blink-imherebaby t1_ixipa1r wrote
Psychologist here:
On cognitive therapy we call them automatic thoughts, they are intimately related to our feelings and behavior and they come as a symptom of our core beliefs, that were developed with time and experiences we had (and guess what? Are intimately linked to our feelings and behavior as well!).
It is NORMAL to have automatic thoughts, everyone has them, problem is, as you said, when they are a reflection of a view about yourself/the world that doesn't match, so your core beliefs start getting a bit off with the reality. Basically, the way you learned to react/deal with certain situations stopped being appropriate for the present time of your life.
On cognitive therapy, we will address these thoughts very briefly, bc they are only A SYMPTOM of a problem, so our focus will be on solving cognitive dissonances you have and work on adaptative responses to the situations where you have these thoughts. I won't extend myself more, but if you want to know more about it, I recommend you to read Aaron Beck and his daughter, Judith Beck. They are the biggest references on this area!
uniqueUsername_1024 t1_ixm7v6m wrote
What do you do if you used to be suicidal for so long that suicidal ideation becomes an automatic thought?
I have no real desire to hurt myself, but every time something bad happens to me, my brain goes “What if you [suicide method]?” It’s more than call of the void—it’s a specific and very detailed method using items that aren’t necessarily nearby. (Literally the same thoughts I had when I was actively suicidal.)
Thing is, I don’t want to hurt myself. I like living! But I can’t tell my therapist and risk being hospitalized—if there’s even a 1% chance of that happening, I’ll put up with the thoughts instead. They’re not a danger to me, just stressful and annoying. Is there anything I could research?
Brennir10 t1_ixmiq21 wrote
Was in a similar boat. Have you tried meditation? That did wonders for me. Now when the thought starts to come up I can take a breath, hit pause in my brain, try to understand what in my life might be triggering the thought , and then let the thought go without dwelling on it. Turn my mind to doing something about the current situation that might be triggering the thoughts. I know it is a trite suggestion but it really did work for me. I almost never think about suicide beyond the automatic “maybe I should kill my self “ thought. No rumination or anything
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