The latest article from the Overcome Depression + Thrive Blog.

Depression can be overwhelming, and negative thoughts can make it even worse. That’s why in this article, I’ll be sharing a simple 3-step method to stop negative thoughts when you’re depressed so you can start transforming your mind and your life.

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Hi and welcome to the very first Overcome Depression + Thrive Livestream!  It’s great to have you here!

Now, my intention for these live-streams is to create a safe, supportive online space where anyone wanting to overcome depression can come, ask questions, share concerns and get motivated to overcome depression, no matter where they are in the world!

Because, here’s the deal…

You can do it!

You CAN overcome depression!

You just need the right tools, techniques and proven strategies to do it and that’s what these Overcome Depression + Thrive Livestreams are all about!

Giving you the tools you need to overcome depression and thrive, whether you’re struggling alone or in a supportive environment!

So, let’s get started!

Now, recently I received this question:

“How do I put a stop to my negative and unwanted thoughts that I have when I’m depressed?”

So, that’s exactly what we’re going to be discussing today! Because, this has got to be one of the biggest, if not, THE biggest challenge we all face when we’re stuck in depression! Having to constantly deal with negative or unwanted thoughts (which usually drives us into a state of overthinking!)

So, what do we do? How do we stop negative thoughts in depression?

How do we rewire our depressed mind so it’s not so heavily weighted towards the negative?

Well, the very first step is to understand how the mind works, so we can start using it to our advantage to help lift us up and out of depression.

Because, right now if you’re in depression, your mind is working against you! So, we’ve got to flip that around and have you controlling your mind, rather than it controlling you!

Understanding the Cycle of Thinking To Stop Negative Thoughts When Depressed

Now, if you take a look at this diagram you’ll see, it’s a bit like an iceberg, where you have a small portion above the horizon, let’s call this our Conscious Mind. 

Then we have a huge portion, over 90% of the mass is beneath the surface.  This represents our Subconscious Mind.

Now, you may have already heard that it’s your subconscious mind that’s the ‘driving force‘ of your entire life and that’s because it’s our subconscious mind is basically a “Storehouse of our tendencies” (you know the things we’re most likely to do, say or be).

It stores things like; our Past Actions, Thoughts, Feelings, Outcomes, etc.

Now, here’s the deal…

It’s our subconscious that drives all of our thoughts.  In fact, let me show you how the natural cycle of thinking works because you need to be aware of this if you ever want to create a truly depression-free life for yourself.

1. So, we have ‘a thought’ which bubbles up from our subconscious.


2. It enters our conscious mind becoming ‘a conscious thought’.  We then interact with that thought or mull over it (thinking).


3. Which in turn, strengthens that very same thought as it returns back down into our subconscious.


4. Generating ‘more thoughts’ which bubble up from our subconscious.


5. It enters our conscious mind becoming ‘a conscious thought’.  We then interact with that thought or mull over it (thinking).


6. Which in turn, strengthens that very same thought as it returns back down into our subconscious.


7. And, the cycle continues….

Now, have you ever been told:  “You just need to think more positively to overcome depression.”  Drives you crazy, right?!

Why Positive Thinking Doesn’t Work for Depression

Now, if you’re like most of us who have tried any form of positive thinking or affirmations to change our thinking and overcome depression, you’ve no doubt failed.  

Here’s why the mainstream positive thinking advice doesn’t work for us in depression…

It’s not because of depression!

It’s not because there’s anything wrong with our mind! 

It’s due to a very fundamental process of the mind (everyone’s mind), let me show you…

So, let’s say we start with a positive affirmation or we try to consciously think positive, let’s say we start chanting;  “I am awesome, I am rich, I am abundant, I am worthy, I am loveable!”

Aren’t they the usual ones?  Or, something like that!

Now, can you see that we’re attempting to do this (change our thoughts) by simply employing our conscious mind?

You know, the tiny portion above the surface!

But, remember we also have that massive structure beneath the surface;  our subconscious.  So, it’s not long before our subconscious mind joins the game and starts generating it’s own thoughts like: 

“No, you’re not! You’re a failure, you’re useless, nobody loves you, you’re a burden, you’re not good enough….and the list goes on…”

Then, naturally a tug of war starts between these opposing thoughts within in our mind.  I’m sure we’ve all experienced this silent but chaotic war in our mind, whether we’re depressed or not, right?

Well, if we just change this diagram slightly and replace the conscious mind with a tiny kitten and exchange the subconscious mind with an elephant.

Who do you think is gonna win this battle?

It’s a given, right?!  Of course, the elephant is gonna crush the kitten in an instant!  In fact, it doesn’t stand a chance!  And, this is EXACTLY what happens when we’re stuck in depression and we try to use the mainstream advice of positive thinking or affirmations to stop negative thoughts when we’re depressed. 

It never works because of this very fundamental process of our mind, where the ‘elephant’ of the subconscious far outweighs the ‘fluffy, fragile kitten’ of our conscious mind.

But, the “not working” is not the worst part!

The worst part is that when we fail to hold any positive thoughts or we fail to transform our thinking (which is by not fault of ours, it’s just how the mind works), that deep sense of failure then goes on to reinforce the negative feelings we already have about ourselves, which are currently stored within our subconscious!  This makes the negative thoughts and feelings EVEN stronger!

Compounding the issue and causing MORE negative thoughts to rise, more frequently when we’re in depression.

Which is the exact opposite of what we would logically expect to happen, when we attempt to think more positively in depression, right?!

So, what’s the solution?

How can we stop negative thoughts in a depressed mind?

Can we transform our thoughts from negative to positive, even though it appears the mind is working against us, to keep us stuck in this endless loop of negative thinking?

Absolutely! There are various ways of transforming our thoughts in the right way to create a depression-free life and overcome depression!

Now, we “deep dive” into this topic of transforming your thoughts and your subconscious mind in modules 2, 3 and 4 of the Overcome Depression + Thrive program which you can learn more about by clicking here<img alt="Opens in a new tab." class="externallinkimage" src="https://overcomedepressionandthrive.com/wp-content/themes/acabado/img/extlink.png" sty