Negative Thinking: A Most Dangerous Addiction

Negative Thinking: A Most Dangerous Addiction
Brooding on bad things that are locked in the past can be an addiction to the false belief that somehow thinking about them can equate to changing them. Kyle Broad/Unsplash
Nancy Colier
Updated:

Have you ever noticed how much time you spend thinking about negative or painful situations, ruminating and replaying what’s not working in your life?

It’s not just you. The last statistic I read claimed that 80 percent of our thoughts are negative and 95 percent are repetitive. Strangely, the more negative an experience, the more we return to it. Like vultures to a carcass, we’re drawn to what hurts.

Nancy Colier
Nancy Colier
Nancy Colier is a psychotherapist, interfaith minister, thought leader, public speaker, and the author of "Can't Stop Thinking: How to Let Go of Anxiety and Free Yourself from Obsessive Rumination,” “The Power of Off,” and the recently released “The Emotionally Exhausted Woman: Why You’re Depleted and How to Get What You Need” (November, 2022.)
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