Positive Talk - Mental Health Message Board

CSense · 01-11-2007, 12:40 PM

How can I change my thoughts to be more positive? I have bought numerous CD's that promote self-talk but the phrases are often quite corny. I was hoping that any of you have any ideas of good tapes/CD's that promote a positive self image.

firenice · 01-11-2007, 12:54 PM

What about making your own tapes and then listening back to them? You can create very specific positive self talk designed especially for you because you know exactly what positive thoughts you want to imprint. You can then listen to them as you drift off to sleep at night. The trick to makeing your own tapes is to vary the rate, tone and rhythm. For example, if you make the statement "I talk positive to myself." You have to repeat it over and over for about 20 minutes or more into the tape. During that time, you can speak it slowly, quickly, high intonation, low intonation, excitedly, comfortingly.....all kinds of various ways to phrase that one sentence. You can also have some music in the background - soothing, trance inducing music. By making the tape yourself, you are engaging in a very intensive affirmative self talk program. And then listening back to it every night reinforces the self talk. Give it a try. It's easy to do, effective and less expensive.

Sannah · 01-12-2007, 08:31 AM

Csense, I remember your story on another board. I believe that you are upset at work because you said that you are "average" and you are around all of these people who you believe are above average and it causes you distress when you compare yourself. I was thinking that you can change your thoughts by choosing to not compare yourself to them. I think that people need to be realistic. I have frequently been in situations where people were smarter than me, better looking than me. So what! I am happy with me. Maybe you could change your thoughts about how you feel about yourself. I had this problem. For me, I had to recognize that I didn't feel good about myself, understand where it came from (upbringing) and then told myself that I am valuable until I believed it.

keyboardplaya · 01-15-2007, 02:56 PM

When it comes to mental health, I usually don't buy into media products. For example, when I was picked on in grade school, I would roll my eyes whenever my mom started a conversation with, "You know what I read in a psychology book today about bullies?" I DO think that more upbeat music and some comedic movies couldn't hurt. And a lot of times they CAN help you escape, but for a more effective and stronger remedy, I'd have someone to talk to. If you are in a relationship, then talk to your partner as much as possible, at the same time letting them know you need some positive reinforcement. If you are not in a relationship, and don't have the energy to start one, then find anyone else that you can trust to talk to on a regular basis. As far as I know, positive human interaction is your best bet.

Good luck!

P.S. Even though I don't think I'm sufferring as badly, I am going through the EXACT same thing, sometimes even comparing myself to my girlfriend! We should both take Sannah's advice, lol.

keyboardplaya · 01-15-2007, 03:04 PM

Oh! One more thing...

Whenever I get really depressed and have no way of making myself feel valuable, i tell myself "I'm still here."

Even if you fail at everything and can't convince yourself of anything, you at least know you've survived through all of that and you had the strength to endure. And that's one thing that only YOU can take credit for. No one helped you with that. YOU decided that you'd try to make it through one more day, and just that one fact is enough to make anyone feel better. No matter how hard I try, I can never let that feeling fade away. It's one thing that can never be desensitized, no matter who or what tries to break you down.

Hang in there!