Thought-Viruses

[Teacher]

Robert Dilts was the first in NLP to introduce the concept of thought-virus. He described it this way: a thought-virus is a belief that lives in isolation from other cognitive processes and the experience from which it arose. Simply put, a thought-virus is a belief that is not related to context.

As an example, Dilts cites this virus thought: "If you really care about your family, you have to prepare them for anything." It seems to be a completely humane belief, but considering that it was said to a person with suspected cancer ... Fortunately, the patient did not share this belief and lived much longer than what was promised.

A thought virus, like a real virus (computer or biological), is a piece of a program. By itself, it is not dangerous, because it can work only by joining a "program" when it starts. That is, if a person performs some action based on a belief that is a thought-virus. Therefore, in order not to fall for virus thoughts, it is always worth checking whether the belief underlying your actions is appropriate in this context? “Many women, that's good,” when you think so in the company of men, and quite the opposite - in the company of your wife. It is also useful to ask how this belief relates to your experience, and is it yours at all?

Here are a few more variants of typical thoughts-viruses, out of context and specific experience: "There are only fools in Russia." "Everyone knows that imported goods are better than domestic ones." "This disease is incurable." "Resistance is pointless, there is no way out anyway." "I do not owe anything to anyone". "I am always right".

Thought-virus can be a separate belief, it can be a set of beliefs that confirm themselves, or it can be an idea. If we are faced with self-confirming beliefs, it is very likely that we are dealing with a thought-virus: "It is impossible to get a good job without experience, and without working, you will not get experience." Or: “To achieve power, you need a lot of money. To get big money, you need to be in power. "Such“ logical ”objects should be immediately quarantined and marked with a sign:“ Caution! Thought is a virus. When touched, it multiplies! "

Thought-viruses also multiply like real viruses. They copy themselves into any information environment they can join. If a person is interested in power, it means that among his convictions, thoughts-viruses about power can start, if he is interested in money - thoughts-viruses about money, etc. The fact that they appear among a person's convictions does not, of course, mean that they will work and harm him. Only if a person takes them at face value are real and pertinent beliefs. Therefore, all new "stray" beliefs should always be carefully checked: by whose experience they are confirmed, where and when was it, and are they relevant to you personally at the moment?

How to neutralize a thought-virus? In order to do this, it is enough to simply identify the thought-virus, or, in other words, to expose it. After learning that some beliefs or ideas are thoughts-viruses, you are unlikely to rely on them in your actions and decisions. Anyway, if you are not going to deceive yourself.

 

[Tomcat]

Beware of thought viruses

To get hung up on the bad, to look for the cause of all troubles in oneself and endlessly engage in self-criticism ... Thoughts from which the mood spoils, complexes grow, and self-esteem falls, sometimes take possession of us like real viruses! Can negative thinking be cured? Several recommendations of a psychologist.

Each of us can interpret the same situation in completely different ways. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to a loud sound coming from the living room. “It seems there is someone there,” you get scared and reach for your mobile phone. Your pulse begins to beat faster, you listen convulsively to the silence and then you cannot fall asleep for a long time. Here's another scenario: When you hear a sharp sound, you wonder what it could be, and remember that you put a thick art album on an uneven pile of books on the edge of the table. “Apparently, the album fell,” you guess and calmly fall asleep.
In both cases, your attention is directed to the same object - the sound from the living room, but you explain it in different ways. The first explanation signals danger, the second does not pose any threat. And the consequences of these thoughts, as we have seen, are also different: panic and insomnia in the first case and sound sleep in the second. "If the mental images you create are negative beyond measure, then perhaps your thinking is infected," warns clinical psychologist from Norway Hanne Brurson *. There are many examples of such "thought viruses". And Hannah Brurson gives her names to many.
"You are very fat, you need to exercise more often," the perfectionist virus says to a girl who stands in front of a mirror in a shopping center's fitting room. “Everyone is laughing at you,” the “I am the center of the Universe” virus convinces the employee who hears the friendly laughter of colleagues gathered nearby. Under the influence of this virus, it seems to us that we are an object on which all the attention of others is focused, and this attention has a negative connotation.
“She thinks you're a failure,” the mind-reading virus tells a teenager who thought a classmate looked at him dismissively. This virus tells us that others think badly of us. "You will soon be fired," warns the virus of "impending disaster" of a young employee whose project has been criticized by his boss.
And we are constantly overwhelmed by the virus of generalization, the virus of false feelings, the virus of black-and-white thinking ... However, you can call them whatever you like, the question is: how to resist them?
Hanne Brurson offers seven ways to counter them.

