Gemma Speck

negatively about themselves this is where your self-hatred is stored and this is where those narratives become bigger and bigger and bigger over time if you do not interrupt them recent reviews further refine this understanding by

showing that these patterns involve broader brain networks too.

So this is where it starts.

It starts in specifically the prefrontal cortex, but then it begins to move out and touch everything.

For instance, there was also in the same study, I think, increased connectivity between the default mode network and the salience network, which may explain why internal negative thoughts feel so intrusive.

and important and hard to break and so subconscious.

Over time, again, I really just want to stress this, repeated engagement in negative self-talk becomes the standard way that we think not just about ourselves, but everything.

It gets neurally represented in very significant brain regions that influence how we see others, influence how we see our goals, influence how

capable we are.

And that becomes a lot harder to escape the older we get.

So how exactly are we going to start unlearning this?

Because I feel like I've just thrown a lot of negativity at you and you're probably sitting there being like, well, I guess I'm screwed because this is just who I am.

And I've always had these thoughts about myself.

I'm just a pessimistic person.

I don't think that's true.

I think you've been trained to feel that way.

I think you've been trained to think that is normal and trained to think that that is your status quo or how you just are.

Again, nobody is born hating themselves.

Like literally giving that child example again, at some point you switch over, but you can also rewire those patterns over time.

I think it's so worth saying like,