Over whelmed by negative thoughts. How do you cope?

Post Reply New Topic

Does anyone suffer from overwhelming negative thoughts? What coping strategies do you have in dealing with them? There are days when I'm over whelmed, today is a bad day. I'm trying to distract myself by painting,there are times when it helps a lot,then others where a challenging part of a painting and the negative emotions coalesces with the negative thoughts from my persona/mental health. The Types of thoughts vary,sometimes it's past experiences,or about myself,or other thoughts that are harder to deal with. I find it hard speaking to family/friends about them, I have trouble speaking about emotional issues and usually feel my negative demeanour will effect them or that I'm becoming a pain, so I usually keep a lot to myself. How do you cope?

I keep a journal, which if you don't, I highly recommend. When bad thoughts really get on top of me, sometimes I have to get out the house and go for a walk. I take my camera and try to capture some of the nice things I see, I always look for silver linings. You have to experiment, and find what works for you. But walking is proven to help, as exercise can release "happy" chemicals in our brains. Sun light and fresh air also help.

Il try a journal. Do you write whatever is in your mind? Or keep it positive?

Those seem to come up, when we are safe and out of danger.

I take a pregabalin tablet.... has the side effect of making me high and really positive.

Obviously I don't recommend anyone do the same it's just a side effect it has on me it is prescribed for neuropathic pain does help with anxiety issues I get as well though.

I started keeping one two years ago. I use Penzu, which is for online journal keeping. At first I would write in it whenever something bad or significant happened, or when I was feeling really down. But sometimes a month would go by without me writing in it. But now I've made it a habit to write in it once a week (every sunday). I write about what's happened that week, and how I felt about it, both good and bad, and positive/negative emotions. My hope is that when I'm gone, those close to me will read it and know the real me. So when I write in it, I try to capture my true self. It's surprisingly powerful, and really helps my mental health.

Sometimes I just have to allow those negative emotions to just be there. I think of them like I do unwelcome company. I did not invite them over, and I tend to avoid conflict so much that I would never toss them out, so I suffer through them until they leave. I try to not talk to them or encourage them to hang around. I try to distract myself by drawing patterns or sorting my stones. Usually by the time I am safely back inside my shell and in a nice hyper-focus mode the company or the negative emotions get bored and leave. Hee hee.

Mine are never invited but they still crash the party :0/

This sounds a really positive thing

One thing I'll do is make a list. I'll make a list of projects to do soon, or I'll write out my own calendar. I'll use pen and a blank sheet of paper, it feels really good to start a new paper.

If I'm feeling really negative, I'll make a list of things that are going well. Usually, what is upsetting is one or two things, but there are other things going on that can give us encouragement if we are able to notice them.

I also have a cat who is the most wonderful creature on the planet.

The least healthy thing I do is buy Utz Party Mix. I like all the different colors, textures, shapes, tastes, crunchinesses and ratios of spices per unit area. I buy the small bag, because too much sugar or carbohydrate makes negativity worse.

Generally, I try to use my autism to better myself. I use my focus and reasoning to solve the problem.

Example: I said something to make a person mad/upset
Step 1: Attempt to find what I did. (Ask them, ask a NT, or go over the situation in my head to find the statement)
Step 2: Create a plan/system so that I never make that mistake again. (when asked does this make me look fat, plan or ask a NT what I should say)
Step 3: Improve your plan (I never get it "right" the first time. So always look for ways to improve the system/plan).

I am not saying this will work to fix what you did. It will change your NEGATIVE thoughts to CONSTRUCTIVE thoughts. It makes me happier because I have something new to try (like a mini social experiment).

Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me if you want other suggestions.

AND



Those are great suggestions too IMO.

Whenever I feel such thoughts are controlling me, I go for a long walk.

I think the 'power of positive thinking' people are just burying stresses, which sometimes rise to the surface, ferociously.

It felt hopeful, to hear that this would result in the manifestation of a miracle, but it may be more healthy to deal with life in a pragmatic way.

It's well and good to decompress, but you have to do something about the stressor or culprit.

Yes but with time I noticed it was a lot about sensory overload/exhaustion/lack of sleep.

Sleep well and enough.
Take your time, alone, doing your things.
Sit down and think, like tell yourself it's just passing by.
Nothing is working, cry. It will pass too.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Lack of sleep isn't helping, meds im on on seem to wear off after a certain period. Sleep goes first. Negative thoughts become worse till there unbearable. I'm at the doctors Wednesday, look into changing meds. The suggestions have helped. Sometimes I wish I could shut my brain off even in times when things aren't as bad I need a break from myself, not sure if that makes sense.