Irrational Thoughts Are Not Negative Thoughts

The Socratic debate on irrational thought and its adjustment is a clear goal of most discussions that take place in the field of psychology.

From illnesses such as social anxiety to violence in relationships, and even post-traumatic stress.

Cognitive restructuring is an analogy for psychological treatment. It even seems to have crossed the stated boundaries between different models and psychological currents.

They are constantly trying to find out which one is most legitimate, useful and effective.

Cognitive restructuring, which can be used from the first evaluation until the end of the treatment, wants to discover a person’s irrational thoughts to bring up alternative thoughts about the same idea.

What is even more relevant is that the person will then be able to see the effect that irrational thoughts have on the mood. Then he will perceive this new consciousness and his behaviors.

The more cognitive restructuring becomes common, the more we will understand that the individual can discover his own irrational thoughts. Furthermore  , much more appropriate thoughts can be suggested.

However, many are confused and start replacing their irrational thoughts with positive thoughts instead of rational thoughts.

Differences between irrational thoughts and rational thoughts

Irrational thoughts lead to very unpleasant emotional responses. These can be anything from anger and bitterness to terror. They are long-term and are based on absolute terms – using adverbs such as “never” or “always”.

This in turn has  to do with what we need to be happy. Or what one should be, do or have. That is, demands we force on ourselves.

Furthermore, these thoughts usually cannot be verified. Rational thoughts, on the other hand, can be proven.

They generate emotions with much lower intensity, such as disgust instead of anger, discouragement instead of bitterness and fear instead of terror.

It is important to emphasize that anger is not replaced by happiness, bitterness is not satisfied and terror is not replaced by courage.

Rational thoughts must be realistic and adjusted. If made excessively positive, we will be dealing with irrational thoughts again.

If an individual views alternative and rational thoughts as positive thinking, he or she will probably not be able to evoke such thoughts.

The resulting state of mind will push the person even more towards the negative and make the task almost impossible.

Example: Patricia loses her job

Imagine a 40-year-old woman named Patricia losing her job as a bank employee. The irrational thoughts she has are:

• “I will never find a job again.”
• “IM worthless.”
• “If I had only worked more hours, I would not have been fired.”

As we discussed earlier, we can, among other things,  observe absolute terms that cannot be verified.

With practice, Patricia can instead create alternative rational thoughts that are much more appropriate. For example:

• “I do not know if I will find a new job, but I will do my best.”
• “I have lost my job, but that does not mean I’m worthless. They simply did not need me. ”
• “I could have worked more hours, but I do not know if it is connected to the fact that I was fired.”

As you can see in the second set, she does not use absolute terms. The conclusions were not elicited with assumptions or pejorative labels about oneself from external events.

Positive thinking can lead to traps

Patricia may not know how to exchange irrational thoughts properly. Or the explanation or guidelines she gets may not be appropriate.

In a situation like this, she believes that the alternative to irrational thoughts is something in line with:

• “Tomorrow I will find a job and earn as much as at the bank.”
• “I’m the best employee there is and my skills are superior to everyone else’s.”
• “I’m sure  I did not get fired because I worked too little,  it just happened because the boss did not like me.”

Contrary to what we hear in popular culture, positive thinking does not mean that everything will go your way. Therefore, it is full of traps.

Authors such as Barbara Ehrenreich and Derren Brown have already talked about the harm that excessive positive thinking can have. They explain how it is fraudulent and can lead to conclusions that are insufficient and unreal.

Conclusions based on assumptions that have no empirical validity at all.

Irrational thoughts versus positive thoughts

It is important to make assessments in a well-adjusted way. Irrational thoughts can be negative; the majority of them are actually that. But they can also be positive.

The former can lead to aggravated emotional responses, but the latter can also lead to emotional expressions that are too intense. Especially when you can not meet them.

They can also lead to excessively high expectations as they are not based on facts and truthful information. Seeing them in absolute terms is also harmful.

Furthermore, it is important to pay special attention to an individual’s perception and that  he understands the parameters through which rational thoughts arise.

To do that, you need to start practicing with examples or metaphors, and then work with the person’s irrational thoughts.

Practice it for prevention. You will then be able to automate the presentation of daily alternative thoughts, so you can be sure that they are the most appropriate, effective and useful.