So few posts about mental health

[disappoint]

Thought I'd post something I found interesting.

Ever see someone swear like a sailor when something doesn't quite go as they'd like? (asking for a friend, ha just kidding)

But seriously, according to this fellow giving a TEDx talk, you can program your mind for the better using his method.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8JdkfZdhe8

Anyone ever try it? I might give it a try just to see if it works.

So the run down is this:

1. Write down a list of things you are not good at.
2. Prioritize the list.
3. Write a script in the present tense similar to the example he showed that you are good at the things you think you are not good at.
4. Record your own voice reciting the list.
5. Play it back to yourself every day at the same time you do something else every day.

 

[cbrunny]

did not watch, but based on what you said this isn't exactly surprising. If the mind is convinced it can't do something, the odds of doing that thing become infinitesimal.

Myself, I went through a phase where I would think what I call toxic thoughts on a regular basis. Basically me being overwhelmingly negative. Once I recognized this was happening, I was able to recognize each time it happened (99% of the time it was bullshit). I started doing something similar. Every time I recognized I was doing it, I stopped what I was doing and thought to myself "that is a toxic thought", took a beat, and then kept going. Over time, my recognition got better and my ability to push the toxic thought away improved dramatically. Now, I have rare toxic thoughts, but I can push them away without skipping a beat. The mind is an amazing thing. Gotta train it just like every other muscle in your body. Starts with self awareness, imo.

 

[disappoint]

did not watch, but based on what you said this isn't exactly surprising. If the mind is convinced it can't do something, the odds of doing that thing become infinitesimal.

Myself, I went through a phase where I would think what I call toxic thoughts on a regular basis. Basically me being overwhelmingly negative. Once I recognized this was happening, I was able to recognize each time it happened (99% of the time it was bullshit). I started doing something similar. Every time I recognized I was doing it, I stopped what I was doing and thought to myself "that is a toxic thought", took a beat, and then kept going. Over time, my recognition got better and my ability to push the toxic thought away improved dramatically. Now, I have rare toxic thoughts, but I can push them away without skipping a beat. The mind is an amazing thing. Gotta train it just like every other muscle in your body. Starts with self awareness, imo.

So true. I think it's a great achievement to have taken the steps you've taken to become aware of what you were doing and to consciously stop the negative thinking until it became automatic. The self hypnosis techniques shown in the video are just a shortcut to provide faster and perhaps more thorough results than using the conscious mind to will yourself to change more slowly until you become accustomed to it and the more positive thinking becomes habit. I hope no one fears the word self hypnosis as if they're going to be under some spell. That is not at all what hypnosis is. There is an unfortunate fear among some people about the word hypnosis because they do not fully understand what it is.

If more people would become more aware of what their own mind is doing this world would be a better place. Especially for themselves. As someone once asked: "Would you talk to your friends the way you talk to yourself when thinking negatively?" If the answer is no then why are you not a friend to yourself? The answer is they simply did not realize what they were doing. They were not aware of it. If a thought is outside of your awareness that is the very definition of thoughts of subconscious origin. That's why a direct path to the subconscious is so effective at fast correction of the problem. According to the video his wife noticed changes within the first 30 days.

 

[lxskllr]

Didn't watch the video, but I fixed the issue by not giving a shit. Literally nothing I do has any lasting import. The sun's gonna come up tomorrow, and any mistakes are only money. In 60 years, no one will know my name; just like everyone else. No point in stressing trivial details.

 

[Sheep221]

I certainly don't agree with the OPs method. We are wired to be good only at some things and the rest we can only learn to master at mediocre level. I am for example not good with kitchen stuff and cooking etc. I learned to make a few tasty foods and so on, but I will never be a chef in top restaurant because cooking is not a skillset I am wired for. If you suck at math it is very unlikely you will ever become a professional mathematician, but you can train yourself to finish calculus exams when attending electronic/mechanical university course. That's what some doctors and counselors try to teach mentally ill people, to have real expectations from themselves, to not have desire/requirement for something that is not at least in a present time possible to achieve. Perfectionism and overly high requirements of oneself and others lead to psychopathology and illness.

 

[paperfist]

I certainly don't agree with the OPs method. We are wired to be good only at some things and the rest we can only learn to master at mediocre level. I am for example not good with kitchen stuff and cooking etc. I learned to make a few tasty foods and so on, but I will never be a chef in top restaurant because cooking is not a skillset I am wired for. If you suck at math it is very unlikely you will ever become a professional mathematician, but you can train yourself to finish calculus exams when attending electronic/mechanical university course. That's what some doctors and counselors try to teach mentally ill people, to have real expectations from themselves, to not have desire/requirement for something that is not at least in a present time possible to achieve. Perfectionism and overly high requirements of oneself and others lead to psychopathology and illness.

Sounds like you proved the OP right. You just told yourself you suck at being a chef and therefore you will suck at it. You feed your mind trash and trash comes out. There's no way you couldn't be a top chef if you put your mind to it and didn't beat yourself up.

 

[Sheep221]

Sounds like you proved the OP right. You just told yourself you suck at being a chef and therefore you will suck at it. You feed your mind trash and trash comes out. There's no way you couldn't be a top chef if you put your mind to it and didn't beat yourself up.

No sir, this is not the case of self-fulfilling prophecy. It's important to not see in black and white(I either can do everything or nothing), in this sense mind, just like body does have technical limitations on what it can do. How can you possibly deny such a crucial fact? Do you believe you can do ANY occupation just because you set your mind to it? I don't think so. If you don't have those abilities/talents you will not master them well enough to make it your occupation, or at least make a good career in that occupation.
You basically said something similar to, if someone's legs had been amputated after car accident and if they set their mind on it they gonna have them back, unfortunantely no.

 

[paperfist]

No sir, this is not the case of self-fulfilling prophecy. It's important to not see in black and white(I either can do everything or nothing), in this sense mind, just like body does have technical limitations on what it can do. How can you possibly deny such a crucial fact? Do you believe you can do ANY occupation just because you set your mind to it? I don't think so. If you don't have those abilities/talents you will not master them well enough to make it your occupation, or at least make a good career in that occupation.
You basically said something similar to, if someone's legs had been amputated after car accident and if they set their mind on it they gonna have them back, unfortunantely no.

I agree the body has physical limitations. A 4' 11" tall person probably isn't going to attain Air Jordan status on the B Ball court.

On the other hand there's no reason to believe you can't become a mathematician, a top flight chef, a mechanic, etc if you put your mind to it. You never heard the expression if I can do it you can do it?

If you can't learn another language it's because you don't want to. There's cases all over where people have elevated themselves from dirt poor families to scholars. People change professions all the time.

 

[cbrunny]

massive difference between thinking you can be the best and thinking you aren't a horrible excuse for a person.

Many people with mental illness do not have issues that relate to "I will never be a top chef" and instead are "I am a complete waste of a human being" so the scope of the change is far different from what is being discussed. Going from 0% to 50% is a lot different from going from even 70% to 100%.