Putting a Positive Spin on It

You're not attractive enough.

You don't make enough money.

You need to be more popular.

Modern life bombards us with messages like this, and it's almost impossible to never internalize any of them. With mental illness, though, thoughts like these can be persistent, even constant, and intrusive. Sometimes, they even come as an audible voice.

Some therapists recommend re-framing these repetitive ideas in positive language. That only works for me if the positive language seems just as true as the negative. In this blog, I'm going to share some of the persistent negative thoughts that I've re-framed and the positive spins that have replaced them, but I'm also going to share some ideas that I haven't been able to spin in a both true and positive light.

I've managed to re-frame the following thoughts in a positive light:

My mental health may never feel good enough.

has become
My mental health is a work in progress. It's better than it used to be. I work hard at it, and it is improving.

I'm fat.
has become
I have the body type that I'm attracted to.

I have poor family relationships.
has turned into
I set boundaries to keep myself mentally well.

and

I have poor impulse control.
has become
My impulse control is a work in progress and better than it used to be.

I still have trouble re-framing some thoughts, though.

I feel mentally unwell.

and

I don't have enough money.

are among the thoughts that I'm having trouble re-spinning right now.

So, I guess the takeaway is that it can be helpful to spin persistent negative thoughts into realistic, more positive language. Different things work for different people, though, and you're just as awesome if this doesn't work for you as if it does.

Comments

Dear Unnamed Friend

Dear unnamed friend, I carefully hoarded enough spoons to do the activity you suggested at the time you suggested. I went to bed super early and planned NOTHING for tomorrow to be able to do it. I just got discharged from psych this week, and the meds still aren’t all the way in my system, so I’m foggy-minded and emotional. I also woke up every 90 minutes last night for 30-45 minutes due to nightmares about the hospital that joined my normal nightmares. I told you I’d let you know around 9am today, when my alarm was set to sound, whether I could come to the 1pm event today, and I texted you that yes, I could come, but I needed to sleep until 10 to regain spoons. You texted me 4-5 times between 9:15 and 10, effectively cancelling any change I had to sleep, since it takes me at least 2 hours to wake all the way up. You tried to change the plans to pick me up around 10:15am, and I understand why. You were already in the area for something and didn’t want to drive all the w...

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