"Evolution nurtures the feeling that something awful is about to happen. We focus on the negative, including distressing thoughts, anxious worries, and unhappy emotions. We remember the stress of previous danger and anticipate similar events will happen again in the future. It's human nature to think about how we do not measure up, the reasons why we are behind in life, how we could be better parents, why our partners are annoyed with us, or why we are annoyed with ourselves."
"When we're on this negative track, we're not open to growth and progress. We are stuck in a distressed frame of mind that is often absolute, which is a very terrible cognitive distortion that the mind likes to pull. The person who suffers from this kind of polarized thinking uses words like never, forever, always, and nothing. I'll never amount to anything. I will be a loser forever. I will always be alone."
Evolution shaped a negativity bias that primes humans to expect danger and prioritize threat-related information. The bias causes attention to favor distressing thoughts, anxious worries, and unhappy emotions over positive experiences. Memory strengthens recall of past stressors and prompts anticipation of similar future dangers. Negative rumination leads to polarized cognitive distortions using absolutes like never, always, and forever. Such catastrophic thinking narrows perspective, blocks openness to growth and progress, and reinforces feelings of inadequacy and social disconnection. Everyday pleasant moments can be overshadowed by a single negative detail due to this predisposition.
Read at Psychology Today
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