Do you know that millions of people on this planet suffer from Stress, Anxiety, Worry, Restlessness, Boredom, Sleeplessness, Lethargy, Procrastination, Irritation, Guilt and Depression; not because of adverse circumstances or bad fortune or lack of wealth, but because they don’t have the Skills to train their brains to be Happy?
Skill to train the brain to be happy is even more important when situations are adverse, like during the time of the Pandemic; because, the challenging situations super-charge the Negative Emotions and harm both the body and the mind.
The negative bias is our tendency not only to register negative stimuli but also to dwell on these events. Also known as positive-negative asymmetry, this negativity bias means that we feel the sting of a rebuke more powerfully than we feel the joy of praise
We tend to…
Pay more attention to negative events than positive ones.
Make decisions based on negative information more than positive data.
It is the “bad things” that grab our attention, stick to our memories, and, in many cases, influence the decisions that we make.
Additionally, studies have shown that negative news is more likely to be perceived as truthful. Since negative information draws greater attention, it also may be seen as having greater validity. This might be why bad news seems to garner more attention.
The negativity bias can have a powerful impact on our behavior, but being aware of, it means that we can take steps to adopt a more positive outlook on life. Taking a more mindful approach that involves being aware of our own tendency toward negativity and consciously elevating happier thoughts to the forefront of awareness—this is one of the best ways to combat negativity.
The negativity bias can take a toll on our mental health, causing us to dwell on dark thoughts resulting in pushing us in isolated thinking which result in chemical imbalances and giving birth to the depressions.we have seen how this has made many to end their lives because they are not able to address the problem and thus the desire to live finds the ugliest endings which makes it difficult to maintain an optimistic outlook on life.
Fortunately, there are steps we can take to change our thinking and fight the tendency toward negative thinking.
We must start paying attention to the type of thoughts that run through our mind. After an event takes place, we might find ourselves thinking things like “I shouldn’t have done that.” This negative self-talk shapes how you think about yourself and others.
A better tactic is to stop those thoughts whenever they begin. Instead of fixating on past mistakes that cannot be changed, consider what we have learned and how we might apply that in the future.
Because it takes more for positive experiences to be remembered, it is important to give extra attention to good things that happen. Where negative things might be quickly transferred and stored in our long-term memory, wr need to make more of an effort to get the same effect from happy moments.
When we find ourselves ruminating on things, we must look for an uplifting activity to pull ourselves out of this negative mindset. If we find ourselves mentally reviewing some unpleasant event or outcome, we must consciously try to redirect our attention elsewhere and engage in an activity that brings us joy.Going for a walk , listening to upbeat music ,reading books is very essential to keep the mind off negative thoughts.
Now relate how the present print and electronic media created the hype about the poor infrastructure , dearth of oxygen cylinders in hospitals and unavailability of beds in the pandemic days that scared the common man who, because of the negative informations, fell into the trap of negative bias as a result of which many people lost their lives .So it is always important to place the information in right perspectives so that the impact of negative bias is less .