Positive thinking, or healthy thinking, is a way to help you stay well by changing how you think. It’s based on research that shows that you can change how you think. And how you think affects how you feel.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy, also called CBT, is a type of therapy that is often used to help people think in a healthy way. CBT can help you learn to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. These negative thoughts are sometimes called irrational or automatic thoughts.

Working on your own or with a counselor, you can practice these three steps:

• Stop. When you notice a negative thought, stop it in its tracks and write it down.
• Ask. Look at that thought and ask yourself whether it is helpful or unhelpful right now.
• Choose. Choose a new, helpful thought to replace a negative one.

The goal is to have positive thoughts come naturally. It may take some time to change the way you think. So you will need to practice positive thinking every day.

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Changing the way you think can help you replace negative thoughts with helpful ones. This can help you cope with depression and may help keep it from coming back.¹

Maybe you weren't able to close a sale or get a big project done at work. Or perhaps a relationship has ended. It's normal to feel down. But you've had trouble sleeping. You can't enjoy many of your usual activities. And you're blaming yourself. "I'm a failure at everything," you tell yourself.

The more you think about yourself in a negative way, the harder it is to feel hopeful and positive. The negative thinking makes you feel bad. And that can make you feel more depressed, which leads to more bad thoughts about yourself. It's a cycle that's hard to break.

But with practice, you can retrain your brain. After all, you weren't born telling yourself negative things. You learned how to do it. So there’s no reason you can't teach your brain to unlearn it and replace negative thinking with more helpful thoughts.

Positive thinking also can help you manage stress. Too much stress can raise your blood pressure and make your heart work harder, which can increase your risk for a heart attack. Stress also can weaken your immune system, which can make you more open to infection and disease.

Although you can use CBT on your own, it’s important to talk to your doctor or a counselor if you feel that your mood is getting worse. You may need more help.

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Stop your thoughts

The first step is to stop your negative thoughts or "self-talk." Self-talk is what you think and believe about yourself and your experiences. It's like a running commentary in your head. Your self-talk may be positive and helpful. Or it may be negative and not helpful.

Ask about your thoughts

The next step is to ask yourself whether your thoughts are helpful or unhelpful. Does the evidence support your negative thought? Some of your self-talk may be true. Or it may be partly true but exaggerated. There are several kinds of irrational thoughts. Here are a few types to look for:

• Focusing on the negative: This is sometimes called filtering. You filter out the good and focus only on the bad. Example: "I'm sad that I don't have many friends. People must not like me." Reality: You have some friends. So that means you're likable and can make more friends if you want them.
• Should: People sometimes have set ideas about how they "should" act. If you hear yourself saying that you or other people "should," "ought to," or "have to" do something, then you might be setting yourself up to feel bad. Example: "I should get married before I'm 30. If I don't, it means I'm a loser." Reality: There's nothing wrong with having a timeline in mind. But you're not being fair to yourself if you make your self-worth depend on meeting a deadline.
• Overgeneralizing: This is taking one example and saying it's true for everything. Look for words such as "never" and "always." Example: "I got laid off. I'll never get another job." Reality: Many people lose their jobs because of downsizing and other things beyond their control. It doesn't mean that you won't be able to get another job.
• All-or-nothing thinking: This is also called black-or-white thinking. Example: "If I don't get a big raise at my next review, then it means I have no future with this company." Reality: There's nothing wrong with wanting a big raise. But if you don't get the raise, there may be reasons for it that have nothing to do with you.

Choose your thoughts

The next step is to choose a more positive, helpful thought to replace the unhelpful one.

Keeping a journal of your thoughts is one of the best ways to practice stopping, asking, and choosing your thoughts. It makes you aware of your self-talk. Write down any negative or unhelpful thoughts you had during the day. If you think you might not remember at the end of your day, keep a notepad with you so you can write down any irrational thoughts as they happen. Then write down a helpful message to correct the unhelpful thought.

If you do this every day, positive or helpful thoughts will soon come naturally to you.

But there may be some truth in some of your negative thoughts. You may have some things you want to work on. If you didn't perform as well as you would like on something, write that down. You can work on a plan to correct or improve that area.

If you want, you also could write down what kind of irrational thought you had. Journal entries might look something like this:

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Now that you have read this information, you are ready to practice positive thinking to help cope with depression.