attitudes.

Keep a “Negative Thought Journal” – When you have negative thoughts write them down, then write down a more positive or realistic view of the situation, event, etc. This can help change your way of thinking and viewing things.

Do not View Things as “Black or White” – Allow for a middle ground or “grey area,” most things in life are not all good or all bad (e.g. a disagreement with a loved one over one issue does not mean one or the other is right, just a different viewpoint).

Do not Over-Generalize – Just because one thing does not work, does not mean everything will not, or that it will always happen.

Do not Ignore the Positive – It can become easy to look for the flaw and ignore the good, focus on what is going right and less on what is going wrong.

Do not Jump to Conclusions or Assume – Many times it is easy to assume the worst or jump to a conclusion, often negative, without looking at all of the evidence or waiting for the outcome.

Do not use Emotional Reasoning – Do not base your beliefs on how you feel, instead focus on what is actually happening (e.g. I feel bad, therefore I am no good, which is not the truth of the situation),

Do not hold Yourself to a Strict List of Should and ShouldNots – You will often end up feeling bad over not living up to such a strict list, allow room for all that is in between those extremes.

Do not Label Yourself Based on Mistakes – Realize if you make a mistake it does not make you a failure, etc. We all make mistakes they do not define who we are.  

By: James Clapper – Graduate Level Intern, Loring Therapy, LLC

Adapted from:http://www.helpguide.org/mental/depression_tips.htm