Posted by fuzzymind on February 4, 2003, at 3:21:49
In reply to How much do your moods define you?, posted by Dinah on February 3, 2003, at 21:39:52
Makes perfect sense...it's called emotional reasoning....you equate your emotions with the truth. The emotions of a depressed person are distorted and unreasonable and can easily be mistaken for reality. I've felt many emotions, distorted or not, and felt like all of them. EXCEPT when I feel good. Seems like anytime I feel good, without exception, there is someone to point out only the negative. Technically, my mind is doing this, but others instigate it. Example: I get very high SAT's and get into highly competitve schools, some Nazi jerk( sorry, don't mean to offend JenR) tells me my achievement test scores weren't high enough and that the only reason I got into college was because they have to take Asians into college to fulfill quotas. COmpletely untrue. Instead of feeling good about my achievements, now I feel badly about myself becasue I didn't get into the 3 very best schools, thus I feel like a loser. I'm responsible for feeling this way, but my depression and emotional reasoning has distorted the way I have interpreted the outside criticism. Extremely difficult to retrain my mind. Because I can't restructure my thoughts, I feel like a hopeless failure, and thus define myself as thus. Etc. Etc. Etc.
You make perfect sense. Unfortunately, I can't seem to let go of the past or retrain my mind. I need serious brainwashing. Iwonder if there has ever been research on N. Korean brainwashing techniques to help with anxiety, depression adn distorted thoughts? Now I am not making sense
poster:fuzzymind
thread:2464
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030203/msgs/2473.html