Positive Psychology: Can We Change Our Negative Thought Patterns

Her anxiety and depression interfere with her academic and interpersonal functions. She struggles to motivate herself to attend her classes. She is not coping well with her internal struggles. She is

Depression and anxiety. She is being followed by Dr. Lidstrom. She is really struggling of late since the passing of her father-in-law and dealing with her mother-in-law and the emotions surrounding this change in their life and I am pleased that she is going to counseling as I think that would be very useful for her. She will continue her follow up with them and continue with her current medications.

The Power of Positive Thinking Annotated Bibliography Smith, Dr Curtis E. Applied Power of Positive Thinking. Inspiring Voices, 2014. People struggle with issues of which they seem to be lacking adequate solutions to them. In this book, Dr. Curtis presents a formula that can help us to transform hopeless situations into opportunities.

One day she came to school and we noticed slash marks on her neck and she told us she had attempted suicide. We abruptly told her parents and they signed her up for therapy. Through the combination of antidepressants and psychotherapy, she slowly recovered and now is free of any traces of depression. She was diagnosed with major depressive disorder which according to the National Institute of Mental Health, “ . . . is characterized by a combination of symptoms that interfere with a person's ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities” (“Types of Depression”). Looking back, even she does not know how her condition deteriorated so quickly, which shows how powerful depression is and how easily it can completely change the mind of the person experiencing it.

An article written by Barbara Enhrenreich – “The Power of Negative Thinking” was published in New York Times in September 2008, a hard time otherwise known economic collapse of the World. Enhrenreich writes that greed and speculation are the two phenomenon responsible for the crisis. Enhrenreich defines positive thinking at a time as a “delusional optimism”, effect of which was over exaggerated and overvalued, “Positive thinking is endemic to academic culture – from weight loss programs to cancer support groups – and in the last two decades it has put down deep roots in the corporate world as well.” (Enhrenreich 270) Most importantly, Enhrenreich claims that Americans were not “deluded optimists” in the past. Visualizing success in her opinion became the guiding tool of a time. As summarized by Peter Theil in his book Zero to One, Americans were in a state of definite optimism up to 1980. Later, it has turned into indefinite optimism where

She says she is aware that she is in the final chapter of her life and she is content. If she had to give this chapter of her life a title it would be “Acceptance and Contentment.” When I asked her if that meant she was “happy” she replied that she is. She talked about knowing people who seem to have everything but are so unhappy. She said she misses the people she has lost but she still enjoys the people who remain in her life. She is interested in things and people. She feels she has been blessed because she has never experienced a real bout of depression – profound sadness but not depression.

You create your thoughts, your thoughts create your intentions, and your intentions create your reality. ~Wayne Dyer

Albert Bandura states “self-efficacy is the belief that one’s ability to influence events that affect one’s life and have control over the way these events are experienced. The theory of self-efficacy is a significant concept in the field of positive psychology since it has a direct relationship with the explanation on how a people’s cognition can affect how they think, behave, and motivate themselves. Albert Bandura presents his views on positive psychology in his chapter “An Agentic Perspective on Positive Psychology”. Albert Bandura states that the concept of self-efficacy is not an ability that certain individuals possess, instead he claims that all persons are capable of utilizing self-efficacy to control their circumstances. In Bandura’s

Her medications are bupropion which treats major depression disorder. Fluoxetine, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor which is antidepressant. It works on chemical on the brain too decrease the depression and anxiety. Valporicacid treats seizure disorder, manic episodes and bipolar disorder. Lorazepam is a group of benzodiazepines which affect chemical in the brain to derease anxiety. She was kind of nervous. She told us about her family and some storys from her life. I think the most important thing I realized from talking to her is that is despreat and sad because she almost 40 and she does not have a family or job or career. She had a first year in school and then she left the school. Actually, that situation raised a question should the therapist set another goals for theses people or they just live there lives. Of couse they have a treatment plan, but what is the social plans like the rest of the human beings. May be they have one and I do not know, I am not

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” -William James

In Professor Seligman’s TED Talk he presents to us the state of psychology today. Just what is the state of psychology today? According to Seligman it is good, not good, and not good enough. In the “good” update for psychology today, it is beneficial that psychology is progressing forward. Once what was an extreme science of finding out what is wrong with someone has progressed forward into also finding out how to improve one’s life quality. Seligman states that just sixty years ago no disorder was treatable. However in today’s world of modern psychology not only are fourteen disorders treatable, but two are even curable. In the terms of not good, in Seligman’s opinion, there has been too much of an extreme focus on mental illness. Seligman believes that psychology has gone a pessimistic route and in turn forgotten about improving “normal” lives to make people less miserable. He believes that there should not only be interventions in terms of treating mental illness, but also interventions to make people happier. Seligman lists a few different ways that positive psychology could improve itself to go this route. The main idea is that psychologists should be concerned with both strength and weakness of people, therefore building strengths and repairing weakness. From further research in modern positive psychology has sought to answer just what are happy people and what makes them happy? Seligman explains that

When you fully commit to changing your perspective by thinking with a constant positive mindset, the possibilities become endless because now you will attract the target of your focus. People always have a tendency to focus on the negative especially with their ex because it is sticks in the mind. When your ex says something extremely disrespectful and hurtful, instead of stooping down to his level, simply respond with the most loving and calm voice “I understand that you are angry right now, but let’s work through this.” This will throw him for a loop because he wants you to become emotional like him and it is not working. Positivity is contagious no matter

I think assigning a job or task to students teaches them reasonability as well the feeling of accomplishment. We have a list of jobs the student do on a daily basis. Each day they have a different job. Even the student we have that is in a wheelchair has a job each day. We do though have a job as the “helper” that works with her to complete her job if needed. If it is her to do pass out folders, the “helper” will help her pass them out to each student. It is funny to say but the most popular job in the class is the helper. I agree by showing students everyone is equal I believe it will promote less negativity and more positivity in the classroom.

Positive psychology is a relatively new, yet rapidly expanding field of study. It is the study of the positive facets of humanity focused heavily around well-being and happiness. Through the studies of positive psychology researchers are attempting to find ways to continuously improve quality of life and flourish as a society. Traditional psychology is obviously very complex and diverse. It is commonly accepted and referred to as the study of the mind and the subsequent behaviour and functions it carries out. Traditional psychology is an over-arching discipline and encompasses numerous different sub-sections such as human development, social behaviour, cognitive processes and health to name a few (McLeod. S., 2011). Positive psychology is another

Throughout history great minds have wondered how individuals differed, and why they acted in particular ways. Traits are defined as non-ending dimensions of personality on which people vary (Carver, C., & Scheier M. 2012). Once traits were established they were researched and investigated for their own unique and credible differences from other traits. One interesting trait that has been extensively researched is optimism. From the great lyrical workings of Voltaire, whose stances were those of fact and intellectualized conclusions, to the life changing writings of Eleanor Porter, optimism as a trait was a unique and complex concept. In Voltaire’s writings there were glimpses of “non-rational thoughts among rational arguments” (Rockett, K.