“Next time you catch yourself falling into one of these patterns, remind yourself that you don’t have to believe everything you think. Recognize a thought as a cognitive distortion and challenge it instead.” D Alban

I recently saw a bumper sticker that said “Don’t Believe Everything You Think” and it got me thinking… about thinking.

The average person has around 50,000 thoughts per day and in most people they are predominantly negative. (1)

How Thoughts Create Your Brain

Your thoughts are more than fleeting moments created by your brain. In many ways, your thoughts are your brain.

Every thought creates a neural connection. Think a thought often enough and the neural connection will get strong, particularly if there is an emotional attachment to it. Conversely, if a memory has no use or is rarely stimulated, eventually those neural connections will wither away from disuse.

Thoughts also change your brain by stimulating the production of brain chemicals which can change the structure and function of your brain.

A good example is what happens to your brain under stress. When a situation you perceive as stressful occurs, it increases your level of the stress hormone cortisol. Prolonged exposure to cortisol literally excites your brain cells to death, particularly in the hippocampus, the seat of memory. Continue reading →