Research shows that our view of the world has a tendency to tilt towards the negative --- that it's far easier to shift from positive to negative than negative to positive. We have to work harder to see the upside of things. This is known as negativity bias. Even when of equal intensity, things of a more negative nature (e.g., unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or social interactions; harmful/traumatic events) have a greater impact on our psychological state and processes than neutral or positive things. We are very vulnerable to being frightened, to fear. Negative stimuli produce more neural activity than positive stimuli.

Our brains have evolved to look for the negative first, and evolutionary-wise this has helped our ancestors survive and pass on their genes, but negativity bias has a downside. For example, political smear campaigns outpull positive ones. Nastiness seems to make a bigger impact on our brains. The media knows about negativity bias and uses it to their advantage. $$$ The news can greatly impact our thought-life, and we tend to forget that our thoughts are not the facts of our life and that’s how we encourage negative thoughts to engulf our mind.

Negativity bias can have a significant impact on our relationships, too. Researchers charted the number of times couples spent arguing vs. interacting positively. It turns out that there's a specific ratio that exists between the amount of positivity and negativity required to make cohabitation satisfying to both partners. Five to one. It takes five times as many positive feelings and interactions between partners as there are negative for the relationship to thrive and survive.

Primed to go negative, the amygdala (two little almond-shaped regions in each hemisphere -- see image) uses about two-thirds of its neurons to scan for bad news. Once it sounds the alarm, negative events, news and experiences get quickly stored in memory. In contrast, positive events, news, and experiences need to be held in awareness for much longer before they're stored in memory. Information from our senses reaches our amygdala almost twice as fast as it takes to get our frontal lobes (executive function - critical thinking). The speed of these different brain signals means that we can overreact while waiting for the frontal lobes to catch up to figure out the right response or reaction. In the meantime, unnecessary stress hormones can be released, which can lead to health problems.

I have learned through the years that I have to practice a lot by means of personal experimentation and observation to curtail negativity bias. It takes a lot of mental energy and discipline to not succumb to the default setting. I can easily slip back into a negative mindset if I'm not aware, and that's simply bad for my mental health and overall well being. So, I regularly take mini mind vacations, unplugging from the news and drama. I will take time to listen to music that's upbeat and/or brings back happy memories. I'll visualize, often with EDM (electronic dance music) that has a brainwave entrainment effect. I'll dance alone. I'll even kick back in my recliner and do an actual brainwave entrainment session. Being in nature, especially at the beach, helps to reset my outlook. I'll think about the things I'm grateful for, yada, yada, yada.

What do you do to help get unstuck from negativity?

Sources:
[en.wikipedia.org]
[psychologytoday.com]
[inspire99.com]