Thought-Emotion Feedback
Thought-Emotion Feedback is often incorporated into Dysfunctional Thought Records (as additional columns), but I prefer to use it as a separate technique. Thought-Emotion Feedback means silently telling yourself the way your thoughts make you feel. For example, “When I think about my boss yelling at me, it makes me angry” or “When I go over past mistakes, it makes me sad.” This technique makes you more aware of your internal dialogue. It automatically up-regulates and down-regulates your thoughts due to the feedback you give yourself about your emotions.
I use Thought-Emotion Feedback whenever I am internally “snarky”, have a negative fantasy, produce a fake argument in my head, or start debriefing. By internally snarky I mean putting down people I see on the street, every commercial on TV, and certain actors (all silently in my head). It’s an annoying habit because it makes the world look worse to me. I’ve been able to decrease it by saying things like “Lindsay, when you are snarky is makes you feel gross”, whenever I catch myself doing it. Negative fantasies are the ugly version of day dreams. It’s when I imagine what would happen if I got kidnapped, went broke, or got attacked. When I catch myself doing it I say to myself, “Lindsay, when you have a negative fantasy is makes you anxious”. I used to have fake argument in my head with the people in my life that were irritating me. Nowadays, it happens more commonly when a police officer passes my car. I’ll start imagining the argument that might happen if he had pulled me over. I find myself getting angry and agitated even though the argument is all in my head. I’ve been able to decrease this by saying, “Lindsay, when you have fake arguments in your head it just makes you feel agitated.” Finally, whenever I start debriefing (i.e. reviewing a social event in my head), I tell myself, “Lindsay, when you debrief, you eventually just start feeling bad.”
I will sometimes need to apply Thought-Emotion Feedback several times in a row for it to kick in but it has gradually improved the emotional quality of my spontaneous thinking.
Try Thought-Emotion Feedback at least once a day for the next week. When you are having negative thoughts, make an internal comment on how those thoughts are making you feel.