Understanding the brain!
A little about the brain
Imagine our brain is a tall grassy field.
When we walk through the long, tall grass we make a path, the grass flattens a little bit so it’s easier to find and easier to walk through next time.
The more times we walk over the same path, the easier it gets to find it and walk through again.
In our brains, we have neural pathways - one way we make these paths is by having thoughts.
The more times we think something the more we tread that path in our brain.
This explains why we can get ‘stuck’ on certain thought patterns.
The negative bias
Ever noticed that the thought patterns we get stuck on are often negative? Why? The brain gives higher importance to negative thoughts and experiences to protect us.
Imagine our cave-man ancestors- would it have been more useful for their brain to remember
A) an enjoyable morning setting up camp? or
B) the evening when the group were in danger because they’d attracted the attention of a predator and had to flee?
Challenging negative thoughts
Whilst the dangers have changed since caveman times, the way our brain processes certain things hasn’t caught up.
The brain can think it’s really helpful to remind us of the one thing that went wrong today (so that we can learn from it) instead of remembering all the things that went well.
Or think it’s helpful to compare ourselves to another person (because they could have been our competition for food or getting away quickest). Thanks brain!
Coping Strategies
If you’ve noticed that your thought patterns are very frequently negative you could try
A gratitude exercise like listing ‘3 good things’ every day. This encourages positive neural pathways that spot good things.
After supper write down 3 good things from the day in a notepad (they don’t have to be majorly exciting, in fact really simple good things help encourage us to take pleasure in the small things and can help us manage our expectations).
You can also look for patterns on things that make you feel good in these lists so that you can prioritise making them happen as often as possible.
When you’re feeling down you can also look back through, they might give you a boost or an idea on something to help you feel better.
This exercise also helps us to know ourselves better.
Or sign up to our FREE Supported self-help programme over the phone. This is 6 sessions to help you understand and feel more in control of your emotions.