Don't Trash Trash Talk

"Dr. Remington, I sort of understand trash talk, but what has trash talk to do with mental health?”
ANSWER: A LOT! Trash talk is using words to put down, degrade, demean, to make feel inferior and incompetent, to destroy. I suggest that we back off from focusing on the words and the superficial intentions of trash talk and examine the deeper impact of talking trash.

Basic to this impact is that we humans are a mind-body-spirit connection. We are a system in which one part affects all the other parts.

Trash talk sends a powerful negative message to our bodies, minds, and spirits. These tend to make a negative response to the negative message. One expert points out that “negative thoughts are a form of energy that depletes us.” Other research confirms that negative thinking contributes to various physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual illnesses and problems. Let’s pause for a moment and acknowledge the destructive power of trash talk.

The good news is that the opposite is also true. Positive talk sends messages of wellness to our bodies, minds, and spirits.

Our Judeo-Christian Bible speaks about being “good stewards” of God’s creations. I Peter 4:10 means, to me, being good stewards of this “wholeness” that is contained in our bodies, minds and spirits.

I strongly suggest this: Keep a diary, a log, of every negative (trash) thing you say to others or to yourself. Make a column of those. Then, directly across from each one, transform that negative statement into a positive statement. Examples:

I am stupid, I am smart
I am dumb, I am intelligent
I am ugly, I am beautiful
I am incompetent, I am competent
I am worthless, I am valuable as a child of God
I can’t do anything, With Divine power, I can do everything I really need to do

Remember please: The thoughts and talk that we make send powerful messages to our bodies, minds, and spirits. As good stewards of our bodies, minds, and spirits, what do we want to send?

READER: Submit questions to Ask-A-Counselor, obtain information, or make an appointment by calling 843-448-4820, Fax: 448-9875, send to the Coastal Samaritan Counseling Center, 901 N. Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577, or log on to http://coastalsamaritan.blogspot.com.