The commonly-held belief that attempting to suppress negative thoughts is bad for our mental health could be wrong, a new study from scientists at the University of Cambridge suggests.
Researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit trained 120 volunteers worldwide to suppress thoughts about negative events that worried them and found that not only did these become less vivid, but that the participants’ mental health also improved.
Anderson said these ideas have become dogma in the clinical treatment realm, with national guidelines talking about thought avoidance as a major maladaptive coping behavior to be eliminated and overcome in depression, anxiety, and PTSD, for example.
When COVID-19 appeared in 2020, like many researchers, Professor Anderson wanted to see how his research could be used to help people through the pandemic. His interest lay in a brain mechanism known as inhibitory control – the ability to override our reflexive responses – and how it might be applied to memory retrieval, and in particular to stopping the retrieval of negative thoughts when confronted with potent reminders to them.
Dr. Zulkayda Mamat – at the time a Ph.D. student in Professor Anderson’s lab and at Trinity College, Cambridge – believed that inhibitory control was critical in overcoming trauma in experiences occurring to herself and many others she has encountered in life. She had wanted to investigate whether this was an innate ability or something that was learned – and hence could be taught.
This article challenges conventional wisdom by presenting a study suggesting that deliberately suppressing negative thoughts can lead to enhanced mental health outcomes. The study investigates the strategy of thought suppression and its potential benefits, countering the common belief that it can worsen mental well-being. According to the study, consciously inhibiting intrusive negative thoughts may result in reduced distress and improved mental resilience.
The article delves into the study’s findings, emphasizing the need for a reevaluation of traditional approaches to managing negative thoughts. It highlights that embracing thought suppression as a potential tool for mental health management can broaden the spectrum of effective coping mechanisms.
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