Unhelpful thinking and recognising negative thoughts
01 May 2025
This blog has been updated from the version that was originally published in 2021.
Sarah Ash, Subject Advisor for health and social care
Negative thoughts can be experienced by everyone once in a while. Some of us though can have continuous negative thoughts about ourselves. Others around us can see something positive day-to-day – so what is it that’s stopping you embracing positivity?
Negative thoughts
It is of course negative thoughts. We are hard-wired to recognise negative thoughts. Psychologists call this ‘negativity bias’ – we recognise and respond to negative events more easily than positive events. If you are in a regular pattern of negative thinking, the organisation Rethink Mental Illness suggests that it can be a sign that you may not have good mental health, and it could be a symptom of depression, anxiety disorders or personality disorders. To remove negative thoughts requires the right mindset, we need to recognise and acknowledge the negativity within.
One therapy that can help with negative thinking patterns is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This explores how a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours impact on everyday life and works with you to alter those thinking patterns so that we notice them and can challenge them. See www.sane.org.uk. But if you can’t access CBT for whatever reason, are there ways that you can help yourself?
In an article for the personal growth website medium.com ‘Solving a problem that has not been named’, Joe Brewer says: “The human mind needs clear concepts to make sense of the world. When a chronic problem has not been properly named, we are unable to think clearly about it and figure out how to solve it.” Therefore we have to give negative thoughts an identity – which means facing the negative thought head on and admitting to it. Because if we don’t face up to it we can’t change it.
This is not easy but it is important. Recognising and naming our thoughts and problems is a starting point. It helps us make sense of what is happening if we give things a name.
Unhelpful thinking patterns
There are some interesting examples of unhelpful thinking patterns in an article on livingwell.org.au. Here are just a few of the negative thought processes mentioned in the article:
- Stewing or ruminating – where you repetitively go over and over conversations or events like a loop, for example after an argument.
- Mind reading – you think you know what someone is thinking about you – and naturally what they’re thinking is negative.
- Discounting the positive – you see an interaction solely on the other person’s action and don’t see the value in your own part.
Do explore the article more. I will be honest – I recognise some of these unhelpful thinking patterns: maybe you recognise some of these or others in the article in yourselves. Once we’ve given the unhelpful thought a name we can begin to challenge those thoughts and start to break the cycle and a way that we can do this by being in the present.
What you can do to help
Noticing our thoughts and feelings and the world around us can help us gain a better perspective. According to the NHS this is known as being more mindful. On the NHS website is a video that gives some excellent suggestions as well as other tips on reframing your thoughts. One method is to keep a thought diary. This can help you to identify if there is a pattern to your thinking such as times of day or events that trigger the negative thought process.
The NHS mental health ‘reframe thoughts’ video summarises by using the phrase ‘catch it, check it, change it’. A catch phrase like this is a useful tool as it taps into a common, rich, and vivid understanding, and offers up an implied metaphor, by likening the situation in which they are used to the situation in which they originated (psychologytoday.com).
With a problem identified and the pattern noted, we can begin to understand the negative thoughts and how they are affecting our daily lives, at work and at home. This is a small step but a significant change. As is often the case with mental health issues, it’s the little things that matter.
So set yourself a challenge – name that negative thought and identify the pattern. It can have such a big impact on our everyday existence that it is a change worth making.
The Mental Health Foundation website has lots of activities, advice and resources to help you with your mental health. Check out to see what is there.
Final thoughts
If you do find yourself struggling to cope, remember that there are organisations that can help. Here are three that you might find useful:
Samaritans
Mind
Mental Health Foundation
Stay connected
We’re here to support you so if you have any queries or questions, you can email us at vocational.qualifications@ocr.org.uk or message us @OCR_Health. You can also sign up to subject updates and receive information about resources and support.
About the author
Before joining OCR in 2018, Sarah was a teacher and Subject Lead of Health and Social Care and worked in secondary schools and sixth forms in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. She was a sixth form tutor and moderated on a previous Level 3 HSC qualification. She has also worked as a teacher in a social care setting for young people aged 16-18 transitioning from living in care to becoming independent. At OCR Sarah has been involved in the redevelopment of Cambridge Nationals in Health and Social Care and Child Development, and the development of the Cambridge Advanced National (AAQ) in Health and Social Care.
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