Can Negativity Cause Anxiety? – How Negative Thinking Affects You

We all have negative thoughts and attitudes, but when such negative thoughts keep recurring, they lead to worries and anxiety. However, negativity is a choice, although it may be inevitable to have negative thoughts, which can become part of you when you believe in them. Nevertheless, it would help if you did not permit them to have control over you and how you react.

Anxiety can be characterized by agitation, worry, nervousness, uneasiness, restlessness, and fear. Our emotions also affect how we react, think, and make decisions. We tend to be more negative when we are going through tough challenges. Can negativity cause anxiety? Yes, it sucks out the good expectations one has for their life and makes the person dig deeper into despair. Negativity is like a sinking sandpit; it swallows you each time you make any slight movement.

It is no new thing that negativity resists positivity. It does more than that, and it opens up its victim to bitterness that gives birth to depression and anxiety.

• Why Do We Think Negatively?
• How Negativity Causes Anxiety
• Effects Of Anxiety
• How To Overcome Negativity
• Last Words

Why Do We Think Negatively?

Now, imagine you’re taking a walk to a nearby school or church, and an oncoming vehicle splashes mud on that beautiful attire. Imagine you got a call that someone very close to you was sick. Imagine a senior colleague told you at the office that some staff would be laid off.

It’s enough reason to make the rest of the day feel gloomy and unhappy. Some become instantly angry and bitter, while others could get distracted and carried away by negative thoughts, asking themselves ” what if ” this “, what if ” that. They begin to imagine negativity, are filled with negative thoughts, and dwell more on that negativity.

Why does a negative event or incident ruin our entire day and last longer, but a positive experience might be very temporary? Researchers discovered that our brains are developed to react more strongly to negative incidents than positive incidents.

How Negativity Causes Anxiety

Can negativity cause anxiety? Yes, our conscious mind is aware of what the eyes see and what the ears hear. However, focusing, hearing, and seeing negative things sharpens our minds into negative thinking, leading to worry and anxiety. We are in charge and control of our minds, and we choose what we let out and what we let in. Letting in negativity is a choice.

Overthinking is one major cause of anxiety. It happens when we are alone or lonely, which is why it is common to see people waking up at night staring at the empty ceiling, long gone deeper into their thoughts. Having negative thoughts at such moments can lead to anxiety, which can become high blood pressure.

 Effects Of Anxiety

Can negativity cause anxiety? Yes, being anxious can be a normal part of life. However, when it becomes excessive and continual, it tends to affect our everyday lives and activities, which may become difficult to control and can negatively affect us. Some effects are:

• Having sleepless nights.
• Always tired and weak.
• Loss of appetite.
• Slow or no coordination.
• High blood pressure.
• Loss of consciousness.
• Fast breathing.
• Sweating profusely.
• Headache and pains.
• Self-isolation.
• Mental Illness.

How To Overcome Negativity

At first, it may seem impossible to stop negative thoughts but consistency, they say, is the key. Our thoughts and beliefs largely determine our actions and reactions.

1. Learn to write down those negative thoughts instead of just thinking them over. Researchers found that people who write down their problems think less of it. When you see your problems on paper, it is easier to think of possible solutions and move forward than just thinking of that problem.

2. Surround yourself with things you love. When surrounded with things that make and keep you happy, it reduces the tendency of negative thoughts.

3. Always think and say positive confessions and affirmations. Positive confessions and affirmations have rebranded a lot of people’s mindsets about life and its ups and downs. Instead of thinking of how a failure you had been, think of how successful you will become in the future. Instead of thinking of how woefully you will fail that interview, think of how excellent your result will be.

4. Engage in exercise. Have a few minutes of workout. It physically distracts negative thoughts from your mind. You may not be able to overcome negative thoughts without intentionally distracting them. However, exercise is one way of physically distracting negative thoughts.

5. Learn always to give appreciation. You will always see reasons to be happy when you always show appreciation. Appreciate nature, green grasses, tall trees, singing birds, oceans and seas, fishes, and reptiles. Appreciate you being alive; it keeps your hopes high.

6. Try to keep bad news far from you. Researchers discovered that only 3mins of bad news, especially in the morning, can increase your risk of negative thoughts, which can affect the whole day.

Last Words On Can Negativity Cause Anxiety

Can negativity cause anxiety? Yes, negativity can lead to anxiety. Looking at life from a third-world perspective makes it seem as though living is hard enough. Being born without any advantage is enough disadvantage but being surrounded by negativity or people with a negative mindset who are already tired of life is the worst place to be. Anyone in such an environment needs purging and a change of environment because if such a person continues in such a place, that person may never amount to anything and might end up depressed.