Types Of Internal Dialogue That Favor Your Mental Health

There are a number of types of self-talk that support your mental health and that your brain also likes. The truth is that we often neglect the great importance that inner talk has and how, in some cases, it can act as a debilitating mood and happiness. What’s more, these conversations are often the substrate for many psychological disorders.

It should be noted that the study on internal dialogue is recent. Until recently, the relationship between the way people speak to themselves and well-being was underestimated. In fact, at some point in our past, it was felt that the fact that someone “spoke to himself” was evidence of little more than a trace of insanity. Fortunately, we already know that dialogue with ourselves is not only necessary, but also healthy.

Now, you need to do it properly. Because it is not enough that one day we are our worst enemy and the next, we treat each other with respect. Self-care is a rigorous and skillful daily exercise that we must commit to. Therefore, it is interesting to practice these four forms of internal communication, four strategies that we must keep in mind.

4 types of internal dialogue that promote your mental health

There are times when things get more complicated for us than necessary and the whole world (as the children say) becomes “a ball” for us. That is, it is difficult to chew, swallow and digest problems, everything accumulates and what began as a stone on the road ends up being an insurmountable mountain. Going through times like this is normal, as it is also normal for our internal dialogue to become something more negative.

Now, the key is that these situations do not become chronic. In case we let time pass and that kind of thinking turns negative, we run the risk of suffering stress and even cognitive problems such as loss of attention or memory. We must react and for this, the ideal is to apply these types of internal dialogue that favor your mental health. They are as follows:

1. Be Paul Auster, better a second person narrator

Our internal dialogue almost always uses the first person voice. We say to ourselves that of ” but how confused I am, I have screwed up”, “if I do this I am sure I make a fool of myself”, “everything is going to go wrong …”.

The ideal in these cases to gain a sense of control is to use the second person voice; to be a storyteller a little more remote, but a directive who is capable of supervising and at the same time controlling. Strategies like telling us “ but what reason is there for you to think that you are going to be wrong about this? Better try it and then you value ”,“ Come on, Carlos, you can do it ”,“ Very good, Elena, you are doing great ”.

The second person narrator is not very common in literature, but when used, the effect is very intense and shocking. Let’s remember Paul Auster’s book, Winter Diary:

2. Be a good photographer, widen the focus

In a study conducted by Dr. Barbara Frederickson of the University of North Carolina in the United States, something interesting was shown. When we use a negative mental approach, it is common to apply the classic tunnel vision. That is, we focus only on the adverse, on the problematic, on the darker side of life.

Thus, one of the types of internal dialogue that favors your mental health is learning to relativize, to be like a photographer who zooms in and out. Only then do we see more options, more perspectives and hopes.

Tell us things like “Ok Natalia, you are worried, but do something”; “Notice that there are more options than the one you now have in mind”; “Talk to other people and you will see how everything can be solved.”

3. Yes to self-affirmations

This fact is still curious. We know that the issue of self-affirmations is a classic, but there is no shortage of people who question it. Telling us things like ” you are valuable, you deserve what you want, you are going to be able to do this or just as you are, you are already perfect”  often entered that field of spirituality or personal growth with less scientific evidence.

However, it works. In fact, there are several studies that support the fact that saying positive things to us, by way of reinforcement, generates relief, reduces stress and increases positivity. Research such as that carried out at the University of California by Dr. Clayton Ricther is an example.

4. Empathic talk, the best of the types of internal dialogue that favors your mental health

There are many people who are kind, compassionate, and incredibly empathetic to others. Yet to themselves they are little more than their worst enemies. Why do we do it? Sometimes, it is because of low self-esteem, self-demand or because, in reality, we have always talked to ourselves that way.

You have to change it. In fact, the best type of self-talk that supports your sanity is empathic talk. Tell us things like “Alberto, I know what you feel and I understand that you see with anguish not having a job now. However, we both know that you’ve been through more difficult situations before. You can handle it, I am with you and I believe in you ”.

To conclude, only one detail should be noted: it is not easy to change the internal dialogue. We generate thoughts and ideas so automatically that we are barely aware of how they shape our mood. As far as possible, we must be fully aware of everything that inhabits, passes and occupies our mental universe. Let’s get to it.