2024 · 05. September 2024
Changing unhelpful thinking patterns is important for one’s mental health, but real change requires behavioural change. My latest Southern Star article explores why CBT emphasises the importance of behavioural activation – essentially, adopting helpful behaviour patterns to improve well-being.
Consider your daily worries – deadlines, exams, relationships, finances. Briefly acknowledging them is natural. But dwell on them for a while, and they start to gnaw at your energy. Let them dominate your thoughts all day, and you risk feeling overwhelmed and paralysed, unable to function effectively. My latest Southern Star column explores how to lighten your mental load.
Imagine you’re in a relationship with someone who is usually brilliant, funny and loving. However, this same partner is sometimes the exact opposite, engaging in screaming rages that leave you crushed and bewildered. Do you stay in the relationship, or do you leave? Psychology professor Roy Baumeister was in this position when he was young. Unsure what to do, he kept track of the days spent with his partner, recording which were good, bad and neutral. A few months of data showed they enjoyed...
You’re contemplating making a change in your life, but you’re undecided as to whether to go for it or to keep things as they are. My latest column looks at a simple rule of thumb for such choices: if you can’t decide what you should do, choose the action that represents a change.
A negative thinking style can become a bad habit, but habits can be changed. Here are six CBT-based questions to challenge those negative thoughts.
The American comedian Stephen Colbert once said that cynicism ‘masquerades as wisdom, but it is the furthest thing from it. Research shows he's right - there really is nothing smart about cynicism.
Do you assume your hard work and sacrifice must be rewarded? Do you get frustrated when life doesn’t unfold according to your expectations? My latest Southern Star column looks at a common cognitive distortion known as the Heaven’s reward fallacy.
People with OCD can be ashamed of unwanted intrusive thoughts. However, OCD isn't characterised by the presence of intrusive thoughts; it is characterised by how you react to the thoughts. My latest column looks at the large body of research showing that pretty much everyone has experienced intrusive thoughts. The reality is there is no difference between the thoughts of a person with OCD and a person without OCD; the difference is in the way people react.
My last column explored some life lessons to be gleaned from cognitive psychologist Daniel Kahneman, who passed away in March at the age of 90. In this follow-up column, I look at three more lessons from Kahneman that can help us to navigate life’s complexities.
Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman passed away recently. One of the most influential psychologists of the last century, this is the first of two columns exploring some life lessons we can learn from the author of the bestselling book Thinking, Fast and Slow.