Stress and Your Mind: The Link Between Negative Thoughts and Stress

What is the relationship between negative thoughts and stress? Are negative thoughts actually caused by stress?

Imagine you are stressed out by your financial situation. The more you focus on the situation, the more negative your thoughts become, quickly spiralling from being worried you can't pay your bills for this month quickly believing that you might end up homeless, catch a disease, and die on the street.

Exploring the Relationship Between Negative Thinking & Stress

The more stressed or anxious you are, the more likely you'll experience negative thoughts. Similarly, it is possible that thinking negatively will result in being more stressed and anxious. There are a number of types of negative thinking, including the following:

• Negative assumptions
• Negative core beliefs
• Automatic negative thoughts

Negative Thinking and Cortisol

Cortisol is a hormone produced in the brain that is related to stress levels and helps you manage dangerous situations (1). Though it usually diminishes after the fight-or-flight response ends, chronically high levels of cortisol have been associated with abundant negative thoughts.

Social anxiety, general anxiety, and depression can cause stress-induced negative thinking, which then, in turn, can aggravate symptoms of anxiety and depression. The effects of this type of stress-induced negative thinking can significantly impact your overall health.

Take Control of Your Thoughts Today

Deliberately using positive thinking can help to combat negative thinking, reduce stress, and, therefore, improve well-being in general. To be good at positive thinking, it is essential to practice regularly.

Additionally, there are many at-home remedies you can use to mitigate feelings of stress and anxiety, all of which can help to reduce negative thinking.