Negative thinking is the state of mind in which seniors anticipate undesirable outcomes, or believe that hardships and evils outweigh the good. This type of thinking is one that does not benefit them and usually has a negative impact on their lives contributing to stress, depression and anxiety.
This thinking has the following effects:
1. It will often work against the elderly and makes them not achieve what they want
2. It makes them feel worse and will therefore not improve their quality of life
3. They will not enjoy the benefits of positive thinking
4. It makes them lose confidence, self-esteem, happiness, energy and peace of mind
Due to the numerous bad side effects of elderly patients, you need to learn how to turn their negative thoughts into positive thinking for them.
The following are seven ways on how to turn around negative thinking for seniors:
1. Take Control of the Brain – You need to help them choose the thoughts that linger in their brain. If anything negative happens to them, you need to choose the most positive explanation, and tell them this out loud.
2. Read about Others Success – You should become a voracious reader, so you can understand about the experiences of others and how they have dealt with changing negative thoughts with their loved ones. Look for positive phrases that you can use to speak to your loved one.
3. Write What is Pleasant – Look around you and make a list of everything, regardless of how small it is. Then convey these pleasant thoughts to your elderly loved one. The aim of this exercise is to help them focus on their positive surroundings.
Always make it a point that they should feel grateful for what they have. Do your best to guide them away from focusing on what they don’t have.
4. Keep a Journal and Discuss It – Ask a close friend or relative or even your loved one’s doctor for an opinion concerning the situation that is giving them negative thoughts. You may be surprised that when you share, your negative focus will fade.
Keeping this journal allows you to record all the unpleasant things that are taking place in your your senior loved one’s life.
You should focus on each negative thought and anxiety that they are facing.
Once you do this for a reasonable amount of time, you will be able to see the patterns in their negative thoughts. From this observation, you will be able to know the most common negative trends, which you will need to work on with them.
This is a process of thought awareness where they learn how to manage thoughts. They become more aware of their thoughts and feel their negative ones are less needed.
5. Understand Negative Thoughts – Assess what is bringing about their negative thoughts. If it is a problem that you can solve, take a few minutes and develop a strategy to solve it.
If it is an issue or problem that you have no control over, then accept it and move on. Always understand that these negative thoughts will be of no value to your loved one, but you need to score more success in the negative thoughts you can change now.
6. Look for Opportunities in Negative Thoughts – For your elderly loved one to overcome negative thinking, you should take these negative thoughts to provide an opportunity for you to explore possible solutions to these issues. Teach them to avoid words like can’t or won’t in their language and use positive words like will and can.
7. Develop Positive Affirmations – You can develop a list of positive affirmations that reflect their talents, skills and strengths and put them in places where they will be able to see them every day, especially in the mornings and before they go to bed. This will have the effect of helping them start their day positively and end it positively.
Once they start focusing on the positive thinking that they have ,the negative thoughts will reduce.
In conclusion, these are the ways to turn around negative thinking in the elderly. You need to become an optimist and you must be persistent.
You also need to understand that you, other family members, professional medical staff, and some of their friends are the only one who can help change your loved ones thoughts.
