Positive Reframe for managing anxious thoughts

If you find you are focussing on negative thoughts associated with ‘staying at home’ and ‘the lockdown’, it’s time to practice a technique called the ‘positive reframe’,

Use the chart below to help

Time to deal with your negative thoughts by finding a positive for each negative.

Negative thinking           Examples:       Positive reframe

Thought:	Thought:
I’m stuck at home	I’m safe at home
This will never end	I am helping to end this by staying at home
There is nothing to do	I’ve got time to find something new (or just do nothing).
I’m missing my friends	I’ve got time to contact by email, letter!!, facetime
Things are cancelled.	Now is not the time and I will really appreciate them more when they do happen.

Remember, it’s okay to feel sad and angry about all the freedoms and routines you have lost and at the same time consider what you might find and gain in this new situation. You have control over how you view/reframe your thoughts and feelings. So, you can focus on the negative thoughts, feel rubbish and increase your stress and then you can focus on using a positive reframe which may give you a better outcome.              YPSN/PRT April ‘20