5 Negative Mindsets that Impact Your Mental Health (2024)

Some people view their experience of depression and anxiety as a fundamental part of who they are. Instead of seeing mental illness as a permanent state of being, what if we talked about it as a temporary phase? What if we stop identifying ourselves as flawed?

Depression and anxiety can characterize a certain season of life, but they don’t have to stick around forever. If you are facing anxiety or depression, you must know that you can move past it. To get started, it’s important to understand five negative mindsets that impact mental health.

If you or a loved one is struggling with depression, Alleviant Health Centers can help. Contact us today at 501.904.4762 to learn about our treatment options.

Negative Mindsets That Impact Mental Health

1. Learned Helplessness

Learned helplessness is the belief that you are stuck in your depression or anxiety forever. Persistent negativity can lead to learned helplessness, which reinforces states of depression and anxiety. Learned helplessness keeps you from taking responsibility for your life and reaching the goals that you want to achieve. It’s self-defeating and unproductive.

The antidote for learned helplessness is resilience. Martin Seligman, a psychologist, developed these three P’s to help people gain a resilient mindset:

  • Permanence — Understand that what you’re going through won’t last forever. It’s a temporary setback. You can be optimistic about the future instead of pessimistic.
  • Pervasiveness — Just because you made a mistake at work doesn’t mean you have to feel like a failure at home. Trust that good things are the norm and that bad things are specific instances you can face and overcome. They don’t have to define you.
  • Personalization — Don’t blame yourself for everything difficult in your life. Acknowledge when you have been hurt by someone else or the circ*mstances making certain things more difficult for you. Be realistic. It’s not always your fault.

2. Exaggeration

If you’re facing anxiety and depression, you might see the most minor challenge as an impossible setback. Just getting out of bed can feel overwhelming. People with depression tend to exaggerate negative experiences or aspects of life.

Exaggeration isn’t a realistic view of the world. It’s inflated. If you’re facing a season of depression and anxiety, remember that you might be blowing some things out of proportion because of your current mental state.

3. Dichotomous Thinking

Dichotomous thinking means viewing a partial setback as a complete failure. Learn to compartmentalize your mistakes and let them stand alone. Don’t let them bleed into other areas of your life. Remember that:

A mistake at work doesn’t mean that you’re a terrible employee.

An argument with your significant other doesn’t mean that your relationship is doomed

A difficult test doesn’t mean that you’re not smart enough

4. Selective Abstraction

Selective abstraction is a mindset that only uses negative information to interpret events instead of seeing the positives. Poor Eeyore from Winne-the-Pooh has a bad case of selective abstraction. He assumes the worst about people and situations and fixates on only bad facts or possibilities.

Recognize that depression and anxiety will distort your worldview, filtering out the good and leaving only the negative.

5. Overgeneralization

Overgeneralization is when a person with depression or anxiety lets negativity in one area of life bleed into other unrelated areas. If you had a fight with your spouse and said some harsh words, you might think, “I’m a terrible human being and a horrible wife and mother.” Chances are that your depression has distorted your thinking.

Don’t let your problems from one area bleed into unrelated areas. Mistakes and setbacks are just a part of your reality—they don’t define it.

Change the Way You Think at Alleviant Health Centers

Take control of your thoughts by changing the negative mindsets that impact your mental health. Alleviant Health Centers can help you change your unhealthy mindset. Contact us at 501.904.4762 today to learn more.

5 Negative Mindsets that Impact Your Mental Health (2024)

FAQs

What has a negative impact on mental health? ›

childhood abuse, trauma, or neglect. social isolation or loneliness. experiencing discrimination and stigma, including racism. social disadvantage, poverty or debt.

What impact does negative thinking have on our mental health? ›

Focusing on negative thoughts may lead to decreased motivation and greater feelings of helplessness. This type of critical inner dialogue has even been linked to depression, so it's definitely something to fix.

What are 3 negative mindsets I need to let go of to be successful in life? ›

3 Negative Mindsets that Hold You Back – Guilt, Perfectionism, and Regret. Life can be stressful sometimes, but sometimes the biggest source of stress is your own mind and negative thinking. You may be quick to judge yourself, put too many demands on yourself, or have a hard time letting go of past mistakes.

What is the main cause of negative thinking? ›

Negative thinking can have several causes, including personal factors such as undergoing a traumatic experience. That said, scientists are finding evidence that certain mental health disorders play a critical role in the habitual formation of dark or negative thoughts.

What is a negative mindset? ›

Definition. Negative thoughts are cognitions about the self, others, or the world in general that are characterized by negative perceptions, expectations, and attributions and are associated with unpleasant emotions and adverse behavioral, physiological, and health outcomes.

What are the four negative thoughts? ›

According to Mayo Clinic, there are four main ones to be exact: personalizing, filtering, catastrophizing, and polarizing.

Are 80 of our thoughts negative? ›

According to the National Science Foundation, 80% of our thoughts are negative and 95% of our thoughts are repetitive. WOW. That is a lot of negative, repetitive thoughts! We all have thoughts and feelings about ourselves and important aspects of our life—relationships, work, school.

Do most people have a negative mindset? ›

Research has shown that across a wide array of psychological events, people tend to focus more on the negative as they try to make sense of the world. Pay more attention to negative events than positive ones.

Why am I stuck in a negative mindset? ›

This is understandable as humans have evolved to be hard wired to react to things that are, or are perceived to be, a threat to us and our family. Negative thoughts and constant feelings of anxiety are just one of many ways we react to feeling under threat.

What are the 5 C's of negative thinking? ›

The 5 Cs are complaining, criticizing, concern, commiserating, and catastrophizing. With even a baseline understanding of these words, you can see how they can lead to cycles of misguided negative thinking. And what's interesting is each has a slightly different version that is healthy and helpful.

Can negative thinking cause anxiety? ›

Healthy thinking can help you prevent or control anxiety. Negative thoughts can increase your worry or fear. Cognitive-behavioural therapy, or CBT, is a type of therapy that can help you replace negative thoughts with accurate, encouraging ones.

What are mental health positives and negatives? ›

Being in a good mental state can keep you healthy and help prevent serious health conditions. A study found that positive psychological well-being can reduce the risks of heart attacks and strokes. On the other hand, poor mental health can lead to poor physical health or harmful behaviors. Chronic diseases.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Otha Schamberger

Last Updated:

Views: 6081

Rating: 4.4 / 5 (75 voted)

Reviews: 82% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Otha Schamberger

Birthday: 1999-08-15

Address: Suite 490 606 Hammes Ferry, Carterhaven, IL 62290

Phone: +8557035444877

Job: Forward IT Agent

Hobby: Fishing, Flying, Jewelry making, Digital arts, Sand art, Parkour, tabletop games

Introduction: My name is Otha Schamberger, I am a vast, good, healthy, cheerful, energetic, gorgeous, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.