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ANTS by Dr Amen

Welcome to a new week of freshness and rejuvenation with our thoughts and mind. We thought it would be encouraging to check-in with one of our amazing RISE Expert Faculty… Dr. Amen! Today, we want to share with you a special acronym coined by Dr. Daniel Amen called ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) which can create an ant infestation of the mind, ruin your day and make you feel bad. Become an Anteater and learn how to control the negative thinking and self-talk eliminating one ANT at a time.

“I have a terrible ant infestation in my house, and there’s a terrible ANT infestation in our country that’s driving anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief. ANTs are the automatic negative thoughts that ruin your day, steal your happiness, and prolong grief. These days, ANTs are everywhere.Do any of these thoughts sound familiar?

“Nothing will ever be the same.”

“Everyone’s going to get COVID and die.”

“The economy is ruined. It’ll take years or decades to recover.”

“I’ll never get another job.”

“I lost my business. I’m a loser. I’m nothing.”

“My best friend died of COVID. I’ll never get over it.”

“The life I knew is over. I’ll never get used to this new normal.”

“There’s so much uncertainty, I can’t handle it.”

During the pandemic, mental hygiene is just as important as hand washing. It’s time to disinfect your thoughts and kill the ANTs to overcome anxietydepressiontrauma, and grief.

WHAT ARE ANTs?

I coined the term ANTs in the early 1990s after a hard day at the office, where I had seen 4 suicidal patients, 2 teens who had run away from home, and 2 couples who hated each other. That evening, when I arrived home and walked into the kitchen, I was greeted by an ant infestation. There were thousands of the pesky invaders, marching in lines on the floor, crawling in the sink, on the countertops, and in the cabinets.

As I wetted paper towels and began wiping up the hoard of ants, the acronym ANT came to me—Automatic Negative Thoughts. As I thought about my patients that day, I realized that just like my kitchen, they were also infested with ANTs that were robbing them of their joy and keeping them stuck in hurts from the past.

WHY ARE ANTs SO HARMFUL?

Negative thoughts cause your brain to immediately release chemicals that affect every cell in your body, making you feel bad. The opposite is also true—positive, happy, hopeful thoughts release chemicals that make you feel good. Your thought patterns can also have long-term effects. Repetitive negative thinking may promote the buildup of the harmful deposits seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and may increase the risk of dementia, according to a 2020 brain imaging study in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

WHY YOU NEED TO ELIMINATE THE ANTs

Just because you have a thought has nothing to do with whether it is true. Thoughts lie. They lie a lot, and it is your uninvestigated or unquestioned thoughts that steal your happiness. If you do not question or correct your erroneous thoughts, you believe them, and you act as if they are 100% true. Allowing yourself to believe every thought you have is the prescription for anxiety disorders, depression, relationship problems, and prolonged grief.

You can learn to eliminate the automatic negative thoughts and replace them with more helpful thoughts that give you a more accurate, fair assessment of any situation. This skill alone can completely change your life if you embrace and practice it.

Note: I am not a fan of positive thinking. It kills way too many people. I advocate accurate, honest thinking. Some anxiety is absolutely critical to good health and success. Pie-in-the-sky thinking and low levels of anxiety are associated with underestimating risks, a lackadaisical attitude toward your health, and making bad decisions.

My ANT killing process is based on the work of two mentors: psychiatrist Aaron Beck, who pioneered a school of psychotherapy called cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), which is an effective treatment for anxiety disorders, depression, relationship problems, and even obesity; and Byron Katie, a teacher, and author.”

We encourage you to use this simple yet powerful strategy in helping to overcome negativity quickly. By doing this we can create a new acronym called, “PATS” (Positive Automatic Thoughts). Join us and let’s kill those ANTS and give ourselves PATS on our shoulders.

For more information about Dr. Amen and all of his amazing work, please go to: https://danielamenmd.com/ 

Wishing you a wonderful week as we all RISE Together!  

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