Two of my sons are UC Irvine Anteaters, yet this blog is about a different type of ant. The ant of automatic negative thoughts.
A number of years ago, I had the honor of meeting Dr. Daniel Amen, and I later learned he coined the term – Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) – in the early 1990s after a hard day at the office. That day he had several very difficult sessions with suicidal patients, teenagers in turmoil, and a married couple who hated each other.
When he got home that evening, he found ants had infested his kitchen. As he started to clean them up, an acronym developed in his mind. He thought of his patients from that day – just like the infested kitchen – his patients’ brains were also infested by Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) that were robbing them of their joy and stealing their happiness.
Dr. Amen wrote a book about the brain, but it’s not just about the brain; it’s about how your brain affects your body, and how your body affects your brain. He explains that every time you have a thought, your brain releases chemicals.
Every time you have a sad, hopeless, mad, cranky, unkind, judgmental, or helpless thought, your brain immediately releases chemicals that make your body feel awful. Your hands get cold and wet, your muscles get tense, your heart beats faster, and your breathing becomes shallower. Additionally, Dr. Amen writes the activity in your frontal and temporal lobes decreases which negatively affects your judgment, learning, and memory.
The opposite is also true – whenever you have a happy, hopeful, loving, kind, or positive thought (or even just an “I’m okay” kind of thought), your brain releases a completely different set of chemicals. Your hands get warmer and dryer; your breathing becomes deeper and more regular; your muscles relax; your blood pressure decreases; and your brain works better. So what can we do about ANTs?
Just as there are a many species of ants in the world, there are different kinds of negative thought patterns (ANTs). Here are a few that Dr. Amen says we can all learn to identify:
Fortune Telling: Being masterful at predicting the worst, even though you don’t have any evidence.
Mind Reading: Where you arbitrarily believe that you know what someone else is thinking, even though they didn’t tell you. Many people do this, and more often than not it gets them into trouble. It’s a major reason why people have trouble in relationships.
Guilt Beatings: Thinking with words like should, must, ought, and have to. The words we use to talk to ourselves are very important.
Guilt is not a very good motivator for change.
Telling yourself “I should go see my grandmother” rather than “I want to spend time with my grandmother” only serves to make you feel negative.
Blame: Whenever you blame someone else for the problems in your life, you are a victim, and you can’t do anything to change it. Stay away from blaming thoughts and take personal responsibility for changing the problems you have.
Labeling: Calling yourself or someone else a derogatory name. This diminishes your ability to see situations clearly, and labels can be very harmful.
Next steps?
Whenever you find yourself feeling mad, sad, nervous, or out of control, write down what you are thinking. Then identify which ANT species is infesting your mind and talk back to it. Challenging negative thoughts (killing the ANTs) takes away their power and gives you control over your thoughts, moods, and behaviors.
