How do you cope with your negative mental chatter when stressed?

1. 73

   Goodpalposted 14 years ago

   How do you cope with your negative mental chatter when stressed?
   
   Please share from personal experience what do you do when it becomes almost obsessive. Does the stress disappears when this inner dialog is silenced.

   replyreport
2. 52

   Noondaysnailposted 14 years ago

   The inner dialog is constant, like a pet or a relative that I've  grown accustomed to. And it has good days and bad days.
   The whole AA/NA axiom "one day at a time" revolves arround silencing the chattering monkey on your back. Which makes sense when you think about how many people drink to cope with obsessive-level stress.  We take these institutions for granted, but they were founded on some incredible ingenuity.  I'm not affiliated with them in any way, and I'm not trying to promote them (It's in the handbook that you shouldn't, which is awsome).  I just know when it comes to self help, it's the best course that I know.
   Off the subject; in short :I handle it like a reformed alcoholic.  Acceptance of yourself works wonders for stress.

   replyreport
3. 70

   mmillerposted 14 years ago

   I try not to dwell on negative things (or parts of myself) for too long. It does me know good. I look at every negative situation as a "ring in the rubble."  I ask myself, "What is the good in the situation I now face?" 
   
   It may help to talk to someone that knows you well and knows your talents and strengths.  Sometimes having someone remind you of that will help with the negative chatter.

   replyreport
4. 51

   Lula Blummzposted 14 years ago

   My newest way of dealing with all the negative mind chatter, as I feel often as though I am drowning in mud lately, is to take my mind away. If I wake up, in the middle of the night, for example, I begin to create a dream of how I wish my life looked...and set no limits. It is my dream. I took the time to remember what I did to escape as a child, when I needed to....and became that escape. What better way to begin to change the way your life looks than to dream about how you want it to look. It is a way of taking the positive to the extreme. From there, ideas are slowly coming to fruition of how to create my life and direct it in the way of those dreams. Also, it gives my mind something else to chatter about.

   replyreport
5. 60

   Jarnposted 14 years ago

   I tell my brain to shut the hell up aloud, and then threaten to stab it with Q-tips and drown it in a sea of methyl alcohol. Seems to have worked so far.

   replyreport
6. 71

   cherrycrime26posted 14 years ago

   As soon as the negativity creeps in, I drive it right out, with positive thoughts, it takes some practice, but youll get it soon.

   replyreport