Welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast. We've interviewed over 100 authors, experts, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, and others to help you learn strategies to care for your mental health.

This episode is hosted by psychotherapist and bestselling author Amy Morin. Now let's get into the episode.

Okay. You're listening to the Friday fix.

Every Friday, I share a quick mental strength exercise that will help fix the thoughts,

emotions, and actions that drain you of the mental strength you need to be your best.

Today I'm talking about how to break free from the unhealthy patterns in your life. As a therapist,

one of my jobs is to help people recognize and change those unhealthy patterns. Sometimes a little outside perspective can help people see why they keep getting stuck. The truth is, we all have

certain unhealthy patterns in our lives. Some of them aren't a big deal, but others are a major

problem. But before we jump in to talk about how to break free from those unhealthy patterns,

let's talk about what they are and why they exist. An unhealthy pattern in your life could include anything that keeps you stuck in a place of pain.

At first glance, your behavior might look like it's helping you.

But when you zoom out and look at the big picture, you'll likely find that there's a behavior

that's contributing to more problems or perhaps it's even making your existing problems worse.

There are three main reasons that we develop unhealthy patterns.

The first one is that we're trying to manage our discomfort.

You likely deal with uncomfortable emotions in a similar way day after day.

You have certain habits, things that you do to manage your discomfort.

Your thoughts and your behaviors have the power to either fuel an emotion or reduce it,

or maybe even extinguish it altogether.

And at first you might think that doing something to get rid of an uncomfortable emotion,

like anxiety, is a good thing.

But sometimes we reach for unhealthy coping skills. I mean, sure, it might

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