How to intentionally forget something. How to kill negative memories

Life is full of events, and they are not always joyful: some of them you simply want to erase from your memory. However, often a person mentally plays out a negative situation in his head, returning to it again and again. However, you can get rid of this habit, and the tips described below will help with this.

How to forget an unpleasant event?

When thinking about how to forget something forever, you should resort to the following method. You will be required to relive the negative event without changing the plot. It is important that you feel emotionally what happened in the past. Remember all the little things you can.

Then imagine that all this happened not to you, but to someone else. What advice would you give to this person? Surely you would see the situation from a different angle. Put yourself in the shoes of the people who participated in it. What emotions are you feeling now? Most likely, you will not be so offended by everything that happened. After this, imagine how the picture fades and then disappears from your field of vision. You can even mentally drown her in sulfuric acid. She is no more, she has disappeared, she has died, which means you can let everything go. Understand that the past is dead and will never come back. Once you understand this, the pain will go away.

How can you forget something terrible?

Erase from memory terrible event you can by switching your brain to something completely different. This could be work, a new hobby, dating. Also, you shouldn’t be alone, otherwise thoughts about what happened will simply haunt you. It’s better to spend some time with friends and relatives. Of course, from time to time, memories of a negative event will pop up in your memory, but every day it will hurt you less and less.

Some people have nightmares in which they return to that terrible reality and relive it. In this case, you need to think only about good things before going to bed. For example, thank Higher power for what positive things happened over the past day. It could be:

• meeting with an old friend;
• your baby's smile or first words;
• a pleasant memory - a cute kitten or puppy, a beautiful butterfly.

Also, before going to bed, you can watch a comedy, a concert of your favorite artist, or listen to new album. It is important that you take your mind off what is weighing you down. As a result, you will go to bed in high spirits, which means you will only have pleasant dreams.

How to forget something bad in your life?

Bad events often happen in a person’s life, and most often he blames a relative, friend, or acquaintance for them. As a result, hatred appears, but it does not allow you to live in peace. In this case, it is very important to forgive the person who harmed you and let him go. Meditation will help you with this. Sit in comfortable armchair or lie down on your bed, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Once you are completely relaxed, you can begin to meditate. Imagine a place where you will be as comfortable as possible, and invite your offender there. Look into his eyes, look at his facial features, look at his clothes.

Now tell him everything you think about him. Surely you have accumulated a lot. You don't have to be shy in your expressions. Once you tell your abuser how you feel, you will feel better.

The next stage will be forgiveness. Take the person by the hands, look into his eyes and tell him that you forgive him. This must be done sincerely. Say the words “I forgive you” as many times as you want until you believe it. After this, you can let the offender go: look after him, wish him happiness and surround him with love.

You should feel lightness, it will be a sign that you have let go of the situation. If not, you need to do this exercise every evening. It may take you a month or a week, take your time, as it will become easier for you. As a result, the bad event will not dominate your mind; your brain will simply forget it.

How to forget a negative event forever?

The following exercise will help you forget something forever. For it you will need to find a sheet of paper, a saucer, matches and a pen. Sit down at the table and describe a negative event that happened to you. Remember all the details. Once you realize that you have nothing more to add, reread what you wrote and tear the paper, imagining how the negative situation is erased from your memory.

Then take a saucer, put scraps of paper in it and set them on fire. Look carefully at the flame, imagine how all your grievances and memories burn in it. Once the paper is completely burned, wash off the ash with water. That's it, this memory is no longer there, it has no power over your mind. Remember this and enjoy today without going back to the past.

You can read more tips on consigning memories to oblivion in our article -.

In every person's life there are things or incidents that he would like to forget. But the memory doesn’t want to let go of these bad memories. These memories are so deeply embedded in the brain that my head can’t get rid of them. So how do you forget the past when it doesn’t want to go away? What methods should you use to erase from your head what is not needed? How to clear your head of debris? More on that below!

