Thread by @JonelleCapri

Negative self talk is a common (sometimes even encouraged) form of mental self-abuse and one of the worst things you can do to the literal structure of your brain. I’ll explain in the thread how mean self talk impacts neuropsychological health, but tldr, don’t do it to yourself.

First, there are 2 things you should know.

1. Human brains are negativity biased. They spend more time looking at, processing, and returning to negative stimuli. Not to be monsters (tho brains are absolutely monsters), but as a protective measure.

https://twitter.com/JonelleCapri/status/1366492209823035400?s=19

The brain evolved in a world where paying close attn to possibly harmful or socially damaging things could save your life. And it's all in on survival, so it prioritized a strong awareness of that shit.

Thousands of years later, we’re predisposed to fixate on things that suck.

2. Ppl tend to use the term “chemical imbalance”, but most mental health issues are actually CONNECTION imbalances, meaning the pathways in the brain regions responsible for managing certain neurotransmitters shrink/grow in a way that causes dysfunction.

https://twitter.com/JonelleCapri/status/1366062568142475266?s=19

I’ll do a separate thread on the ways that stress & trauma harm brain structure (Nietzsche was on some fuckshit with his “what does not kill me makes me stronger”), but brain regions can ATROPHY under stress.

Literal loss of neurons. Shrinkage of shit you'd rather not shrink.

Keep these two points in mind for the rest of the thread.

They’ll help you understand not just how negative self talk totally jacks your brain, but also why it can be so hard to stop once you start.

Let's be specific and define what we're talking about, bc there are LOTS of different types of negative self talk. The more common:

- Excessive Worry (insecure ideation abt ability/social status/value)

- Defensive Pessimism (unnecessarily low expectations, self minimization)

- Perseveration/Rumination (reliving/overthinking bad experiences)

- Habitual Negative Self Thought (talking so badly about yourself, so often that it becomes ingrained and feels like *normal* thought. You may no longer even consciously recognize when you're doing it)

Some of these are worse than others (Habitual Negative Self Thought is pretty fucking bad) but all of them suck, bc they have limited outlet, meaning they reinforce themselves, looping and repeating, which only strengthens their neuronal pathways, making them difficult to stop.

They are also unconstructive. In this case, that means that their consequences are, at best, psychologically limiting, and at worst, mentally and physically damaging.

Here’s a compilation of 100+ studies examining forms of “unconstructive repetitive thought”.

You can see a summary of each study's findings in the last column, and across the board, the consensus is: “Shit is fucked up”

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

People who engage in this kind of self talk are shown over and over again to be prone to depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders.

They’re less able to recover from illness & trauma, less able to self assert, more susceptible to manipulation, worse at performing self care.

They exhibit impaired executive function (the skills that help us manage our day to day lives), worse memory, and poor interpersonal skills.

Higher risk of suicide, poor physical health outcomes, higher likelihood of neurological disease, increased risk of intrusive thoughts.

And to top it off, (it seems obvious, but it’s significant) lower self esteem.

There's evidence that ppl w/ low self-esteem have less grey matter in brain regions that regulate emotion, planning & memory. But also basic functions like sleep & hunger.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

The brain responds to neg. self talk this way bc it sees it as a threat. It has mechanisms to protect a stable, positive self-view and manage threats to that self-view. But when the call is coming from inside the house, the mechanism are less effective, so the outcome is STRESS

Scientists aren't 100% on why certain brain regions shrink under chronic stress, but it might be preservative. Other areas, like the amygdala, grow in these instances, ⬆️aggression. Maybe stressful situations were once more survivable w/ less thinking power and more abject rage.

But it doesn't work that way anymore. There aren't many circumstances in the modern world where brain fog and heart palpitations will do you many favors.

In summation, negative self talk is a recipe for a fucked up brain. A brain w/ less gray matter in significant places over time, increases aggression and intrusive thoughts, risk of health and mood disorders, poor interpersonal skills, and overall life deficits.

Many people think that neg. self talk can improve productivity, and maybe for some people. But you'll suffer elsewhere. Is it worth it?

Also, parents who talk shit abt themselves make kids who talk shit abt themselves, and is this really the kind of harm you want to pass down?

If you're a self-shit-talker, you didn’t get there in a vacuum. Whatever traumatic life event, or harmful adult influence when you were a kid, or capitalistic hellscape soul suck job brought you to this point, know that you can change it. You deserve safety inside your own head.

1st - Find your ass a therapist.
2nd- Consider practicing thought replacement (psychcentral.com/lib/replacing-…)
3rd- Consider mindfulness meditation, and thought observation.
4th - Definitely find a therapist.

If you've developed negative self talk, what's the type you engage in the most?