Everytime I had a negative thought I would create a picture in my mind of what it looked like. Soon I realised that it was often the same thought in disguise. Therefore whenever it cropped up I was able to recognise it for what it was straight away. I also created characters to fight these negative demons.
It helped me to identify what feelings I was experiencing at that moment, then I could come up with the antidote. Take anger for example, to fight this I could use, calmness, peace, rationality , communication and safety. I was able to provide all of these within my own mind. The tool would be different for each demon, for example to fight irrational guilt I would need, self love, positive thoughts, reality, different perspectives and to focus on the present. Some tools are universal and will help in any situation, ie happy thoughts!
I created an army to fight the shadows of Dorjan, an army of positive thougths. By making a concious effort to create these characters I was reinforcing a positive mental attitude, which in turn made me stronger
Create characters from your thoughts and use them to identify positive thoughts.
Create your own safe space in your mind for times of crisis
I created a cave in my mind, a place that would make me feel safe, where no negative thoughts could enter. I often used this cave to help me go to sleep. I kept a checklist there, reminding me to ring for help, or talk to somebody if I felt unsafe within myself.
Get to know the demons in your mind and create a strategy for battle using already identified tools
Visualising my eating disorder as a character helped me to identify when my illness was taking control of me, I thought of it as a demon which embodied all of the behaviours and thoughts of Ana. This helped to create a focus point, making it easier to fight. It also helped me to develop a strategy of battle, I could 'study' it's behaviours, find out it's weaknesses and create tools to defeat it.
Create an army of positive thoughts
