The triangle below illustrates the way in which how we think, feel, and behave all influence one another. THOUGHTS INFLUENCE FEELINGS After studying hard, but doing poorly on a test, you think, “I’ll never succeed at anything,” which leads to feeling bad about your abilities as a student feeling hopeless about the future. FEELINGS INFLUENCE THOUGHTS A friend has to cancel their plans with you because they have a family obligation. You feel disappointed, which prompts you to think, “Maybe they just made up that excuse because they don’t want to hang out with me.” FEELINGS INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR You feel hopeless about studying for the next exam, and dwell on your sad feelings. You then procrastinate studying and don’t study hard, because you still feel so discouraged about your last exam. THOUGHTS INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR You begin to think badly of your friend and recall times in the past when you haven’t gotten along. When your friend calls to make plans, you get even by telling them that you have other plans (when you really don’t). BEHAVIOR INFLUENCES THOUGHTS Your lack of studying for the next exam results in another poor grade. You think, “Here we go again. I don’t know why I even keep trying. It’s useless. I’m a failure.” BEHAVIOR INFLUENCES FEELINGS Your friend accepts your excuse and doesn’t appear to feel bad. You spend the day alone and convince yourself that your friend is probably having more fun without you. You feel lonely, sad, and disappointed. THE TRIANGLE OF THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, & BEHAVIORS THOUGHTS BEHAVIORS FEELINGS
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The triangle below illustrates the way in which how we think, feel, and behave all influence one
another.
THOUGHTS INFLUENCE FEELINGS
After studying hard, but doing poorly on a test, you
think, “I’ll never succeed at anything,” which leads to
feeling bad about your abilities as a student feeling
hopeless about the future.
FEELINGS INFLUENCE THOUGHTS
A friend has to cancel their plans with you because
they have a family obligation. You feel disappointed,
which prompts you to think, “Maybe they just made up
that excuse because they don’t want to hang out with
me.”
FEELINGS INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR
You feel hopeless about studying for the next exam,
and dwell on your sad feelings. You then procrastinate
studying and don’t study hard, because you still feel so
discouraged about your last exam.
THOUGHTS INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR
You begin to think badly of your friend and recall
times in the past when you haven’t gotten along. When
your friend calls to make plans, you get even by telling
them that you have other plans (when you really don’t).
BEHAVIOR INFLUENCES THOUGHTS
Your lack of studying for the next exam results in
another poor grade. You think, “Here we go again. I
don’t know why I even keep trying. It’s useless. I’m a
failure.”
BEHAVIOR INFLUENCES FEELINGS
Your friend accepts your excuse and doesn’t appear to
feel bad. You spend the day alone and convince
yourself that your friend is probably having more fun
without you. You feel lonely, sad, and disappointed.
THE TRIANGLE OF THOUGHTS, FEELINGS,
& BEHAVIORS
THOUGHTS
BEHAVIORS FEELINGS
Depression can be thought of as a cycle. Below is one way to show this cycle. We’ll be using
this model throughout this program. By learning more about this model, you will begin to
understand ways to break the negative cycle.
1. ACTIVATING EVENT: The situation or experience that triggers negative feelings or thoughts.
2. BELIEFS: The thoughts we have about ourselves in response to these activating events.
3. CONSEQUENCES: The emotional result of the beliefs; your feelings.
THE A-B-C METHOD OF ANALYZING YOUR
EMOTIONS
“I am going to fail my test!
I’m such a screw-up!”
You forgot your book and
can’t study for a big test.
A
You feel bad and
hopeless about the
future.
B
C
Below is a list of common negative thoughts. Everyone has thoughts like these from time to
time, but sometimes we say things like this to ourselves so often that we don’t even notice it
anymore. Look at the list below and put a check mark next to all of the thoughts that you’ve
had recently.
____ I am wasting my life.
____ I am so stupid.
____ I am always so confused.
____ Nobody loves me.
____ I am afraid of everything.
____ What’s the use?
____ I’ll be alone forever.
____ That was a dumb thing for me to do (or say).
____ Something is wrong with me.
____ Life has no meaning.
____ I’m ugly.
____ It’s all my fault.
____ Nobody knows the real me.
____ I am worthless.
____ I am a failure.
____ I never do anything right.
____ I don’t have the ability to change.
____ I hate myself.
____ No matter how hard I try, people aren’t satisfied.
____ Life is unfair.
____ Why do I even bother getting up in the morning?
____ Things are only going to get worse.
____ I wish I were dead.
____ I’ll never have any good friends.
____ I’ll never be as good as _________.
____ Bad things always happen to me.
____ _____________________________
____ ___________________________
IDENTIFYING NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
When people feel down, they tend to lose energy and motivation for everything…even things
they enjoy. The problem is that when you are feeling sad is when you need to have fun. So,
make a list of fun activities in the categories below. Try to fill in all of the blanks in every
category (you can even add more ideas on the back of this page). Each week, you’ll be picking
new activities to complete on your own.
Social:
Ex. Spend time with a friend you don’t see often; make plans to go to Barton Springs.
New Strength of Belief in Negative Thought: ___________ New Mood Rating: _________
Sometimes negative thoughts are so familiar, we don’t stop to question whether or not they are actually true. From now on, pretend you are a detective searching for evidence. What are the clues that support your negative thought? What are the clues that don’t?
Below are some questions to consider that can help you challenge
your negative thoughts:
What proof do I have that my negative thought is true?
Is there any evidence that doesn’t support my negative thought?
If I’ve had this negative thought before, has it always been accurate?
Can I be 100% sure that my negative thought is true? If not, why not?
The situations below describe some activating events which may cause changes in your mood.
