Why can´t I stop my ruminating self abusive thoughts?
In cognitive Behavior therapy we talk about thought errors or I prefer thought traps.
This means that you think thoughts that go along with your low self-esteem and that also reinforce it.
Example of thought errors when you have low self-esteem are:
1. Self-abusive thoughts like ” I am weird”, ”I am bad”, ”I am not likeable”.
2. Critical thoughts about what you do (I call them Hitler thoughts) like I made a mistake at the test som i am a failure, I shoudn´t have said that comment which made me sound like an idiot, I laughed at the wrong place, i sounded like a fool etc.
3. You think catastrophic thoughts about things in the future; I will fail this test and I will never finish university, I will be dumped by every partner and I will end up alone, I will have a bad time at the party so there is no use fo mer to go.
4. When you have low self-esteem you always compare yourself to others in way where you feel inferior; All my friends have a partner, i am the only one who will always be alone, all my friends seem to move forward in life except for me, all my friends have better salaries, I am the only one with a low income etc.
5. You make catastophies around you feelings; I can´t stand feeling this kind of anxiety, I will always feel this depressed and I can´t stand it, I am feeling so nervous, people will think I am a nerve wreck etc.
6. You vissualize yourself in bad situations; you see youself old and lonely, you see everyone else with happy families except for yourself, you see yourself writing the same job applications in ten years from now etc. (Read more in Boosting self-esteem for dummies by Rhena Branch and Rob Wilson).
Cognitive Behavior Psychologist Monica Emanell
www.kbtemanell.se
Why can´t I stop my ruminating self abusive thoughts?
In cognitive Behavior therapy we talk about thought errors or I prefer thought traps.
This means that you think thoughts that go along with your low self-esteem and that also reinforce it.
Example of thought errors when you have low self-esteem are:
1. Self-abusive thoughts like ” I am weird”, ”I am bad”, ”I am not likeable”.
2. Critical thoughts about what you do (I call them Hitler thoughts) like I made a mistake at the test som i am a failure, I shoudn´t have said that comment which made me sound like an idiot, I laughed at the wrong place, i sounded like a fool etc.
3. You think catastrophic thoughts about things in the future; I will fail this test and I will never finish university, I will be dumped by every partner and I will end up alone, I will have a bad time at the party so there is no use fo mer to go.
4. When you have low self-esteem you always compare yourself to others in way where you feel inferior; All my friends have a partner, i am the only one who will always be alone, all my friends seem to move forward in life except for me, all my friends have better salaries, I am the only one with a low income etc.
5. You make catastophies around you feelings; I can´t stand feeling this kind of anxiety, I will always feel this depressed and I can´t stand it, I am feeling so nervous, people will think I am a nerve wreck etc.
6. You vissualize yourself in bad situations; you see youself old and lonely, you see everyone else with happy families except for yourself, you see yourself writing the same job applications in ten years from now etc. (Read more in Boosting self-esteem for dummies by Rhena Branch and Rob Wilson).
Cognitive Behavior Psychologist Monica Emanell
www.kbtemanell.se