It is usually said that as long as a person lives in the past, the future is closed to him. And in general, while a person lives in the past or future, he is not in the present, and if a person does not live in the present, then he is not happy. If you are happy now, then you are definitely living in the present. Therefore, it is simply necessary to get rid of past memories, otherwise the door to a happy future is closed for you.

Why do you think a person remembers some events clearly and for a long time, while forgetting others instantly? It's all about emotions. Man is first and foremost an emotional being. And if one event caused a powerful surge of emotions, then this event is fixed in memory for a long time or forever. Those events that do not evoke any emotions are quickly forgotten. And if you can’t forget something now, it means that something has caused strong emotions in you, and negative ones at that. It could be disappointment, resentment, and so on. This is what stuck in your head.

Forgetting the past on purpose is almost impossible. After all, when you consciously try to forget something, you only remind yourself of some situation. Now, if I tell you - don’t think about the pink elephant - what will you think about? Probably about a pink elephant. In this case, the same thing happens. Hence the conclusion: The harder we try to forget something, the better we remember it.

How to forget the past?

It happens that certain things, people, and even familiar places in the city prevent us from forgetting the past. Whatever one may say, as long as all this is nearby, it will be difficult to forget the past. For example, you experienced a difficult breakup with a girlfriend or boyfriend. You really want to forget her or him. But as long as there is something that reminds you of her or his existence, you won’t be able to forget. Therefore, the first and correct step would be getting rid of things that remind you of something negative, which you want to get rid of.

Try to avoid a place in the city where some negative event has occurred. Perhaps your loved one abandoned you at a cafe, or you were robbed on Tverskaya Street, or something else that is better not to remember. Go around these places until you forget the past. Over time, it will become easier and you will again be able to walk calmly where something unpleasant happened to you.

Second tip - just wait. As they say: time heals. This is true. Any emotion, no matter whether it is positive or negative, is still replaced by another. There is no consistency in this case. Time will pass and you will stop remembering any unpleasant event. You just need to survive for a while and everything will calm down on its own.

The next option is rethink the past so that it no longer seems negative. It's no secret that negative experiences are more memorable than positive ones. And many people believe that they are more unlucky than lucky. Actually this is not true. In the case of a negative event, try to make it stop causing you negative emotions and be considered a failure.

For example, you were fired from your job, say seven years ago. You were very worried about this then. But after your dismissal, you were forced to open your own business and start working for yourself. Now you have a luxurious dacha, a car, and so on. What would happen to you today if you had not been fired seven years ago? Now we would go to work with a salary of 20,000 rubles, we wouldn’t have that beautiful car, a cottage and the opportunity to relax. Therefore, that day should be considered successful.

Another example, your boyfriend dumped you! And what? It was as if the world had come together like a wedge on him. By the way, a crowd of other guys have already lined up around you who found out about this. You simply don’t notice them because you are suffering from a breakup. You see how the past interferes with the present, and therefore the future. So, I know many stories when girls did not hide the fact that after a difficult breakup they met the guy of their dreams, whom they later married. They, just like you, believed that they would never meet anyone else and that they would remain alone for the rest of their lives. Hell no! Everything was fine for them afterwards, and now they live happily and in harmony.

I know that now it’s hard for you to see something good when everything seems terrible, but time will pass, and you will see for yourself. And now take a piece of paper and start writing positive sides in what happened. Who knows how your life would turn out tomorrow if you had not received this experience today.

What helps most people forget the past is a change of scenery. As I already said, it is better for you to avoid those places that remind you of something. If you take a vacation and fly to another country, you are guaranteed to forget the past. It will be very nice if you can be distracted during your vacation. During your holiday you can have a pleasant and cheerful company, which with its positivity will not let you think about the bad. This happened to me personally, and this can happen to you. A change of environment is almost like starting life from scratch.

The next way is keep yourself busy with something like that. Stop harping on the same thing, it's already over. It's time to think about the future. and start achieving it. In the process, the brain thinks about only one thing -. He doesn't care about the rest. So take advantage of this unique moment.

