It’s not uncommon for people to find themselves feeling more negative than usual for a period of time. There are many potential reasons why negativity seems to take over our minds. Exploring the possible causes can help gain insight into what may be influencing this shift in perspective. With some self-reflection and the right coping strategies, it is possible to counteract negativity and regain a more balanced, positive outlook.
Possible Causes of Increased Negativity
Stress
Stress is one of the most common triggers for increased negative thinking. When we feel overwhelmed, overworked, or anxious, our minds default to focusing on the bad over the good. Chronic stress keeps our bodies in fight-or-flight mode, making us hypervigilant to potential threats. This can cause us to view everyday challenges in an overly negative light. Too much cortisol and other stress hormones impair function in the prefrontal cortex as well, making it harder to regulate emotions and engage in positive thinking.
Fatigue
Fatigue due to lack of quality sleep, burnout, or illness can make people more prone to negativity. When we are tired, our brains lose the energy needed to make positive cognitive shifts. Fatigue also impairs executive functioning skills like impulse control, organization, and emotional regulation. This makes it harder to let go of negative thoughts and break out of a pessimistic mindset when you are exhausted.
Isolation
Spending large amounts of time alone can manifest as negative rumination. Without social connections and interactions, people tend to withdraw into their own heads. Overthinking and pessimistic attitudes can run wild without outside perspectives to counterbalance them. Isolation also contributes to many mental health issues tied to negativity like anxiety and depression.
Negative Information Diet
The news and social media expose us to large amounts of negativity each day. It is easy to get sucked into consuming mostly negative content without enough positive input for balance. This information diet high in “junk food” news and low on inspirational, uplifting material skews our perspective negatively. It fosters cynicism, outrage, and discontentment.
Biochemical Imbalances
Fluctuations in brain chemistry and hormones can contribute to periods of negativity. Depression, seasonal affective disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, menopause, and other conditions impact neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. When these chemicals dip, it impairs mood and outlook. Consulting your doctor can help determine if biochemistry plays a role in your negative thinking patterns.
Unresolved Trauma
Past traumas that were never fully processed can lead to negative thinking patterns like fear, distrust, catastrophizing, and hopelessness. Painful experiences early in life also shape neurological pathways, making people more sensitive to perceiving threat and negativity. Seeking professional help to process trauma can prevent old wounds from coloring your current perspective negatively.
Hangryness
Have you ever noticed yourself feeling more irritated and pessimistic when hungry? Hunger causes spikes in cortisol and decreases blood sugar, impairing mood and judgment. This phenomenon is known as “hangryness” – feeling angry when hungry. Eating regular, balanced meals helps stabilize blood sugar and hormones for more consistent energy and positivity.
Learned Helplessness
After enduring negative events that feel unavoidable and out of our control, people can develop learned helplessness – a state of believing nothing can be done to improve the situation. This fosters passive pessimism, cynicism, and sadness in response to new challenges instead of problem-solving. Learned helplessness is a understandable protective mechanism but keeping you stuck in negativity.
How to Counteract Negativity
If you recognize some of these factors playing a role in your increased negativity, below are some ways to counteract this mindset:
Take a Break from News/Social Media
Give your mind a reset by going on a news fast for a few days or limiting time on social media. This clears out some of the negativity bias from your information diet. Fill extra time with nature, music, reading, meditation, or calling friends.
Move Your Body
Exercise and movement boost feel-good neurotransmitters, reduce cortisol, and increase endorphins. This helps counteract biochemical drivers of negativity. Try to get in some movement every day.
Get Outdoors
Sunshine and fresh air naturally lift your mood. Spend time outside walking, hiking, gardening, or reading to recharge. Studies show being in nature for as little as 10 minutes reduces stress hormones.
List Your Blessings
Keep a gratitude journal or do a daily gratitude meditation to refocus your mind on the positive. This rewires the brain over time to scan for the good.
Challenge Negative Thoughts
Counter pessimistic narratives in your head with alternate, more optimistic perspectives. Ask yourself “What’s another way I could view this?” to shift mindset.
Practice Self-Compassion
Beating yourself up for feeling negative reinforces shame, driving you deeper into pessimism. Offer yourself kindness and understand everyone struggles sometimes.
Help Someone
Volunteer in your community, do a kind deed for a loved one, donate to a cause – acting with service boosts oxytocin and wellbeing.
Try Therapy
For recurring or severe negativity, seek counseling to get to the root causes. Therapists help build coping skills and perspective.
When to Seek Help
Occasional negativity is normal, but seek professional support if:
– It lasts weeks/months without relief
– Causes significant impairment in work, relationships, health
– Includes suicidal thoughts
– Feels uncontrollable despite your best efforts
Prolonged, severe negativity may indicate an underlying condition like depression, PTSD, or chronic stress needing treatment. Reach out to a doctor or mental health professional. With targeted care, you can find light again even in dark times.
The Benefits of Positivity
Learning to counteract negativity is worthwhile because positivity has been linked to:
- Better physical health and immunity
- Longer lifespan
- Greater resilience
- Stronger relationships
- Increased productivity and focus
- Higher achievement
- More creativity
- Deeper purpose and meaning
Positivity enables us to thrive mentally, physically, and spiritually. When negativity arises, recognizing it as a temporary state rather than identity allows us to gain the benefits of positive thinking again with the right tools.
The Growth Potential of Challenges
While negativity itself makes life harder, the challenges and pain that trigger it also contain opportunities for growth. By approaching negative experiences with openness and willingness to learn, you can develop:
- Greater resilience
- Increased tolerance for discomfort
- Improved problem-solving skills
- Deeper compassion for others
- Stronger sense of meaning and purpose
- Appreciation for positive moments
With effort and insight, you can mine even difficult times for growth. Consider viewing life’s ups and downs as a chance to cultivate qualities like patience, courage, humility, and perseverance. The deeper your roots of resilience, the less negative storms can shake you.
Maintaining Perspective
When you notice negativity spiraling, remember that your thoughts and feelings are constantly shifting, not permanent realities. This mindfulness helps prevent pessimism from defining you. Even two negative days in a row does not mean life is only full of bad news and outcomes.
Humans evolved a negativity bias for survival, but we need not let it dominate completely. Look at thoughts as passing weather, not climate. With concerted effort, you can turn your mental atmosphere back towards sunshine again. There will always be dark days mixed in, but the light still remains.
Conclusion
Increased negativity is a common experience with many contributing factors. By being self-aware, proactive, and seeking help when needed, you can gain perspective and relief. With time and practice, you can move through the darkness back into positivity – where life feels lighter, freer, and full of possibility once more. The effort to cultivate positivity will serve you well not just for overcoming current challenges but for all of life’s ups and downs.