Thought Stopping and Positive Self-Talk Statements (+ the 10 StEPs)

"Thought stopping" can have an effect in the (very) short run, of course. But...

a) the more agitated and sucked into the autonomic nervous system's engagement of the general adaptation syndrome, the less effective TS will be; and...

b) the more modern and effective approach is "thought observing" from inside the meta-conscious "observing self" or "detached, okay (and functional) inner parent" without judgment, criticism or condemnation,

While I do not experience PST statements as completely useless, they are almost always quickly forgotten unless they are regularly repeated and one keeps the total to a very small number at any given time. PST has to be used immediately in the contexts to which the particular statements apply. UNLESS that is the case, their ability to influence the clearing away of old... and construction of new... neural pathways are usually brief and generally inconsequential. Non-contextual repetition appears to have very limited utility so far as I can see, hear, feel or otherwise sense.

Beyond that, however, one needs to "feel the burn" -- to attend to mindfully to the affects -- for at least for a few seconds to induce affect processing. Otherwise, PST is just a compensation with no actual therapeutic value, and a potential to actually displace and block affect processing.

There are other ways to cause affect processing to occur where TS and PST may be a temporary but useful ingredient in a more comprehensive approach that does involve "feeling the burn." The best one I have found thus far is the totally portable and instantaneously available 10 StEPs component of Choiceless Awareness for Emotion Processing (and pretty much everything else).

I do that every time I hit a rough patch. Which these days, is Not That Often compared to a decade and more ago, and so long as my stress level remains moderate, and I am not caught up in what AA members call "HALT," which is "too hungry, too angry, too lonely or too tired." But the very use of TS, PSTs and the 10 StEPs is what prevents -- or, at least greatly attenuates -- HALT for me in "crazy world and COVID 2021."

Resources and References