And now the most powerful way to forget the past. This method is aimed not at forgetting it, but at remembering it. What I mean? There is a science called dianetics. So, her technique is very simple. You need to close your eyes and mentally move and experience that negative event until it stops causing emotions in you. You replay an event in your head from beginning to end many times. In this way, you will erase engrams (such as programs associated with an event) in your head. Give yourself two hours of time and start experiencing that unpleasant event many times. At the end of the session, you will feel much better, and you will simply be too lazy to think about that event (thought it up).

That's all I wanted to say in the article. “How to forget the past?”. And remember, no matter what happens to you, everything in your life will be just great. Good luck to you!

how to forget the past

There have been periods in every person's life that they would like to erase from their memory. Some, despite all the difficulties, pull themselves together and move to a new level, only occasionally remembering the upheavals that have occurred; others cannot help but constantly think about the past, thereby depriving themselves of the chance to be happy in the present and future. No matter what burden of the past haunts you: parting with a loved one, missed opportunities, death of loved ones, betrayal of friends, guilt... Now is the time to forget the past forever and start living in the present. How to stop living in the past?

Don't think about the past: why doesn't it let us go?

Many people wonder: why do some people, having experienced very serious shocks and trials, recover quickly enough and begin new life, while others fall into long-term depression and cannot stop living in the past after the unsuccessful end of a two-month affair?

Psychology can give answers to this; a lot here depends on age, the atmosphere in which a person lived in childhood, on the type of character and personality. And, even if you consider yourself to be a weak type who takes any life trials, does not mean at all that you are not able to cope on your own and not think about the past.

Most often, we cannot forget the past and live in the present, because we feel guilty for the current situation, we are tormented by thoughts that we could have acted differently - and thereby change the ending...

...Sometimes the past does not let us forget about itself, because we do not let go of past grievances, we believe that we were treated unfairly.

Our bad memories are like a suitcase with useless junk that we habitually carry with us everywhere... Do you need such a load?

...And sometimes we can’t forget the past and live in the present because we like this state of self-pity, we are not ready to change, grow, we feel comfortable sitting in our shell, cherishing our grief, closing ourselves off from the entire world around us. This is such masochism. How can you change the situation and start enjoying life again?

How to forget the past and start living in the present: 5 steps to a happy life

Healing from old wounds is a complex and often long process, but no matter what lies behind us, each of us can stop living in the past. Here are the steps that will help you get rid of your worries forever:

1. First step- realize that the past is past, that it is thoughts about it that prevent you from living fully in the present and planning the future. Of course, this is not easy to do, but do you really want to breathe deeply again?

2. Step two- Sorry. Now it doesn’t matter who is to blame for what happened in the past, and who caused the offense: you or those who offended you. It is impossible to turn back time, everything has already been done, and your suffering today will not change the accomplished fact. Mentally ask for forgiveness or forgive, you can go to church. If you have offended a person and know how to contact him, you can call and apologize. That's all. Turn the page. People have the right to make mistakes: you and your loved ones are no exception. If you think that what you did earlier is too serious or you have no one to apologize to, switch to caring about others. You can't change what happened, but you can help others and make their lives better. Volunteering in orphanages, nursing homes or homeless animal shelters - think in this direction.

3. Step three– don’t be sorry. Regret about missed opportunities, wasted time, broken relationships is the road to nowhere. Regrets, as well as self-pity, are generally extremely destructive feelings. Try to look at the situation from a different point of view: you have gained experience, you have learned from your mistakes, you will no longer allow this situation to happen in your life. And guess what? By suffering and constantly feeling sorry for yourself, you destroy not only your life, but also the lives of your loved ones, who find it difficult to see you in such a state. Don't you feel sorry for them?

4. Step four- reboot. If the pain is still fresh, you are bursting with negative emotions from within, do not try to be strong, allow yourself to scream, cry, break a cup for one day. You can go to the gym and furiously beat the punching bag. Throw out the pain - this will make it easier to forget the past and start living in the present.