Think about the Beliefs that might be generated by these activating events, as well as the
Consequences that could result. Use the “Where’s the evidence?” technique to think of other
ways to think about and deal with the events listed below.
1. Your best friend has been blowing you off since he/she got into a new relationship.
What Belief might be generated? ____________________________________________________
What might the Consequence be? ____________________________________________________
Is there any evidence that my Belief is not true? _________________________________________
2. The person you are romantically interested in becomes involved with someone else. What Belief might be generated? ____________________________________________________
What might the Consequence be? ____________________________________________________
Is there any evidence that my Belief is not true? _________________________________________
New Strength of Belief in Negative Thought: ___________ New Mood Rating: _________
Sometimes we spend so much time feeling bad about negative thoughts, we don’t think about what it would mean if they really were true. Is it possible that it might not be that bad? How terrible would it really be?
Use these questions to challenge negative thoughts using the “what if it’s true” approach:
If my negative thought is true, how can I cope with this situation?
How will thinking negatively about this situation help me? How might it work against me?
If it is true, what is the worst thing that can happen? How likely is it that this will happen?
The situations below describe some activating events which may cause changes in your mood. Think about the Beliefs that might be caused by these activating events, as well as the Consequences that could result. Use the “What if it’s true?” technique to think of other ways to think about and deal with the events listed below.
1. You realize you have four tests this week and will need to spend your birthday weekend studying. What Belief might be generated? ____________________________________________________ What might the Consequence be? ____________________________________________________
What if it’s true? What is the worst thing that can happen? Can you cope with that? ________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________ How might this change the Consequence above? _________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. You are already broke and your car breaks down and will need costly repairs.
What Belief might be generated? ____________________________________________________ What might the Consequence be? ____________________________________________________ What if it’s true? What is the worst thing that can happen? Can you cope with that?
_______________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ How might this change the Consequence above? _________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 3. You don’t get the job you wanted. What Belief might be generated? ____________________________________________________ What might the Consequence be? ____________________________________________________
PRACTICE WITH “WHAT IF IT’S TRUE?”
What if it’s true? What is the worst thing that can happen? Can you cope with that?
________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ How might this change the Consequence above? __________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________
A Negative Rut is like a well-worn path: it’s easy to
follow because it’s familiar, but it leads you to feeling
down or upset.
You might feel stuck in a negative rut because of your
thinking, focusing on negative thoughts or replaying
negative things over and over in your mind.
You could also feel stuck in a negative rut because of the things you are doing, either
activities that are unpleasant or that aren’t as fun as they once were.
To get out of the negative rut, you need to do something different. Here is a list of
things to do to get out of a negative rut and make a new path to feeling better!
THINGS I CAN DO TO GET OUT OF A NEGATIVE RUT:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Below are examples of situations where someone has gotten stuck in a negative rut. How
would you try to get out of the cycle of feeling bad?
You’ve had a fight with your girlfriend/boyfriend. Talking to your friend about it is only making you
feel worse! What else can you try?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Tomorrow you have a presentation that is worth a lot of your grade. You’ve done all the work you
need to do, but you’re still feeling worried. Going over your notes isn’t helping. What should you try
next?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
You’ve been feeling down all day, and you don’t know why. You’ve been watching TV, and that usually
helps you get your mind off your problems, but you aren’t feeling any better. What else might work?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
PRACTICE GETTING OUT OF THE
NEGATIVE RUT
You’re lying awake, thinking about a conversation you had earlier in the day. The more you think about it,
the worse you feel. . . but you can’t stop thinking about it! It’s the middle of the night—what can you do?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Each day, use the blanks below to record one negative thought you had during the day and list
the activating event which may have led to that negative thought. Next, rate how strongly you
believe that thought on a scale from 1-100 and rate your overall mood for the day on a scale
from 1 to 7. Then, take some time to generate the best counter-statement you can. Did
generating a positive counter-statement change the strength of your belief in the negative
thought or your overall mood? If it did, write your new mood rating and how strongly you
believe the negative thought after thinking of a counter-statement.
Day 1: Activating Event: ____________________________________________________________
New Strength of Belief in Negative Thought: ___________ New Mood Rating: _________
We all deal with small daily hassles, but often such events can significantly change our mood or
make a good day feel like a bad one. Daily hassles include things like always running late, or
dealing with a person that you don’t like but have to see every day. Some daily hassles are
avoidable, while others are not within our control. Below, list some daily hassles that occur
frequently for you and write in whether the hassle is controllable or not. Next, if the hassle is
controllable, write in a way you might approach the hassle differently or avoid it. If the hassle
is out of your control, write in a way you might change your response to dealing with the
hassle.
Description of Hassle Controllable? Response Plan
Ex. Assigned to group project with
person you dislike.
No Work extra efficiently to finish project early OR
Promise yourself a reward for bearing with it
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
PLANNING AHEAD: DAILY HASSLES
We want you to continue to find a variety of activities that you enjoy and make time for them in the future. Below is a schedule for you to fill with fun activities:
List five things you can do on a daily basis that you enjoy, that
don’t require lots of planning or money:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
List five things you could do once a week that you enjoy but are
pretty easy to plan:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
List five things you really like that you could do once a month:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
List five things that you can plan to do once or twice a year—
this can be really special treats to yourself!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Each day, use the blanks below to record one negative thought you had during the day and list
the activating event which may have led to that negative thought. Next, rate how strongly you
believe that thought on a scale from 1-100 and rate your overall mood for the day on a scale
from 1 to 7. Then, take some time to generate the best counter-statement you can. Did
generating a positive counter-statement change the strength of your belief in the negative
thought or your overall mood? If it did, write your new mood rating and how strongly you
believe the negative thought after thinking of a counter-statement.
Day 1: Activating Event: ____________________________________________________________