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Let’s Talk About the Voices in Your Head
The Most Under-Rated Mental Health Fix Anyone Can Do
We still don’t understand exactly where thoughts originate. What we do understand is that our thoughts — the voices in our head — have a profound effect on us. The stories we tell ourselves affect our moods, which affects our perception, which then affects our behavior.
There are all kinds of stories we tell ourselves about the world. The hope is that we mostly tell ourselves helpful stories. But if you’re like me, somewhere along the line you learned that being hard on yourself would challenge you — make you tough. And being tough is what’s needed to get through the difficulties in life.
At first, it seemed like being hard on myself was a good strategy. Once friends and family learned about my struggles, I was told repeatedly how strong I was.
However, after decades of struggle and trying to tough things out, I got tired… and the difficulties kept coming. Of course, I didn’t share with anyone that I was having trouble. I was afraid people might think I was weak.
As my symptoms worsened, my inner dialogue became more cutting and cruel. Since I was too tired to fight, my harsh self-talk no longer lit a fire under my butt. Instead, I was chipping away at my confidence. Before too long I had bullied myself into a depression…