5. Step five– replacement rule. Think about how much time and energy you waste on empty things - not letting go of past grievances and feeling sorry for yourself. Instead, you could change for the better. To begin with, you can go to the salon, change your hair color, get a manicure, radically change your image, or finally start searching. Sign up for driving courses, study foreign language, handicrafts. And most importantly, go in for sports. Yoga is great for getting rid of unnecessary thoughts. If you take on new interests and hobbies in your life, there will simply be no room left for regret and thoughts about the burden of the past.

In general, it seems to me that one of the most effective ways forget the past- clear the physical space around you: , spend (read where p led me), organize little things like books and... Letting go of things past life You can literally physically feel how your life is changing!

Getting rid of the burden of the past and letting go of past grievances is much easier than you think now, the main thing is to start acting right now. In just a few days you will be drawn into a new, happy and interesting life.

Every person has a past, and often it brings him pain or unpleasant memories. I want to forget them quickly. It often seems impossible to do this. Well, how can you forget the past if it constantly reminds you of itself and does not want to leave today’s life? If a person lives in yesterday, then the “door” to the future will be closed for him. But there are methods, and even several.

Things and memories

For example, you can get rid of those things that constantly remind you of what you want to forget. Or from those who are connected with this past. You can give them away, donate them, or just throw them away. The main thing is that they do not catch your eye and do not evoke memories. Things are simpler, but there are cities, places that remind you of something. In this case, you should avoid visiting those places, or even move to another city. Even if it's temporary, until the past is behind you. Then when you return it will no longer matter. The same can be said about people. If you need to forget a person, you must avoid meetings and communication.

Time

You can wait for time to heal. Any emotions gradually change to others; there is no constancy here. You just need to wait for time, and then the past will no longer bother you. It's not that easy, it takes patience. It will be difficult, but you need to try to distract yourself with something while time heals. To work, friends, some hobbies. The main thing while it is healing is not to withdraw into yourself.

Rethinking

A more difficult option is rethinking. Any negative situation always brings positive consequences. The world is harmonious, therefore, when it takes something, it gives more or better in return. If you lose your job, it means you’ll find a better one, or you can even start working for yourself and earn a lot more. In addition, you will have the opportunity to travel around the world, and eventually get some sleep and relaxation. To understand what has been acquired to replace what was lost, you need to take a pen and a piece of paper, and then describe in detail all the positive aspects of your current situation.

A change of scenery

Change of scenery - another one effective way. Change everything you want to forget, change it. You can simply go on vacation, live in a tent on the shore, settle in a country house, and if you want to forget a person, start a new relationship. A change of scenery is not necessarily an escape. Moreover, not everyone has such an opportunity. But you can make repairs and change the interior.

Goals

Another way to forget the past is to keep yourself busy with something. You need to set a goal for yourself. And even if it is difficult, so much the better. For example, organize your successful business, albeit small. Or start a family. This will require a lot of effort and time, and therefore there will simply be no time to think about the past.

Dianetics

You can use one more method. This is Dianetics. The essence of this method is that you need to find free time, get comfortable, relax, and mentally constantly scroll through what is tormenting you. And so on several times. At least ten. At the same time, it is necessary to remember and experience exactly what needs to be forgotten. And it will be forgotten. Simply because you get tired of thinking about the same thing.

How to forgive the past

How to forget and forgive the past if it is constantly remembered, and the resentment seems to eat you from the inside. Perhaps it was the person or situation that caused the pain, but in any case, the first step is to take the time to carefully reconstruct the events. Reflect on what caused the conflict. Discuss the situation, if this is not possible, talk to a psychologist. Try to look at the situation from a different angle, as if to “get into the skin” from the other side. Try to understand the motives if it was a person. It is quite possible that you yourself are involved in this, perhaps by inadvertently offending someone and causing that negativity.

You can simply throw out your resentment, but not on people and work. For example, playing sports is perfect. Or you can selflessly help someone who is in trouble. And remember that by forgiving someone, you first of all help yourself, as you free your later life from a negative attachment to the past.

How to forget love

It often happens that a person does not know how to forget past love, but it doesn’t work. It is clear that in one moment she is not forgotten, otherwise it was not love.

