Ana Cabezas

Automatic negative thoughts — or ANTs , as psychologists call them — are those quick, intrusive thoughts that show up out of nowhere and instantly shift your mood. They’re fast, dramatic, and usually way more negative than the situation actually deserves. ANTs come from your brain trying to protect you, but they often rely on old fears, past experiences, or worst‑case‑scenario thinking. This is part of cognitive distortions , where your mind twists reality into something more stressful than...

Your emotions aren’t random — they follow patterns, even if you’ve never stopped to notice them. Most of us repeat the same emotional reactions because our brains love predictive processing , which means your mind tries to guess what’s happening based on past experiences. That’s why certain situations trigger the same feelings over and over, even when the context is totally different. These repeated reactions are called emotional patterns , and once you start spotting them, everything makes...