A healthier reaction might be to say to yourself, “thank goodness he didn’t hit me.” “Learning to look at situations objectively, instead of being led by our emotional reasoning, and thinking more realistically about each situation, can improve our overall mental health,” says Nasreen Khatri, Baycrest clinical psychologist, Clinician Leader of the Mood and Related Disorders Clinic. Dr. Khatri, who heads up the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) program at Baycrest, teaches CBT techniques to clients who are depressed or anxious but she says almost anyone can use these techniques each day to improve mood and relieve stress.

Although the premise of CBT is that maladaptive patterns of thinking can bring about depression and anxiety in those who are prone, negative thinking patterns can affect all of us. Focus on what you can control, such as the way you respond to the things that happen to you. Make the healthiest and wisest decisions you can in every new situation. If you know what triggers negative emotions, recognize those triggers when they occur and change the way you think to help eliminate or reduce symptoms of depression or anxiety.