Negative mindset
A negative mindset refers to a habitual pattern of negative thinking and attitudes towards oneself, others, and life's circumstances. It involves a tendency to focus on the worst aspects of situations, expect negative outcomes, and often engage in self-critical and pessimistic thoughts. Negative thinking makes you feel blue about the world, about yourself, about the future. It contributes to low self-worth. It makes you feel you’re not effective in the world.
What causes a negative mindset?
A mindset that is based on negativity can come from things that happened as a child, fear, worry, or other trauma. Some people are more prone to a pessimistic outlook on life, so a negative mindset tends to be their default mode. This doesn’t mean they can’t beat it though.
One of the biggest causes of a negative mindset is fear. Negativity is just fear in disguise and there are always things to be fearful about. If you fear and worry about the state of the world, your job, finances, or health, you become overwhelmed with it and this then turns into negativity. Not everyone who engages in negative thinking has a mental illness, just like not everyone with a mental illness has constant negative thoughts. However, negative thinking can be detrimental to your mental health and quality of life, particularly when you can’t stop.
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Cleveland Clinic. (2019). How to Turn Your Negative Thinking Around. Retrieved from: https://shorturl.at/VFAtW.
Logie, J. (2020). 3 Ways a Negative Mindset Is Ruining Your Life & How to Beat It. Learning Mind. Retrieved from: https://shorturl.at/fX83k.