The New Bible Cure for Depression & Anxiety (5 page)

Following each distortional thought pattern below, I’ve added a confession based on God’s Word that you can say to yourself each time you are being caught up in one of these negative thought patterns.

Distortional Thought Patterns

1. “What if” thinking

This distortional thinking is very common with anxious individuals. Examples include: “What if I lose my job?” “What if I lose my home?” “What if my children get hooked on drugs?” “What if I have a heart attack?” “What if I get cancer?”

Realize that “what if” thinking breeds anxiety and fear. If you focus on “what if,” your fear
grows
; however, if you focus on God’s Word, your fear
goes
. Eliminate this “what if” thinking. It shatters faith, and without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Learn to replace “what if” with what God’s Word says: God always causes me to triumph. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. If God be for me, who can be against me? God makes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. God
is
working on your behalf. These are promises in His Word, and you know you can count on them.

Every time you speak what God’s Word says, it is similar to planting a seed in a garden. Every time you confess God’s Word, it’s similar to watering your planted seed. But every time you say, “What if,” it is similar to digging up the seed you planted. So stop saying, “What if?”

Confession from God’s Word

I confess that all things are possible to those who believe (Mark 9:23). I lay on the altar the words “what if.” I realize that “what if” thing and “what if” words destroy faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God. I refuse to dig up the precious seeds of God’s promises by speaking “what if.” Instead, I will speak God’s promises and ask myself, “What does God’s Word say?”

2. Catastrophizing

I call this kind of thinking “awfulizing” because the mind actually magnifies unpleasant events and transforms them into something more awful, terrible, or horrible than they really are. In this mind-set, a person makes a mountain out of a molehill. I often describe catastrophizing people as spending ten dollars’ worth of energy on a two-cent problem.

Catastrophizing words include
awful, terrible, horrible, unbearable, dreadful, devastating, intolerable
, and
hopeless
. These are extreme words that can transform a minor circumstance into a major stressor and create a lot of anxiety. Similar to pouring lighter fluid on a burning fire, these inflammatory words fuel anxiety.

The only way to put out the fire is to learn to eliminate these inflammatory words from your vocabulary and replace them with more practical, realistic, and less emotionally charged words, such as
unfortunate, inconvenient, difficult, bothersome, inappropriate, uncomfortable,
or
disagreeable
.

Stop the drama! Learn to identify and eliminate catastrophizing thinking. Ask your spouse or a close friend to help you identify catastrophizing words, and learn to replace these thoughts with affirmations like the following confession.

Confession from God’s Word

Instead of awfulizing, I choose faith-building words, because “we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God” (Rom. 8:28). I replace awfulizing words with less emotionally charged words, such as
unfortunate
or
inconvenient
. I will continue to practice this pattern of thinking until it becomes automatic, making it a habit and mind-set.

3. Habitually expecting the worst outcome

This is a common distortional thought process in both anxious and depressed individuals. They are programmed with “Murphy’s Law mentality.” Remember Murphy’s Law? It states that if anything
can
go wrong, it probably
will
.

Examples of this form of thinking include: “If something bad is going to happen, it will probably happen to me.” “My boss did not even acknowledge me today, so I am sure she hates me and will probably fire me.” “My husband is late for dinner, so I am sure he is having an affair.” “My child has a fever and headache; I am sure he has spinal meningitis.”

Realize that when you repeatedly think about something, you create the potential for these thoughts to become self-fulfilling prophecies. By imagining the worst, you are actually unknowingly attracting bad circumstances to your life like a magnet. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (NKJV). In other words, if you continue to plant worst-case-scenario thoughts, you will eventually reap a worst-case-scenario harvest.

Instead of expecting the worst possible outcome, begin to expect something good to happen to you.

Confession from God’s Word

As it says in Psalm 91:10, no evil will befall my family or me, nor will any plague come near my dwelling. I cast down the thought pattern of expecting the worst, and I wholly confess that something good is going to happen to my family and me today and every day. I realize that all things work together for good to those who love God. My loved ones and I are under God’s protection.

4. Leaping to conclusions

I call these people who leap to conclusions the “grim leapers,” because this distortional thought pattern commonly leads to depression and anxiety. They mistakenly believe that they know what another person is thinking without having any facts to support it. They repeatedly and habitually make negative assumptions that fuel depression and anxiety.

For example, you walk into your favorite restaurant and see two of your friends having lunch together without you. They look at you and then whisper something to one another. You immediately assume that they have decided to leave you out of the friendship and they are picking you apart or pointing out some physical flaw. In reality, they are whispering that they are planning a surprise birthday party for you at the restaurant and hope you don’t figure it out now that you’ve spotted them.

Begin to identify when you are jumping to conclusions. Challenge yourself to expect the best of the other person. Instead of becoming anxious about things you don’t even know are real, determine to wait until you have more information before drawing a conclusion about the situation.

