ABC…D - Dispute - How to dispute those pessimistic thoughts
Over the last few weeks we have looked at the ABCDs of pessimistic thoughts.
With the two Ds being
Distraction and
Disputation.
Today we’ll look further into how to dispute your pessimistic explanations.
There are four tacks to dispute these.
Evidence?
Alternatives?
Implications?
Usefulness?
To take us through these tacks, Seligman uses the example that your boss frowns at you when you present a report.
Evidence:
Take on a detective role.
Look for evidence before and against the belief.
What is the evidence?
You’ll often find that you have jumped to the worst possible conclusion with no evidence or the thinnest hunch.
In the example,
Do you know that your boss has read your report?
Do you know that anything is wrong with the report?
Alternatives:
Are there any other ways to look at the challenge?
Is your boss in a bad mood? Was he up all night?
By generating several alternatives, you can scan the evidence for each one.
Implications:
What if you are right?
Is it the end of the world?
If your boss frowned due to the report, what does that mean?
It might be bad but it is not necessarily a catastrophe.
Usefulness:
Sometimes it is the usefulness rather than the explanation that is what really matters.
Is thinking about the problem now going to do any good?
If not:
Do something physically distracting.
Schedule a specific time for thinking things over.
Write them down so you can return them on your own terms.
Try these techniques next time you sense adversity.
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