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When looking in the mirror, the thoughts that can enter the brain or cross the mind are not always positive. These thoughts or feelings can cross over to grades, work, sports, accomplishments and so on. The inner dialogue inside the brain that creates feelings of unworthiness, or limits self-confidence is negative selftalk. Confidence, anxiety, depression, self-esteem are all places these thoughts can stem from. Unfortunately, living with negative-free thoughts is not reality. In fact, the average person has around 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day and 80% of those are negative according to the National Science Foundation. The thoughts in the mind that create doubt, shame or discontent with appearance are characteristics of the never-ending bad habit of all humankind: negative selftalk. Within this internal dialogue, there can be positive self-talk, as well, that can be encouraging. Nevertheless, positive self-talk doesn’t become a habit as easily as negative self-talk does. Changing those negative thoughts to positive thoughts is the way to break the reflex of negative self-reflection. This all comes down to the fact that the brain chemical Cortisol is the one to blame for those negative thoughts that enter people’s minds without permission. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, competes with dopamine, the chemical that sends positive reinforcement to the brain. The more dopamine, the less cortisol. The more cortisol, the more negative thoughts that can enter our brain. These negative thoughts can lead to anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses as the levels of dopamine and cortisol are off. To combat these thoughts, there are practices to put in place to promote positivity in daily life. The University of Alabama’s (UA) Director of Clinical Training, Matt Jarrett, suggests attacking those thoughts head-on. Asking questions internally when noticing those negative thoughts is one of the ways to cope with them. “The thoughts we have might be driven more by emotions and worries. Traditionally, the focus would be on how to change the thought, noticing and recognizing the thought comes first,” said Jarrett. Jarrett suggests asking the following questions when having those thoughts: • Is the thought accurate? • Is there truth behind it? • How likely is it that this will happen? • How bad would it actually be if it did? Inner dialogue within the mind can seem out of the norm, but in fact, numerous people go through the process of talking to themselves. However, not everybody has internal monologues on a daily basis. There is a spectrum of talking to oneself: some all the time, some sometimes and some never. Psychology Professor Russell Hubert conducted a study on 30 college students finding that an average of 26% of them had internal speech. Each individual varied on the spectrum but came out to an average of 26%. To help see if the thoughts are meaningful, ask yourself if you would hold the same negativity to a friend in that situation said Dr. Greg Vandarwal, Executive Director of the Counseling Center at UA. Vandarwal explained that “consistently thinking negative becomes learned or automatic,” much like a habit or pattern of behavior. Simple lifestyle changes can make a big impact on dopamine release. Having a routine, exercising daily, prioritizing sleep and eating right are all small changes that can improve those negative thoughts. “Journaling those thoughts or saying the thoughts out loud can help put in perspective the truth of thought,” said Vandarwaal. A more fun way of combating those negative thoughts is to give a name to those internal thought processes, said Vandarwal. This can help separate the thoughts from the truth and easier to challenge that type of thinking. The University of Alabama junior studying Architectural Engineering, Henry McKlin, previously struggled with negative self-talk when he was younger and now understands the false reality behind it. McKlin explains that he learned to separate the thoughts that had truth behind it versus the ones that didn’t. “<strong>No</strong>w that I have proven to myself that I can do the things that I originally thought I couldn’t, I am less susceptible to believe those types of thoughts,” said McKlin. The belief of the negative thoughts that pass through the brain can lead to self-doubt and stunt an individual’s potential. Believe you can do it until you have at least tried, suggests McKlin. “If you’re struggling to not be negative towards yourself, talk to someone,” said Vandarwal. The University of Alabama’s Counseling Center is available for immediate help with a trained volunteer when texting “BAMA” to 741-741 or call UA Police Department (UAPD) at 205-348-5454 and ask to speak with the on-call counselor. To speak with someone on a more casual basis, UA’s Counseling Center and Women’s Gender Resource Center (WGRC) are prepared to speak with students. There is also a free online self-help site, Welltrack, that can help explain the feelings someone might be going through and the next steps are. For more information, visit UA’s Counseling Center website, https://counseling.sa.ua.edu/. [69]