Confession from God’s Word

I refuse to leap to conclusions, but instead I will practice 1 Corinthians 13:7, which says that love “is ever ready to believe the best of every person” (AMP). I refuse to leap to conclusions, but instead I will capture these thoughts and bring them into line with God’s Word. Instead of leaping, I choose to guard my heart and practice loving everyone I come in contact with.

5. Black-and-white thinking

If you suffer from this thought pattern, you view circumstances and events in black and white with no shades of gray. You are probably a perfectionist who sees your work as either flawless or worthless. You may perceive an average job performance evaluation or an average grade as a complete failure. In your mind-set, there is no second place. First place is the only winning spot; everyone else is a loser.

This distortional thought pattern sets you up for failure, disappointment, depression, and anxiety. You are always just one mistake away from total failure. You will work endless hours to make the assignment perfect, or you may procrastinate and never finish the assignment because if it is not perfect, you feel it is worthless.

Also, if you struggle with perfectionism, you will need to watch that you don’t fall into the trap of comparisons. Making comparisons is the opposite of contentment. Paul said in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.” Understand that when you compare, you will usually despair.

Quit focusing on what you do not have and start thanking God for what you do have. Instead of complaining about your old car, start thanking God for even having a car. The majority of people in the world do not even own a car. The Word of God admonishes us about complaining. In Philippians 2:14 the Bible says, “Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining” (AMP).

Confession from God’s Word

I realize that only Jesus was perfect and that I can never be perfect. I choose to do my best and not compare myself to others. I always forgive myself, accept myself, and love myself unconditionally, even if I make a mistake. (Now say this to yourself as you look in the mirror every morning: “I forgive myself, accept myself, and love myself unconditionally, even if I make a mistake.”)

6. Unenforceable rules

This person is usually trapped in anxiety. He typically has a rigid set of rules about what
should
,
must
, or
ought to
be done, and he tries to put people and events into his little box. His expectations are unrealistic because he has no control over circumstances or other people.

The more unrealistic and unenforceable the rules are, the greater his disappointment. That disappointment usually plays out as worry, frustration, irritation, guilt, depression, or anxiety.

An example of this type of thinking includes: “They should stop driving so recklessly and should stop cutting me off in traffic.” If you struggle with this thought pattern, you expect that people should do certain things, society should act a particular way, or situations should always turn out in an expected fashion. However, life is not fair, and people and situations will eventually let you down. This mind-set will keep you uptight, frustrated, angry, bitter, and eventually will lead to depression and/or anxiety.

The healthy thinker knows that the only
should
statement a person needs to make is: “I should practice mercy, which is forgiveness.” People and situations usually don’t turn out the way we want them to turn out. Jesus said in Matthew 5:7, “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” In other words, when I practice giving mercy instead of unenforceable rules, I will receive mercy.

It reminds me of the musical
Les Misérables
. Jean Valjean was put in prison for stealing a loaf of bread and served many years. He eventually got out of prison and stole some expensive candlesticks and other expensive items from a priest’s home. When he was arrested and taken to the priest’s home, even though Jean had stolen the priest’s items, the priest forgave him and told the authorities he had given the items to Jean. The gift of mercy was so great that Jean devoted the rest of his life to doing good.

Confession from God’s Word

I release all unenforceable rules; instead I will love and show mercy to everyone I come in contact with and overlook how I think they should act or behave. Love keeps no record of wrong, so I throw out my record-keeping book.

I eliminate
should
statements from my vocabulary and replace them with “I prefer” and “I would like to.” I cast down
should
statements and bring them into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

7. Labeling

The old adage of “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is absolutely false. Words can hurt emotionally and create a belief system that leads to depression and anxiety.

Just as we pull weeds in a garden, we need to pull these words out and eliminate them from our vocabulary. Examples of common labels we use for ourselves or others include idiot, jerk, loser, klutz, failure, nerd, stupid, pitiful, pathetic, moron, and so on. I commonly hear children and parents joking around in my office, calling each other one or more of these names.

I would like to remind people that these degrading words do have the potential to fuel distortional thought patterns that lead to failure, loser mentality, depression, and anxiety. These labels destroy self-esteem and self-worth, and as a result, many never accept, love, or forgive themselves.

Confession from God’s Word

I am a new creature in Christ Jesus according to 2 Corinthians 5:17, and I cancel out every negative, demeaning, and derogatory label spoken over me. I repent for labeling other people. I refuse to label anyone with a negative label. I choose to see myself and others the way God sees us. God has called me “precious,” “beloved,” and the apple of His eye, and I am His child.

8. Negative filter

This person typically discounts all information that is positive or good. He usually discounts anything positive. In other words, he may hear a compliment but usually discounts it or discredits it.

Instead he hears and remembers mainly criticisms and negative information. He focuses completely on the bad and retains it while allowing anything good to slip away. He often focuses on his or others’ weaknesses and forgets about strengths, making him likely to be very critical of himself and other people.