Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation® Blog - Quiet Your Inner Critic — Take a Moment for Positive Self-Talk
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Mental Health Awareness Month is a great time to educate patients about the importance of self-acceptance. It’s also a perfect opportunity to focus on your own mental health.
This year, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) campaign centers around the theme “Take The Moment.” As a nurse, you may not have many moments to spare. But one quick way to boost your mental health is to take a moment to improve your self-talk.
Everyone has a voice inside their head, but what that voice is saying and how it’s saying it can affect how you think about yourself. If that voice has nothing nice to say, it might be worth taking a moment to silence your inner critic. Give yourself some grace. Speak with love, kindness, and gratitude to yourself, instead.
Benefits of Positive Self-Talk
In the moment, switching to positive self-talk can be calming and empowering. When you consistently practice positive inner dialogue, it can also lead to:
Reduced risk of mental health disorders
Repeatedly thinking negative thoughts (ruminating) can be harmful to your mental health. According to research, rumination can cause an increased risk of psychiatric conditions, including:
Self-acceptance
Embracing yourself — just as you are — isn’t always easy. But showing yourself love and respect can have many benefits and help you:
Increased self-esteem
How you talk to and feel about yourself lays the foundation for self-esteem — confidence in your abilities and qualities. That means when you practice positive self-talk, you also reap the benefits of a healthy self-image. One study links high self-esteem to increased grey matter in the areas of the brain that help regulate your emotions and stress reactions.
Tips for Maintaining a Positive Inner Dialogue
Preventing negative self-talk is just as critical as stopping it when it happens. But changing your inner dialogue can take time and focus.
If you want to prevent your inner critic from talking down to you, put these practices into place:
Common types of cognitive distortions include:
How to Stop Negative Self-Talk in the Moment
If, despite your best efforts, your inner critic still creeps into your thoughts, take a moment to stop the conversation before it gets out of hand. It’s never too late to turn it around.
In the moment, try to:
Positive Self-Talk Takes Practice
Staying positive with yourself can be challenging — especially if you have a habit of negative self-talk. Like breaking any habit, change will take time. But taking a minute to treat yourself kindly is always a step in the right direction.
How do you combat negative self-talk? Share with us in our discussion below.
Not a member of Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation (HNHN) yet? Join today!
Sign up for our monthly challenges!
Everyone has a voice inside their head, but what that voice is saying and how it’s saying it can affect how you think about yourself. If that voice has nothing nice to say, it might be worth taking a moment to silence your inner critic. Give yourself some grace. Speak with love, kindness, and gratitude to yourself, instead.
Benefits of Positive Self-Talk
In the moment, switching to positive self-talk can be calming and empowering. When you consistently practice positive inner dialogue, it can also lead to:
Reduced risk of mental health disorders
Repeatedly thinking negative thoughts (ruminating) can be harmful to your mental health. According to research, rumination can cause an increased risk of psychiatric conditions, including:
- Depression
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Social anxiety disorder
Self-acceptance
Embracing yourself — just as you are — isn’t always easy. But showing yourself love and respect can have many benefits and help you:
- Boost psychological well-being: Researchers tie self-acceptance to reduced stress and anxiety. Studies found that accepting yourself makes you more likely to benefit from self-care interventions, such as mindfulness, gratitude, and meditation.
- Resist social pressure: When your self-worth doesn’t rely on the opinions of others, it’s easier to put yourself first. You’ll feel confident in making decisions based on what’s best for you and not what others want you to do.
Increased self-esteem
How you talk to and feel about yourself lays the foundation for self-esteem — confidence in your abilities and qualities. That means when you practice positive self-talk, you also reap the benefits of a healthy self-image. One study links high self-esteem to increased grey matter in the areas of the brain that help regulate your emotions and stress reactions.
Tips for Maintaining a Positive Inner Dialogue
Preventing negative self-talk is just as critical as stopping it when it happens. But changing your inner dialogue can take time and focus.
If you want to prevent your inner critic from talking down to you, put these practices into place:
- Celebrate the good things
- Embrace your community
- Identify negative thought patterns
Common types of cognitive distortions include:
- Black-and-white thinking: This pattern of thinking suggests you are either a success or a failure. If you miss one day at the gym, it doesn’t mean you are a total failure when it comes to exercising. Remember that you are a work in progress and tomorrow, you can try again.
- Catastrophizing: Does one bad thing send you into a downward spiral? This type of thinking will have you looking at everything with sweeping negativity. One bad patient experience at work does not mean you should never have become a nurse.
- Emotional reasoning: The emotions you experience do not always represent the facts. Just because you feel lonely on a Friday night doesn’t mean you don’t have any friends.
- Question your inner critic
How to Stop Negative Self-Talk in the Moment
If, despite your best efforts, your inner critic still creeps into your thoughts, take a moment to stop the conversation before it gets out of hand. It’s never too late to turn it around.
In the moment, try to:
- Follow the bad with something good: Make a rule that whenever you have a negative thought, you need to follow it with a positive thought — no matter how silly. For example, follow “My hair looks awful” with “I’m so lucky to have a full head of hair.” It works!
- Say it aloud: Hearing the words of your inner critic may help you realize that those thoughts are irrational and have no validity outside your head.
- Snap out of it, literally: Interrupt your inner critic by saying “stop” loudly.
- Take “I” out of your dialogue: Speaking to yourself in the second or third person — using “you” or your name instead of “I” — has lots of benefits. It can help you distance yourself from the situation, cause less distress, and help you see the situation as a challenge instead of a threat. Tell yourself, “You got this.”
- Treat yourself like you’d treat a friend: Imagine hearing your friend or coworker speak to themselves like your inner critic talks to you. Respond to your inner critic like you would respond to a friend.
Positive Self-Talk Takes Practice
Staying positive with yourself can be challenging — especially if you have a habit of negative self-talk. Like breaking any habit, change will take time. But taking a minute to treat yourself kindly is always a step in the right direction.
How do you combat negative self-talk? Share with us in our discussion below.
Not a member of Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation (HNHN) yet? Join today!
Sign up for our monthly challenges!
Blog
Mental Health
04/29/2024 2:22pm CDT
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