1. DISCOVER AND DISCOVER
Thoughts that should not be trusted can be found in the following ways:
Infected thoughts shut us off from the present. Their first sign is anxiety about the future or painful reflections on the past. Or both at the same time, they trigger a physiological stress response in the body. This symptom is easy to recognize by listening to your body: heart rate quickens from harmful thoughts, our breathing becomes short, we feel tension in our muscles. These thoughts undermine our self-esteem. Thought viruses are happy to remind us of past failures and mistakes and helpfully suggest scenarios for future failures. In addition, they manage to make us believe that this kind of thinking is helpful - it supposedly prepares us to face future challenges. It's a delusion. The mechanism of the brain is such that if we think about something good, then we have access to other positive impressions. If we think about something bad, then other negative impressions easily come to mind. Remember how long the chain of unpleasant thoughts can be when we go to bed and begin to analyze at least one problem.

2. JOIN THE POLEMIC
Each situation can be interpreted in at least three ways: positive, negative, or neutral. Thought viruses are constantly trying to convince us that there can be only one interpretation of the situation - negative. Imagine, for example, that you cannot get through to a friend in any way - he does not pick up the phone. A day passed, then another, and he still does not call back. Thought viruses suggest that he is probably bored with you and is trying to get rid of you. Or that a rash remark you threw in the presence of a mutual acquaintance nevertheless reached the friend's ears and now he no longer wants to see you.
Listening to clues from viruses will likely make you feel nervous or hurt. Therefore, it is important to compete with them with positive or neutral alternatives. Maybe your friend lost his cell phone? Or has he decided to call you back as soon as he gets back from vacation?
Even an unambiguously unpleasant situation (like an evacuated car, a fine, or an illness) can be interpreted in at least three ways: as relatively negative, simply negative, and extremely negative.

3. JUST ACCEPT THIS THOUGHT
Thought viruses are a part of our life: they come and go, sometimes there are many of them, and sometimes not, but in any case, they are harmless in themselves. When faced with thought viruses, try not to be afraid of their appearance, but indifferently shrug your shoulders and accept without fear or resistance.

4. SWITCH
If, despite exposing the virus, controversy with it and even acceptance, you still react to it, try to distract yourself from what is happening in your head by switching your attention to some pressing matters - for example, cleaning the apartment, surfing the Internet , cooking dinner, communication with children. Taking action is likely to distract you from your gloomy thoughts.

5. TAKE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS IN CONTROL
You can also learn to switch your attention from thought viruses to uninfected thoughts and vice versa. What for? Yes, to destroy the developed automatism. It is much easier for thought viruses to poison your life if they have succeeded repeatedly before.
First of all, start by thinking about something enjoyable. For example, about your dog, about juicy tangerines, about someone's infectious laugh, or about the sea and white sand of Pattaya. The next step is to associate this pleasant thought with an active virus. Think first about what worries you, and then move on to the pleasant. Switch back and forth. It can be quite tedious if you're not used to it, but when you do this a few times it will become much easier to control your negative thoughts!

6. POST THEM FOR LATER
Another trick is deferral. The longer you manage to fend off pesky thought viruses, the better you learn to control them. Try to set a specific time for yourself to think about the bad. Let's say commuting to work or a coffee break. Another option is to choose a permanent place for anxious reflections. Stool in your kitchen, bathroom, bus that takes you to work. This means that until you find yourself in this place of your choice, you will not even think about thought viruses!

7. DECIDE ON THE BRAVE ACT
Courage is the laconic "sometimes you have to do something that you absolutely don't feel like doing." Why should you? Yes, because in many cases "you absolutely do not want to" is nothing more than the result of the influence of thought viruses. You can be convinced of this by testing the idea in practice. For example, go to visit, even if you think that you will not be welcomed, or use the elevator, even if you are afraid that it will suddenly break down and fall down.