Are you familiar with children's building blocks. To demonstrate how memory affects anxiety you need to use only two colours and to stack them in random stacks of colour say five high. Each stack is a thought. Now push the stacks together. Where they touch is associated memory. Red blocks are negative, green are positive. The five blocks in each stack represent choices of thought. You will notice some green blocks touch red blocks. What this means is that some of the choices for a thought have an associated memory that is negative even though the thought is positive. What you need to do with the blocks and with your mind is change the blocks and your memory the same way. So pick any stack. If it has a red block at the top put it at the bottom of the stack till you have a green at the top. This is CBT changing negative thought for positive. Now if you have any red blocks touching that green one you need to change it for a green block too. These are random associated memories. This is GAD. This is your mind latching onto a negative out of the blue. But it can only do it if there is one there. So you see that even if you replace negative thoughts you can still think them if they touch upon negative associated memories. You need to change all the blocks by shifting the greens to the top till all the reds are on the bottom where they are harder to get at. You need to change the associated memory too. A big enough chore to do with a few building blocks but far harder to do with the billions of thoughts in your memory. But the mind does work at the speed of light so it is possible to do, just don't expect it to happen over night. Relaxation techniques and medication separate the building blocks so they don't touch but don't actually change them, you have to do that yourself.
So if you have one of these negative thoughts come out of the blue, work on it so that the next time a positive thought touches upon an associated thought that associated thought will be positive also. Green against green so to speak.
I hope this makes sense. You realize that if more than half your blocks (thoughts) are red you may need to add more green ones. Also if your attitude is negative you will keep floating reds to the top and have to keep moving them back down. Attitude and core beliefs are your foundation, if it is weak then your stacks of blocks will tumble.
I tend to get anxious without any particular reason.I assume a negative situation & start getting panic.This I found comes in category of GAD during the course of my CBT. This tendency exist in my behaviour since I my schooldays;at least 17-18 yrs back when I was high school students;when small daily events tends to disturb me.I have feel of humiliation in between my friends even in general discussion.
Whenever I tend to break this feel I feel more anxious.During course of my CBT,I came to know that yoga & medidation will help out in strong manner to break this behaviour. And now I am practising it thoroughly because now I also feel its positive impact in behaviour.
After your thread,I decide to start another activity.I will quote the positive habits of mine in my thought diary.This will be a daily activity to repeat my positive habits.The theme will depend on -'Yes I can'.This will surely help me to build positive core beliefs & strong foundations as u suggest.
My problem I now have shifted to my home town where there is no facility of behaviour therapy.What ever I m doing is my own effort & input from the site.
Give your comments on this thread & any other tip for build of positive core belief.
You know all of this is opinion based on personal experience. But here goes anyway. You have a weak foundation that you are trying to build on. It is sabotaging you. It is built of a jumble of core beliefs, none stable enough to build on.
Back to the three principles of a core belief. Perception, this is seeing them for what they are. Attitude, this is wanting to change them. Belief, this is trusting you can do this. Without this your foundation is made of mud. All your positive thoughts will just turn negative again.
Fix the foundation first. Why do you think you can not do something when you know full well you can? Because it didn't work before? That is not a good reason.
Many a times I found myself unable to challange my anxious thoughts.I take note of negative thought & try to replace with positive thought.But I find hardly my thought to get replaced.For every 10 negative thought,7 are not able to be replaced.
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