SPONSORED CONTENT -- (StatePoint) It’s been four years since the collective trauma of the pandemic created widespread grief, anxiety and isolation, but the psychological wounds of this period have not fully healed.

The American Psychological Association reports continued elevated rates of anxiety and depression among Americans, and mental health experts say that negative self-talk plays a large role in these conditions and other psychological issues. The good news? Individuals can work on subtracting a harmful inner monologue from the equation.

“Simple tools can help people break the cycle of negative self-talk and find some inner peace,” says Elizabeth Scott, PhD, a wellness coach, health educator and author of “8 Keys to Stress Management.”

That’s why Pilot Corporation of America (Pilot Pen) is supporting the Erase Self-Negativity Initiative in partnership with key mental health and wellness experts, including Dr. Scott, and with guidance from America’s largest grassroots mental health organization, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

As part of the initiative, Dr. Scott and NAMI have created a guided exercise to help individuals begin their journey toward erasing the disempowering influence that negative self-talk has on their lives. The exercises include writing down the negative beliefs one holds about themself and then destroying or erasing the writing, a practice that has been found by research to be helpful in minimizing those beliefs.

“Simply externalizing these negative thoughts empowers us to rewrite our narrative and opens the door to giving ourselves more grace,” says Dr. Scott.

Dr. Scott stresses that similar to maintaining physical health, consistency is key with mental health. This is why every April 10 will be recognized as National Erase Self-Negativity Day and the initiative will use the 10th of each month, as a day to start or revisit the writing exercise and reflect on personal progress.

Here’s what’s needed to get started:

1. A quiet, restful location,

2. A desire to create change

3. Paper

4. A FriXion erasable pen, which offers more than just the ability to write and erase completely; but also symbolizes the power individuals have to change things and write more positivity into their story.

The Erase Self-Negativity Worksheet can be found by visiting eraseselfnegativity.com. For additional resources to understand how common, and treatable mental health issues can be, visit nami.org.

“While we can’t control the negative messages we might receive from the outside world, we can work on what we tell ourselves. With just a few minutes of quiet time, we can harness the transformative power of writing in a way that will challenge the damaging assumptions we hold about ourselves and foster more self-compassion,” says Dr. Scott.

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