Worksheet included: Pessimism, optimism, and BPD

Challenging The BPD Distorted Outlook: Pessimism versus Optimism

Order The Borderline Personality Disorder Workbook by Dr. Fox:
In English: https://goo.gl/LQEgy1
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Optimism v Pessimism scale: https://www.drdfox.com/worksheets

Many of you may hold the view that you hope for the best but prepare for the worst. I understand that view but what if I told you that it actually only prepares you for the negative side of things, while minimizing, or leaving only to chance, the positives. This view increases the probability of depression and anxiety. Well, in this video we’re going to look at both optimism and pessimism, the 7 components of each, and I’m going to challenge you a bit to see things a little differently, and who knows, it may change your life.

There’s research that shows over and over that optimistic people have a higher quality of life compared to those with low levels of optimism as compared to pessimists. Optimism significantly influences mental and physical well-being by the promotion of a healthy lifestyle that incorporates adaptive behaviors and cognitive responses that include greater flexibility, problem-solving capacity, and enhanced view of negative information.

The other side of this coin, pessimism. Let’s define it: tendency to see, anticipate, or emphasize negative or undesirable outcomes, results, conditions, problems, and blockades to success. Pessimism is related to more somatic complaints, premature death, divorce, loneliness, depression, anxiety, less social support, and more social strain.

How can you turn the tide on pessimism? Don’t be a naysayer about it, try a few of these techniques for one month, see how it works, and let me know.

1. When you encounter a negative, force yourself to see a positive, any positive. See it through a positive lens.
2. Look at your friends and family are they optimistic or pessimistic? This about how you can add more positive people into your life.
3. Say something positive about yourself while you’re brushing your teeth. Say something nice to yourself. It’s going to feel weird at first, but like anything else, you’ll adapt over time.
4. Recognize what you can and can’t control in your life.
5. See the negative for what it is, another side of the same coin. Look and create a more balanced view.
6. Stop watching the negative. First off fb is not a news source, and no social media is a news resource, turn off the news and watch only in limited segments.

Daniel J. Fox, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in Texas, international speaker, and a multi-award winning author. He has been specializing in the treatment and assessment of individuals with personality disorders for over 15 years in the state and federal prison system, universities, and in private practice. His specialty areas include personality disorders, ethics, burnout prevention, and emotional intelligence.

He has published several articles in these areas and is the author of:

Antisocial, Narcissistic, and Borderline Personality Disorders: A New Conceptualization of Development, Reinforcement, Expression, and Treatment. Available at: https://www.drdfox.com/books

The Borderline Personality Disorder Workbook: An Integrative Program to Understand and Manage Your BPD. Available at: https://goo.gl/LQEgy1

Antisocial, Borderline, Narcissistic and Histrionic Workbook: Treatment Strategies for Cluster B Personality Disorders (IPBA Benjamin Franklin Gold Award Winner): https://goo.gl/BLRkFy

Narcissistic Personality Disorder Toolbox: 55 Practical Treatment Techniques for Clients, Their Parents & Their Children (IPBA Benjamin Franklin Silver Award Winner):: https://goo.gl/sZYhym

The Clinician’s Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment of Personality Disorders: https://goo.gl/ZAVe9v

Dr. Fox maintains a website of various treatment interventions focused on working with and attenuating the symptomatology related to individuals along the antisocial, borderline, narcissistic, and histrionic personality spectrum (www.drdfox.com).

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Amazon Author’s Page: amazon.com/author/drfox

Videos edited by Emil Christopher: [email protected]

Thank you for your attention and I hope you enjoy my videos and find them helpful and subscribe. I always welcome topic suggestions and comments.