When you are ready to begin a life without drugs or alcohol rehab centers in South Florida offer comprehensive treatment to help you on your way. Set in a beautiful area and staffed by experienced and compassionate people, these rehab facilities can help you get clean and sober. While you are there, you will work on using helpful thought processes instead of stressful ones. Learning how to do this is an important part of a clean and sober lifestyle.
Entering rehab means that you are willing to learn a new way of life, one in which you aren’t struggling with addiction. Doing this is easier and less stressful in a safe environment where your confidentially is respected. When you get to a rehab center, you begin to learn that your thoughts have a tremendous effect on your actions. Here are some of the stressful thought processes that you can work on eliminating to make your recovery easier.
Helpful verses stressful thought processes
The human mind is constantly busy with what is called the stream of consciousness. Thoughts are always flowing through your mind. Learning to identify your thought processes and finding ways to avoid the stressful ones and use the helpful ones is one of the most helpful ways to get clean and sober and stay that way.
It is commonly said that everyone struggles with “stinking thinking”. What that means is that your mind tends to automatically chose unhelpful and stressful thought processes over positive and helpful ones. Changing your thought processes can change your life. It is not easy, but positive thinking becomes easier as your life begins to change as a result of your effort. Some of the ways people struggle with their thoughts are outlined here.
- Defeatism
- Polarized Thinking
- Filtering
- Control Fallacies
These thought processes can be harmful, so it is important to understand them. Here are some brief explanations.
Defeatism:
Defeatism, or overgeneralization, is a common way of thinking in which you might see one bad situation and believe that all situations like this one will be bad. For example, you might have had a tough day in treatment, and assume all days will be hard. This kind of thought process is stressful and can cause you to feel helpless. Understanding that thoughts are not always true can help you keep from sabotaging your own efforts both in rehab in when you leave.
Polarized Thinking:
Polarized thinking is a stressful thought process that occurs when you see everything as good or bad, interesting or boring, stupid or smart. Most things are in-between, somewhere in that gray area between the two poles. Knowing this can help when you feel like you are right and someone else is wrong. Most likely, you are both right and wrong in some aspects of the situation. Attempting to see someone else’s point of view might have some surprising and interesting results.
Filtering:
The stressful thought process known as filtering happens when you only see one side of a situation. This is a common error that can easily prevent you from seeing the truth of any matter. When you allow yourself to focus on only negative or positive aspects of a decision, for instance, you might make a mistake in your choice of action. Carefully considering all aspects of a decision is a more helpful thought process.
Control Fallacies:
Believing you can control another person is a common form of internal control fallacy. You cannot control anybody else, although you might wish you could change their thoughts or actions. Believing you are externally controlled by someone else results in blaming others for your problems, such as your boss. You might think that your work was low quality only because your boss made you work all those extra hours. Putting the control back with yourself where it belongs can be life-changing in a positive direction.
You are now ready to use some of the helpful instead of stressful thought processes while you are in rehab and after. We are here in South Florida to help you start your new life. Call us now at 833-846-5669, or get in touch with us on our website.