Take a Look at Your Thinking Patterns

Depression can leave one spiraling down a pattern of negative thinking. The person may find themselves unable to find the joy in their life, see any good within themselves, or enjoy the company of the people around them. 

Some thinking patterns that can trap one in depressive thoughts include: 

• Seeing everything as all or nothing. When one finds it difficult to see the middle ground, it can become easy to catastrophize things. 
• Labeling yourself based on your experiences or past. 
• Focusing on the negative and ignoring or minimizing the positive. 
• Beating yourself up when things do not go as planned. 

When experiencing these thoughts, one should take a step back and view the situation from an outside perspective. They can ask themselves questions like: 

• Would I talk like this to a friend? 
• Are these thoughts true? 
• What does this situation look like from a different perspective?