Past relationships

The question often arises: “How to forget past relationships?” First of all, you can’t be alone with your feelings. But attempts to constantly blame the other half for the breakup will also not lead to good things, since this causes negative feelings. It's best to simply reflect on the mistakes you've made in your relationship. And accept the breakup, not allowing this to happen in the future.

How to forget your past ex-love? What to do?

You can’t suppress your feelings, that’s not an option. You can acknowledge and experience them, but not resist. The latter will only increase mental pain and will be accompanied by constant memories. After a breakup, anger and anger often appear. If you keep them inside and don’t let them come out, then there is a high probability that the relationship will not be forgotten yet for a long time. Therefore, you need to find a way to throw them out, but not on others.

New relationships and views

The ideal way to forget the past is to start another relationship. Feelings are constantly renewed, new ones will be superimposed on the old ones. At the same time, new relationships are different, already pleasant experiences; they will also be renewed, and gradually the previous relationships will be forgotten. The main thing is not to look back and not try to strive to return what has already passed, since broken glass you can’t glue it together, and even if you do glue it together, it certainly won’t be without flaws.

It happens that the question often arises of how to forget your past life. Everyone who strives for this has their own reasons. But you always need to remember that you need to live in the present, life goes on, and events, people, values ​​are constantly changing, new desires and needs appear. It’s good when there is something to remember, everyone has their own story. But you shouldn’t abuse this. The only thing worth doing from your past life is to work on your mistakes. And look back only to avoid doing them again. New things cannot be built on old foundations.

Find a compromise with yourself

It is impossible to forget the past, you can only let it go. The difficulty often lies in the fact that a person does not want to change anything. Some people have a fear of entering a new life. Initially, you need to decide what exactly is missing for happiness. If you need positive emotions, you can create them yourself for yourself. Buy your favorite book, watch New film, finally go on a long-awaited tour, move, change jobs, just come up with a small but pleasant holiday.

How to forget the past? There is a wonderful rule: “here and now.” It is simply deciphered. Here is exactly the place where you need to live. Now is the time to do this. We need to concentrate on what is happening now, because it is this moment much more important. The past will not return, and nothing can be changed there. But you can start laying out the future now, brick by brick. But the past will not be a distraction, since right now there is just a lot of work to build a new one.

What the past can give

We must remember that every minute of life is an additional opportunity to do something useful. And if you don’t use it, perhaps someday it won’t be enough. You need to live for today. What can the past give? Nothing, you can only look into it. Like a bag from which you can take something. For example, a good lesson.

Remembering the past, a person steals from himself not only the future, but even the present. And he doesn’t notice that in life there are so many new and unknown, beautiful things. Our life is generally short; every day that passes cannot be returned. It is deposited in the past, which, like a piggy bank, simply collects memories. Therefore, it is better to fill this piggy bank with pleasant memories than to push sadness and tears into it.

It happens that girls in love often wonder how to forget a guy’s past. First of all, you need to learn to respect both your past and what the other person had before meeting you. If this is the past, it means it has already passed, it does not exist. But the person who is nearby is the real thing. And perhaps the future. You don’t need to cling to the past, it doesn’t exist, you need to learn from it, and it’s better to live for today.

Sooner or later, every person is faced with events that he would like to simply forget about. Luckily, there are healthy ways to help yourself deal with negative memories, from techniques for getting rid of negative thoughts to techniques for quelling the anxiety that arises when bad thoughts come up. good memories.

Steps

Part 1

Avoid contact with objects and places that evoke unpleasant memories. Have you ever noticed that unpleasant memories come back to you when you visit certain places or are near certain objects? You may not even realize that they are the ones triggering your thoughts. For example, a bad memory may relate to an incident that happened to you in primary school, and it comes to mind every time you pass by educational institution. But if you choose new route Before going to work, which does not pass by the school where you studied, you will be able to more successfully keep your mind free from bad thoughts.

