Self-Management of Depression

The oversaturated, hypermarketed, and superadvertised space of mindfulness and meditation apps makes choosing techniques that are actually helpful a daunting task. In this context, the three-minute breathing space offers a proven and simple mini-meditation comprising of three steps, each step lasting about a minute. It is one of the core practices of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), an evidence-based psychotherapy (Williams et al., 2007). The purpose of this exercise is to allow you to step back from a stressful situation, which helps you discern newer perspectives and alternatives that may not have been that apparent. It is hypothesized that mindfulness rewires our brain toward resilience and is considered a cornerstone of resilience (Graham, 2013). Although this exercise is called the three-minute breathing space, you can use it for shorter or longer duration depending on your comfort level and the situation. The steps of the technique are as below (Neff, 2011; Williams et...

What is overthinking? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines overthinking as "to put too much time into thinking about or analyzing (something) in a way that is more harmful than helpful." Surprisingly, even a non-psychological lexicon considers overthinking more harmful than helpful. In psychological jargon, overthinking usually involves misinterpreting or misattributing situations, past events, memories, and even feelings. Some common types of overthinking patterns, also called irrational thoughts or cognitive distortions, include all-or-none thinking (always/never thinking), jumping to conclusions without substantial evidence, disqualifying the positives, magnifying things out of proportion, catastrophizing (assuming the worst-case scenario), taking things personally, using negative self-labels (e.g., “I am a loser”), and should/must thinking (imposing rules on yourself or others). While we all engage in these overthinking patterns periodically, sometimes these irrational...