Negative Thoughts that lead to fear of any kind, habit thoughts, that you react to and repeat repeatedly are like a hamster on running on it circle treadmill. Fear and despair keep us from awakening; and we are locked into a repetitive pattern confined, that reflects back repeating and enforcing the fears. An imagined fear tales 1.5 seconds to come and go, but if thoughts reinforce it, the time goes much longer. Meaning it feels real even if the though it is imagined and not true. The stimulus is not real but the emotions it brings seem real to us.
Let me put this way, if our brain is like our fist the arm is the spinal card the thumb the limb system (emotional center, fear, pleasure etc.) the four fingers are the frontal cortex the reasoning part of our mind it looks into the how and why. The fist creates a circular system with connecting and monitoring fears if real or not. Nevertheless, if the brain is blocked by negative thoughts, it disconnects this system and we respond out of habit fears. We flip out! We get lost in thoughts and lose choice.
The first things you have to do in realize the thoughts are just thoughts. Real to you but not true, Please say to yourself is these is not true and admit it to yourself. Second thing to do is a pause takes a few breaths and give you time to absorb the truth. Do both of these things with kindness not judging some space perspective. Give yourself a mental hug assuring the feeling of safety and trust you can view the truth and respond in positive ways.
You have to become aware of the trigger on inner states to find the thoughts. However, here you have to have a loving heart of kindness not judging these thought but not reacting to them.
There is a story about teen boy who got three baby goats and painted the numbers 1-2-4 on their sides. They then released them in the early one morning into the high school creating a panic for the principle. The staff search and found the goats but could not find #3 goat so closed the school for the day to find it.
This is the thoughts made sense should have been three goats logically but truth is something else. Always we have to seek the truth within us and this is through mindfulness meditation. Concentration on the breath with awareness of the interrupting thought and aware of the inner states and what triggers them. Stepping back, you view them with a perspective, detached a view open to the truth, only you know. In other words capture the though patter knowing this is just a though nothing more.
Sometime it is a good idea to remind yourself and tell yourself you are sorry for neglecting yourself and the thoughts in life we misread, let of the guilt. I found this story on the web and do not know who wrote it. But you will have to ask yourself if something like this happens in your life?