• If you can completely eliminate contact with triggers bad memories, over time, the bad event will fade in your memory. You will have fewer reasons recall past memories, and life will replace them with more important thoughts.
• Of course, not all triggers can be completely eliminated; you may simply not want to change your path to work or give someone your collection of sci-fi books, or stop listening to your favorite band's songs just because last time you saw the performers live on the very night your ex told you he was leaving. If avoiding triggers is not possible, either because there are too many of them or because you are unwilling to allow the vagaries of the mind to have such an effect on you, there are other ways to cope with memories.

1. Think about the bad event until the thoughts go away on their own. This step helps many. The first few times you remember something bad, the negative memory may catch you off guard and leave you feeling anxious and drained. Your instinct will be to avoid thinking about the event as much as possible, but suppressing the memory can make it even more powerful when it does surface. Instead of pushing bad thoughts out of your mind, allow yourself to remember what happened. Think about it until the memories stop painfully stinging you. Eventually you will stop thinking about them as much as before, and when memories do arise, they will no longer be painful. If memories are putting you under a lot of psychological stress, go for a long walk or engage in intense exercise.

   • Try to take into account the fact that the event that is the root cause of the memory is long gone. Whatever happened to you (whether you were made fun of to your embarrassment or you found yourself in a dangerous situation) is in the past.
   • In some cases, ruminating over bad memories can become an obsessive habit. Analyze your own emotions that arise when you have bad memories. If you find that even after thinking about the events for a long time, the memories continue to hurt you, try other methods of getting rid of them.

2. Try the method of changing memories. Every time you remember something, the memory changes a little. The brain tries to fill in small gaps in memories with fictitious information. You can take advantage of this feature of the brain and replace bad elements of memories with other information. Eventually, an altered version of the memory will begin to emerge.

   • As an example, let's say you have childhood memory about how you and your father rode on the lake on a boat called "Dream". Do you remember how father stood at the stern in red shorts and sunglasses, as he screamed when you leaned too much over the railing and fell overboard into the water. Are you sure that you know all this, but years later, when you look at a photograph from that day, you find that the father was wearing jeans, and the name of the boat was actually Kingfisher. As you can see, memories are never completely accurate and can change.
   • Try changing the part of the memory that upsets you. Based on the above example, if you remember your fear and feeling of loneliness when you fell into the lake, try to redraw the picture of the memory in your mind so that all your attention is focused on how amazing it was to be rescued by your father.
   • Each time a memory comes up again, it will change a little. If you always focus on the good feelings instead of the bad ones, then the memory will begin to change accordingly. You may not be able to transform it from bad to amazingly good, but this way you can make the memory less painful.

3. Focus on happy memories. Sometimes the brain begins to delve into bad memories so deeply that it becomes difficult to get out of it. If you find yourself ruminating too much about bad things, try to learn how to focus on the good memories. Don't give bad thoughts time to ruin your mood or make you worry. Instead, the next time a bad memory comes to mind, use your willpower to switch to a happier memory. Keep practicing positive thinking until you no longer automatically get sucked into the quagmire of bad memories.

   • Try to match a bad memory with a good one. For example, if you can't stop remembering the time you gave a presentation in front of your class and everyone laughed at you, add another memory of when you gave a good presentation and received praise. Every time a bad memory appears, shift your thoughts to it. positive pair. Having a positive memory prepared in advance will save you from having to panic and search for something good in your memory when you feel uneasy.

4. Learn to live in the present. The practice of paying more attention to the present moment in time is called present moment awareness. It involves focusing on what is happening here and now, rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Self-awareness - great way relieve stress and get more out of life. Instead of wasting time and energy worrying about what you can't change, you can take the weight off your shoulders and just live in the present.

   Part 2

   Creating a positive attitude towards life

   1. Think about what you learned from an unpleasant moment in the past. Even the worst experience can teach you something. It may take you a long time to understand what you have learned, especially if the event happened recently. But if you look back on it from the present and see how much wiser you have become since that moment, your bad memory may lose some of its painfulness. Think about whether there is something positive in that event that you did not notice before?

