Courtesy of Dr Thomas Richards at the Social Anxiety Institute ... Automatic Negative Thoughts or ANTS 🙂

The ANTs thoughts are always wrong. They always lie. They can never tell the truth.

The ANTs thoughts have no authentic power over me. That's why they're so scared I won't believe them. Their only hope is that I'll listen to them, believe them, and give them my power and attention. (They feed and fuel themselves on my own old negative beliefs.) If I don't accept and believe these old ANTs fears, they have no choice but to go away.

The ANTs voice is magnified by my anxiety, fear and depression. To keep me feeling this way, the ANTs voice exaggerates, catastrophizes, puts me down, makes me feel guilty, robs me of my self-esteem, and makes my future look hopeless. These are all lies and it's time I stopped believing them.

I must never listen to the lying ANTs voice. I know better. They always lead me in the wrong direction. They are a voice of negativism and defeat. They want to pull me down in the mud with them. I choose not to let them do this.

Even worse, the ANTs thoughts are bullies: they have no real power to use against me. They try to build on my own old feelings of depression and anxiety to pull me down.

If I catch on to what the ANTs are ding, and the lying ANTs thoughts feel they are losing, then they try to put on more pressure. They tell me that anxiety, fear, embarrassment, catastrophe, and humiliation loom around every corner. Thinking about making a public presentation brings on stark, gut-wrenching fear... (The ANTs love this one!) I can almost see them dancing in glee!

And the ANTs thoughts love my anxiety and fear! Because if I believe it, they have me trapped, entombed, and immobile. If I believe all these ANTs lies, I'll get stuck forever in my anxiety and depression. I'll never get any better. And all because I'm believing false, inaccurate, irrational, lies from the past.

I must never listen to the lying ANTs voice.

The ANTs thoughts would love to prevent me from getting any better. All bullies like to see this happen to their victims.

But I don't have to listen and believe those ANTs thoughts! I do not choose to be a victim. I know better than that.

What can I do? I can say, "Oh, it's that lying ANTs thought again. It's trying to frighten and depress me. It's telling me more lies. I refuse to believe them. I've got better things to do than listen to a bullying liar."

Don't try to argue or fight against the ANTs thoughts. (Notice that "arguing" is coming from the negative emotions.) The ANTs are good at arguing... they love the pain and misery they can cause me.

Instead, I choose to refute and ignore these lying automatic negative thoughts. These lying ANTs thoughts can't keep on talking forever. If I don't pay attention to them, they have to SHRINK and SHRINK and shrink and shrink...

What those ANTs thoughts hate worst of all is when I IGNORE them! They hate it when I won't listen and fall meekly into place like I used to do... Now I know better. I'll not give in to lying ANTs thinking anymore.

But remember: since they are pathological liars, and since their enjoyment comes from making me miserable, they don't like to give up. They may try a few new ways to throw a roadblock in my path, to scare me, or to confuse me about my progress. This is simply the ANTs way of trying to hold on to me and to keep me as one of its disciples...

Instead, I'll say to those thoughts: "Oh, it's you again. You can't fool me anymore. I know this is just another one of your tricks to try and increase my anxiety. Well, you can try all you want... I don't care. I'M NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO THESE LYING ANTS THOUGHTS AGAIN!"

And then, I'll move on to my strategies and distractions, read over this handout, and I won't let them upset me anymore. I know that if I let them upset me, I am giving them strength and power. But if I don't let them upset me, and I realize they don't have any power of their own... they will have to shrivel up into nothing and eventually go away for good.

The ANTs voice cannot tell the truth.

The ANTs voice is a loud and nasty bully: all gruff, bluff and no power.

The ANTs voice is only there to scare me. I won't let it happen anymore.

The ANTs voice exaggerates everything that is negative.

My ANTs voice has no real power over me - unless I decide to believe it.

My ANTs voice constantly lies, and liars are loud and like to be heard.

My ANTs voice hates it when I ignore it and say, "SO WHAT?"

Who cares? Those ANTs thoughts couldn't tell the truth even if they tried...

this is awesome!!!!!