‘Have any of you heard of NATs?’ Sam asked.
‘You mean like the insects?’ the Boxer asked him.
‘Actually, I do. But we’ll come to that in a second. Right now I’m talking about a simple acronym. N.A.T.S. It stands for Negative Automatic Thoughts.’
The five members of the group traded looks, frowning, shaking their heads in bemusement, perhaps even mild embarrassment, too.
The Boxer looked uncomfortable, as if this was just the kind of nonsense he was afraid Sam might spout. The Lost Girl seemed almost embarrassed that Sam could have used something as tragic as an acronym. The Artist waited patiently to hear more while the Athlete inspected his pristine white training shoes and the Librarian remained huddled on his chair, scratching his elbow.
‘Some negative thoughts can be good,’ Sam told them. ‘When they’re working effectively, they can be like a sort of early warning signal that protects us. For instance, I could be near a cooker and I might think to myself: “That stove could be hot.” And if it is hot and I don’t touch it, I’ve protected myself. But when negative thoughts become automatic – or when they recur and we ruminate on them – they can be harmful.’
He locked eyes with the Artist and for a second he thought he saw a tremor pass behind her expression, as if he’d read her mind.
It had to be difficult for her, he imagined. Everywhere she went, feeling watched and vulnerable. Constantly on alert. Hearing imagined footsteps pursuing her.
‘That’s where the insects come in,’ Sam continued. ‘I want you to think of them as GNATS with a silent “g”.’
‘And then what are we supposed to do?’ the Lost Girl asked, sweeping back her curtain of hair, her lip ring twinkling in the glare of the overhead lights.
‘Then you have a choice. You can swipe at them – just like you might swipe at a real swarm of gnats – and by that I mean you can challenge your negative thinking. You can apply a set of reasoned questions and ask yourself how likely it is that the thing you’re worrying about could genuinely happen or not.’
‘What’s the other option?’ the Athlete asked.
‘The other option is just to acknowledge them. Just to stand back and notice that a bunch of negative thoughts are massing around you – a swarm of them if you like – and then to just . . . let them be. Because just as a tiny flying insect might irritate you but can’t do you any real harm, neither can the thoughts you’re having. They’re just that. Thoughts.’