We will now discuss strategies to help you meet your goals for developing healthier core beliefs.
Defining core beliefs: One of the big problems with deep sadness and depression is that everything seems like a big cloudy dark mess. And because everything seems so tangled, all problems seem impossible to solve. Seeing your problems this way can lead to bigger problems such as hopelessness. Looking at one core belief at a time is essential to slowly untangling the problems.
An example to help you along…
Many individuals describe themselves as being a “loser” But what does that mean exactly? In order to change it, we must define it. Here are a few ways to look at it:
• No friends?
• Not being able to make friends?
• No job?
• No money?
• Ugly?
• Stupid?
Now by breaking down the idea of “being a loser”, it’s given us a definition that is concrete and that we can challenge. Before doing that, you should replace the negative core belief with a positive one. For this example, we will use successful. (Don’t forget to define this idea also as we will use it again later.)
There are several great reasons to belong to such a group. No matter the number of members logged on to the forum, what is important is that everyone is here for one another, to support, offer advice and share personal experiences.
You mentioned that you joined the forum to get well and you have.
Have your health goals changed since you first joined this group? If so, what are they? What specific help do you feel you need in order to achieve those goals?
The last strategy in beginning to change negative core beliefs is to keep track of positive experiences.
Because you’re sad or depressed, you’ve trained yourself to only pay attention to the information that confirms your old negative core beliefs and to not see or pay attention to information that shows you how true your positive core beliefs actually are. If you’re going to change your negative core beliefs, you’ll need to pay better attention. How are you going to do that? Keep a positive experiences journal. This can be a life saver when you’re really feeling down and can help with thought challenging.
This may not be easy at first. You may doubt yourself as it would confirm your old negative beliefs but we encourage you to keep at it! If you’re unsure whether or not the experience was a positive one, enlist the help of the support group or therapist to help you along.
Change your routine. You may find the house to be a welcoming, safe haven, or your routine tasks to be comforting and easy. Your comfort zone, however, is also the place where your anxiety or depression lingers, and you must try to escape it. Rising out of your comfort zone simply means that you should do things that you had never done before, such as engaging in different conversations, physical activities, watching movies alone, or even eating in a restaurant you have never been to.
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