How thoughts and emotions change our lives and can it be controlled

Let's talk about how thoughts and emotions affect our lives. We have deceived you. We are not going to write messages to the Universe and pronounce directions for success here. It doesn't work, and this has already been discussed at Kuprum. Here: "Is it true that thoughts are material». And further: "What is Emotional Image Therapy and what's wrong with it».

Bullshit trigger: the professor explains the connection between your thoughts and life through quantum physics and the structure of the universe.

Emotions do not cause illness

In "Komsomolskaya Pravda" they saythat the back hurts because of jealousy, and heartburn starts from anger. Moscow Department of Labor thinksthat skin diseases arise when you allow your personal boundaries to be violated, and vision problems arise when you suppress difficult emotions. Of course, this is not true. There is no connection between emotions and diseases, that is, specific emotions cannot damage any organ or disrupt the functioning of the body.

But our psychological state can indeed be manifested by physical symptoms. Doctors call these symptoms somatoform disorders.

For example, stress. If you are constantly nervous and have little rest, it is more likely will appear headache or any other pain, constipation, diarrhea and trouble sleeping. Perhaps the symptoms of chronic diseases, such as psoriasis or irritable bowel syndrome, will worsen.

Bullshit trigger: "All diseases are from the nerves." No, there are also viruses, bacteria, tobacco, alcohol, ultraviolet radiation, sausages, a sedentary lifestyle and many other causes of illness. The doctor will suspect that the matter is in a psychological state only after he excludes all other factors that could affect well-being.

Life can be improved if you learn to think

It's not about thinking only good things and ignoring your difficulties. It's about reflecting on your emotions. This is taught in psychotherapy.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most scientifically sound approaches in psychotherapy. His adherents considerthat errors in thinking partly lead to psychological problems.

For example, our pie burned down, and we really wanted to treat our friends to them. We begin to think: “I can’t do anything at all. Friends will decide that my hands are growing out of the wrong place. Then we spin one thought like a snowball, and in the end it grows to “I hate myself” or “What a worthless me I am.” We get upset and will now avoid the situation that caused us negative emotions. So friends will never try the pie.

This avoidance behavior is a consequence of the fact that we are prone to cognitive errors:

• “I can’t do anything at all” - no, I just burned the pie. You are probably good at something else.
• “Friends will decide that my hands are not from the right place” - we don’t know who thinks what. Perhaps your friends appreciated your efforts and were inspired to make a pie themselves. But, most likely, they did not think anything at all. It often seems to us that all the attention is focused only on us - this distortion is called the "Spotlight Effect". Here article about him.

And here is the detailed list cognitive distortions.

Psychotherapists often ask to keep a diary - to write down in what situations certain feelings appear or what thoughts lead to them. Then they are taken apart and taught to respond to the situation in a healthier way. Doctors use CBT to help people stop drinking and smoking, manage eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and other conditions.

Think positively - it's nice, although it's useless!