Choosing What We Pay Attention to Affects Our Mental Health

Tanya J. Peterson

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Choosing What We Pay Attention to Affects Our Mental Health
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What we pay attention to matters. It matters so much that helping people change their focus is an integral part of many approaches to mental health therapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, positive psychology, acceptance and commitment therapy, solution-focused brief therapy, logotherapy, and many more. The idea is that we often can’t choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we respond to it. How we respond has a lot to do with what we pay attention to.

In a recently published study, researchers revealed that people who tend to hold onto negative experiences are more likely to experience a reduced sense of wellbeing compared to those who notice negative events and situations but are able to quickly redirect their attention and change their thoughts about the experience¹.

This is deceptively simple, of course, as the human brain is hardwired with a negativity bias that has us constantly on the lookout for problems so we are ready to do something about them². Simply being aware of what you’re thinking about is an important first step. Then, you can practice shifting your focus to a more positive (but still realistic) idea or solution to a problem. While it’s not an instant fix or cure-all, becoming aware of our thoughts and focus positions us to choose our attitude and actions rather than remaining victim to circumstance.

Sources

Puccetti, N.A., Schaefer, S.M., van Reekum, C.M., Ong, A.D., Almeida, D.M., Ryff, C.D., Davidson, R.J., & Heller, A.S. (2021, March). Linking amygdala persistence to real-world emotional experience and psychological well-being. Journal of Neuroscience. Retrieved from https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2021/03/15/JNEUROSCI.1637-20.2021
Marano, H.E. (2016, June). Our brain’s negative bias. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200306/our-brains-negative-bias

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