Topic Overview

What is positive thinking?

Positive thinking, or healthy thinking, is a way to help you stay well or cope with a health problem by changing how you think. It’s based on research that shows that you can change how you think. And how you think affects how you feel.

If you think in a positive way, you may be more able to care for yourself and handle life’s challenges. You will feel better. And you may be more able to avoid or cope with stress, anxiety, and depression.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy, also called CBT, is a therapy that is often used to help people think in a healthy way. It focuses on thought (cognitive) and action (behavioral). Studies have shown that CBT can help people sleep better and help them lose weight.^{1, 2} It also can help treat depression and keep it from returning.³

CBT can help you notice the discouraging thoughts that make you feel bad. These thoughts are sometimes called irrational or automatic thoughts. Using CBT, you can learn to stop these thoughts and replace them with helpful thoughts.

Healthy thinking also involves calming your mind and body. You can use one or more techniques. These may include meditation, yoga, muscle relaxation, or guided imagery.

Many people work with a therapist or a counselor to learn CBT. But you also can practice healthy thinking on your own.

How does CBT help you think in a healthy way?

CBT involves techniques that you can practice every day so that healthy thinking comes naturally. For example: Maybe you're upset about a job review at work. Your boss praised several things about your work. But you're feeling down because she had one small criticism. You might even think, "I'm no good at my job" or "She doesn't like me. I must be bad."

Focusing on only the bad and not the good is an example of negative or distorted thinking. You can teach yourself to watch for negative thinking. You can ask yourself how true or helpful your thoughts were. "What did my boss say exactly?" "Were there positive comments?" "Why do I focus only on one criticism?"

You can learn to see that the harsh things you say to yourself may keep you from enjoying your life and work. With time and practice, you can learn to tell yourself more accurate and helpful statements. You might say, "I've done a lot of good work this year, and my boss noticed it. She thought there was one area I can improve. So I'll think of some things I can do to get stronger in that area."