Negative Thinking Patterns in Children

Introduction

Children are just little ones who utterly lean on their parents and their circumstances. They could get easily distracted by sneaking into distorted thoughts when they seem like nothing or something does go right. Some children may develop negative thinking or often keep complaining due to the stressful environment around them. This might arise because of false beliefs that would lead the child to hostile conduct, and unfortunately, negative thinking patterns eventually provoke anxiety, fear, depression, and emotional dysregulation.

What Are Negative Thinking Patterns?

Adults exhibit negative thoughts when they are more prone to develop jumping to conclusions. In addition, anticipating threats or danger will also elicit false beliefs. This could also be the same in the case of younger ones as they mispredict the situation and develop distorted thoughts without being aware of creating such a thought. These patterns are known for cognitive distortions. So, here are several instances of common negative or distorted thinking patterns.

• All-or-nothing thinking is also called predicting a failure when things do not seem perfect.

• Even when all goes well, the child picks one particular negative thing and wholly focuses on it.

• Jumping to conclusions without proper evidence of the finale.

• Discounting the positive, bad, or unsatisfied feelings while the child ignores the positive themes.

• Emotional reasoning causes distortions in one to believe whatever they are predicting is right.

• Labeling or laying negative labels on oneself or something that even turns out to be positive.

• Magnification of a situation to an extreme, or blowing out something that seems negative.

• Personalization or self-blaming.

How to Recognize the Child Developing Negative Thoughts?

Harmful though itself is a considerable dilemma yet to be resolved when the child presents the following signs;

• Self-blaming.

• Negative self-talk.

• Over-exaggeration of adverse events.

• Anger issues.

• Viewing life in a negative theme.

• Assuming that positive things never happen.

• Difficulty in accepting mistakes.

• Hard time tolerating disappointments.

• Lack of confidence to face any obstacle.

How to Change the Negative Thinking Patterns in Children?

Cognitive distortions are harmful ones bringing about an adverse impact on children. Though it’s challenging, here are some ideas to change negative thinking to a healthy positive one.

• Looking After Oneself: It is not about taking care of one’s health concerns, more than that, one has to deal with the own negative thoughts before turning towards children. What one grumbles about would ultimately revert back to the child. So, negative thinking children have their parents thinking that way. As this is the case, parents must stop complaining about the self yet improvise by saying only good things and performing good deeds in whatever the situation is. Therefore, they must be concerned that the child looks at the parents and learns from them.

• Educating the Child: A child cannot discriminate between good and evil, positive and negative and it is not their flaws, though. Parents are the ones to take the initiative in emphasizing their emotions yet tutoring the differences. Assisting children in perceiving things at different points and different angles can be helpful. Teaching the child about the consequences of both positive and negative thinking is beneficial. As a result, when the child sees the circumstances from the allied view, it enhances self-confidence and self-esteem. So by knowing the sense of negativity, the child will never demand the parent to amend.

• Reevaluating Negative Thoughts: If the child has a handful of negative reviews to a greater degree, then the parent settles that way. In contrast, elders must seek the ideology of reframing those false beliefs. For instance, if the child gets the second rank in overall academic performance and sits in a low mood state, they must demonstrate to them what a cheerful-thinking child will do to overcome the situ. And as a matter of course, the children might apply it in further places.

• Promoting Gratitude: In an evident-based study, researchers have identified that the children writing five things they feel grateful for will bestow their positive energy. This practice, on a daily basis, yields happiness, satisfaction, and self-fulfillment. They can utilize a diary and write any five things they are happy about. So, elders must promote gratitude act in children. This ideology could enormously cope with negative thinking patterns as they fail to perceive harmful aspects.

• Ignoring the Underlying Cause: The more one sits with the child, the more one will know about the child. Unfortunately, spending time with children is an essential activity that most people are unthriving to do. So, conversely, to the child’s self-talk, parents must understand the child knowing her cons and pros. This will let the parents conceive the obstacles the children are facing and the responses given back. One would notice the underlying triggering factors. That includes playground conflicts, school activities, hunger, or guilt. If the child’s mood fluctuates in the morning or shortly after school, then, elders must give lessons on playfully eliminating those stressors which help build some space away from negativity.

• Commiserating Self-Talk: Self-talk sounds healthy only when it is composed of positive thoughts. Leaving abusive self-talk aside, parents must aid the little ones in helpful talks. There are various reality-checking ideas that could help on promoting compassionate self-talk with positivity. After any thought, answering self-queries or flashing thoughts will on no occasion lead them wrong.

• Compass Optimism and Positivity: Optimism is all about the quality of accessing positive beliefs and happy views. When a firm optimism in children, the positive and delightful child is harvested. A parent, teacher, or caregiver, can be the game changer for the little ones by teaching the essence of optimism. As a deduction, this relieves through words, gestures, and emotions.

Conclusion

It is a known fact that a positive mindset brings positive things. It is not impossible, but it is just challenging to turn out false beliefs into positive thoughts. When the parents glimpse the child yelling out in irritability, unlike the traditional way, furnish the input in metamorphosing the cognitive distortions into realistic ones. The negative thinking patterns of the younger ones, if noticed, should be addressed at the earliest and changed into positive thoughts.