Reduce Stress by Surrounding Yourself with Positive Energy by Elizabeth Scott, MS

Negative self-talk--the tendency to interpret things in the world in a pessimistic way and have a self-limiting inner voice--can create significant stress in your life, and exacerbate the stressful situations you already face. Negative self-talk and negative energy can affect you in many ways that may not be obvious, and even extend to those you come in contact with if you're in a bad mood. Here are some of the more insidious effects of negative self-talk:

Increased Perception of Stress: When your inner dialogue is more negative, it can actually exacerbate your perception of what you face, making something that may merely be annoying feel "unmanageable," or something that's semi-stressful feel like "a nightmare." When the language in your inner dialogue is more strongly negative, your experience becomes more intensely negative.

​Pessimistic Thinking: When your inner voice is more negative, your whole thought process can be more negative as well. This becomes a habitual thought pattern and eventually colors the whole way you see the world and your place in it.

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