Putting others down is often a defense mechanism. People are afraid to look at themselves and often acknowledge the **** they are in themselves, or how unhappy they are. And thus they put all the attention on someone else, so they don't have to look inside.
I find it quite sad actually, that those people are afraid of confrontation with themselves and how they feel. It's a very easy choice, probably the easiest, to say something negative about someone else, often just to be accepted by the rest of people.
So how do you stop? Well, just STOP! When you see someone and the judgment starts, just tell yourself to stop and that you don't want to be occupied with these thoughts. Why are you so focused on someone else? Isn't your life busy enough, or interesting enough to be fully occupied with that?
You can even change negative comments to positive. When you have a judging thought, change it around to something good about the person. If you know nothing good about the person, just keep the judging to yourself. What good is it to others to judge?
And you know what, everyone else wonders about you whether you're talking **** about them behind their backs aswell. After a while nobody trusts you because they are afraid they get ridiculed.
STOP! is the answer.
Good luck
