What were your main negative thoughts?

What answers did you develop to

these thoughts?
I have a big head - Its not true, nobody has ever said I have a big head or made any negative
remarks about my head since I was in Secondary school. Everybody that I’ve asked has told me,
there is nothing wrong with my head.

No matter what I wear, I look like a joke - There are have been countless times, where I have been
happy wearing my clothes I didnt look like a joke then, so it silly to think I look like a joke now.

I cant go outside with my hat, because of my hairstyle & head – Whenever I’ve been outside
without a hat, no one has said anything negative to me nor did I attract more attention from the
public because I wasnt wearing a hat, nobody was looking at me strange or in disgust.

I’d be better off dead – I would be better of alive, I have family members that love me. I still have
my whole life ahead of me, stop letting people rule your life for you, stop feeling you have to fit in
with what others are doing, as long as you be yourself you will never fail or go wrong.

No girl would want a man like me – How can this be true, if you have never really tried to interact
with women, everywhere you go there are women that look at you and find you attractive

What did you learn in therapy that was useful?

In therapy what I’ve taken away from it the most is the understanding that my thoughts are what
shape my reality, and by regaining control of these negative thoughts It is possible to re-train my
mind with positive instead of negative. I also learned how important it is to recognize when your
about to have a overload of negative thoughts and how by recognizing and stopping these thoughts
with helpful techniques can leave you feeling less stressed & less worried. I learnt how there are
different way to focus the mind away from such dark thoughts, by doing techniques such as
concentrating on my surroundings, breathing in and out or by distracting my thoughts with
alternatives such as music or books when I am feeling anxious or worried. I also learnt how
traumatic or stressful past events can effect you and why its important to look at these events to
study them in order to figure out the true meaning of why you feel the way you do today and how
you can go about changing it. I learnt how important it is to look to the future instead of & past
mistakes and failures as it only make you feel worse.

What factors contributed to the changes I made, and what contributed to me

staying ‘still’?
I would say the factors that contributed to my changes, were me stepping outside of the convert
zone I have built around myself to test some of the negative thoughts & ideas I had believed were
facts. Most of the time I would find things I assumed would happen wouldnt happen, people who I
assumed to be threats were not threats. which helped to validate to myself that my thoughts are not
always telling me truth and that thoughts derived from anxiousness are often untrustworthy.
My Most Important Goals for Next Year?
To stop drinking, To find a suitable job for myself, to become more social with my friends and to
attend more recreational public events, to become more socialable with women, To start meditating
on a daily basis.

How should I deal with any setbacks in the future?

I should remeber not to endugle myself in negative self chatter to practise the techniques I learned
such as vizualation & focusing on my surroundings .