What should I do to have a positive outlook on life?
Seeing the glass as half full or half empty! A popular statement that isn't used very often! This way of seeing things is important because it affects how optimistic we are.
I agree with those who say this glass is empty! In fact, I drink this whole glass of water when I'm sad.
When I use too many images, I can't think of anything good. I always see the worst and colour everything black.
Doubt is just a trick of my mind! This is mostly about how my brain works chemically. Perspective and the way the mind works are without a doubt important factors.
It's more likely for me to remember bad news than good news if they both come on the same day. This is an unfavourable bias in the mind.
I have to admit that it's hard for me to be cheerful because my brain is set up to anticipate the worst and focus on the bad.
In psychology, this is sometimes known as having bad thoughts all the time. My boss told me the other day that my work has been going really well lately and that he is very happy with me. He also told me that I should pay more attention to my emails and get better at talking to people inside the company.
I forgot all the nice things he said just to focus on his last words. I left his room sad and worried. There's nothing to do, and I keep having bad ideas.
Our ancestors were able to stay alive when they had to avoid being attacked by wild animals because they only noticed the bad things. We could say that being pessimistic is in our genes.
Depressing; makes everything look black You're telling yourself that I didn't make anything up.
When you're depressed, you see everything in black. scientist and psychotherapist who works at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris.
Philippe Fossati and his team did an experiment on the brain a few years ago that you might not know about.
Two groups of people were shown words that described traits (generous, smart, kind) and traits that described flaws (stingy, hypocritical, spiteful).
One group had people who were sad, and the other had people who were mentally healthy.
Researchers looked at what the people answered when they were first asked a general question, like "What do you think about generosity?"
When they were asked a more personal question (Are you generous?), they said, "What do you think about being cheap?" Are you cheap?
People who were sad liked to blame themselves when they thought about a flaw, while healthy people could look at the flaw in a more general way.
One thing was clear from the difference between the two groups: sadness makes people think negatively.
When knowledge is personalised, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex does get turned on.
When someone is depressed, this part of their brain is always busy, so when a bad word is used, even in a general way, they tend to take it personally.