I don’t know where I would be without my water filter. It gives me fresh and hygienic water for me to drink every day. My coffee filter also provides me with a delicious cup of coffee to start my day. Unfortunately, sometimes I say the wrong thing at the wrong time and I am told that I need a filter. Well, there are many types of filters, but have you ever heard of the mental filter?
A mental filter is another faulty way of thinking. It is a negative thought pattern that can lead to anxiety and, or depression. I have recently read one of the painful truths about life that I had tried to block out. That is, that life is hard and it is meant to be hard. So, all of you people that are so super positive about life, you are wrong. I admire your enthusiasm, though. But on the other hand, we cannot give in to negativity. Filtering is a process where we discount all the positive news in our life and somehow pessimistically turn them into the negative.
Mental filtering can be serious and lead to panic disorder. Loneliness can contribute to these feelings and the failure to stop filtering can lead to heightened levels of anxiety. There are normally many things going on in your life when you are experiencing mental filtering and the majority of them are positive; however, you are fixated on the negative and cannot get it out of your head.
So, what can we do to snap ourselves out of this process? There are some professionals that recommend writing a list of your negative thoughts, trying to rationally think about reasons to support these thoughts, and then speaking to your friends to see if they agree with them. You may be pleasantly surprised to find out that what you are thinking is quite normal and not something to worry about at all.
There is also the underlying issue regarding loneliness and what we call avoidance behaviours. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be writing about the topic of loneliness and some tips to cope. In the meantime, stop filtering and if you need someone to talk to if you are feeling negative contact me. I am happy to help. The first session is free.
storysolutionstherapy@gmail.com
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Mental Filters and Panic Disorder
https://www.verywellmind.com/mental-filters-and-panic-disorder-2584186#:~:text=Mental%20filter%20is%20a%20term,all%20of%20the%20positive%20ones
Thinking this way might make you depressed
https://therapyinanutshell.com/mental-filtering/#:~:text=Mental%20filtering%20is%20the%20cognitive,filter%20out%20all%20the%20positive
Mental filters that are sabotaging you
https://stateofanxiety.com/20-stealthy-mental-filters-that-are-sabotaging-you-as-seen-in-success-magazine-october-2017/