      • Remember that negative experiences are an inevitable part of life. Difficulties make a person stronger and help him appreciate pleasant moments more. If bad things didn't happen, it would be impossible to fully enjoy the good times.
      • Try to count everything you are grateful for in life. Whatever your loss, expressed as a bad memory, make a list of things for which you are grateful. currently grateful to life.

   2. Create new happy memories. Over time, the bad memory will gradually begin to fade in your memory. But this process can be accelerated if you start living life to the fullest and create new good memories to occupy your mind. Do things you enjoy and hang out with people who bring you joy. In the long term, the more positive recent memories are, the less significant past negative thoughts will become in comparison.

      • It will be useful to visit places you have never been to before so that you have a new experience that is in no way affected by your past. Buy yourself a ticket and go to a new city, or become a tourist in your own city, visiting places you usually don't go to.
      • If traveling isn't your thing, change up your routine in some other way. Visit a cafe you've never been to, cook some complex dish, or invite all your friends to your dinner party.

   3. Lead a busy lifestyle. Keep a busy schedule and try to stimulate productive brain function so that you have less time to think about negative things. If you tend to spend a lot of time alone, try to start meeting friends or visiting relatives more often. Take a break with a good book or pick up a new hobby. The more time you spend sitting and doing nothing, the more likely you are to immerse yourself in negative memories. Below are a few distraction activities to keep you occupied.

      Avoid alcohol and drugs. Using mind-altering substances can only make things worse, especially if a bad memory is causing you depression and anxiety. Alcohol can increase depression, irritability and anxiety, especially in those people who already experience similar symptoms without it. To maintain a positive morale, it is better to completely abstain or limit the use of alcohol and drugs.

      Make your health a priority. When you're caught up in your own negative thoughts, it can be difficult to remember to look after yourself. But the concern is maintaining own health has a significant impact on the way you think. Eating healthy and nutritious foods, getting enough sleep at night, and exercising several times a week will help good foundation in order to keep bad memories aside. In addition to meeting your body's basic needs, take time to pamper yourself to help relieve symptoms of anxiety associated with your bad memories.

   Part 3

   Coping with traumatic experiences

   Try to burn through the memory. Acknowledge the negative memory and the negative emotions associated with it. It may seem counterproductive, but psychocatharsis (the expression of the emotions that excite you) is a key component of healing emotional wounds. Suppressing bad memories will only cause them to resurface later and perhaps become more intense. Allow yourself to feel angry, sad, embarrassed, or hurt. If you feel the need to cry or scream, do so. Eventually you will be able to come to the other side of your feelings, which will be easier to deal with than if you ignored your own pain.

   • Consider attending a mental health support group. Try to find a local support group that is specific to the problem you are facing. For example, there are quite a lot of support groups for divorce, relationship termination, chronic illness, and so on.
   • If you don't feel comfortable sharing own history with someone else, write it down in your own diary and keep it in a safe place where no one can find the entries.
   • Symptoms of PTSD include vivid images of a past event that appear in the memory, nightmares, and frightening thoughts.
   • At the same time, a person may feel emotionally exhausted, depressed, or constantly anxious due to the fact that he always feels like he is on pins and needles.

   1. Seek specialized medical treatment. If you feel trapped by your own memories of a traumatic event, there are medical treatments that can help you. These methods are usually used in combination with psychotherapy to achieve best results. Make an appointment with a psychiatrist to discuss whether medical treatment can help you get rid of bad memories that are negatively affecting your quality of life.

   • Renaming a memory can trick the brain into forgetting about it more quickly. For example, instead of calling a memory “bad,” call it a “past memory.” Mentally repeating the word "bad" will make you feel bad.
   • Don't stay too long in the grief stage. Some period of sadness is normal after an upsetting event, but you must recognize when it is time to move on from the grief and begin to live a normal life again.
   • No matter how terrible your memory is, it is in the past. Don't let it affect your present and future as you can't change the past unless you know how to time travel, so leave the past in the past and cheer up!
   • Think about joyful things. No matter how bad your memories are, focus on the future.