Clarifying Thoughts

               “Know thyself. The unexamined life is not worth living”

                                                                                       ~ Socrates

 

~ Correcting Inaccurate Thoughts ~

 

See things, as they are… not worse.

Become the witness to the thoughts (internal dialogue). “You are not the voice in your head…you are the observer of the voice.”

The voice in your head is the ego…the ego is a pseudo reality. It’s a collection of consciousness created by our subjective perception of “our” world.

~ Emotional Awareness ~

Become aware of the emotions. (Thoughts-feelings-behaviors)

Stop using emotional reasoning.  

Intellect comes second to emotions.

We need to re-establish critical thinking with thoughts-feelings-actions.

Emotions are questionable and delude critical thinking.

~ Cognitive Distortions ~

Cognitive distortions are irrational thoughts that fuel your emotions.

Catastrophizing, all-or-nothing, overgeneralization, emotional reasoning, Fortune telling, and mind reading. 

 ~ Fighting Back ~  (Re-wiring the brain)

 Regain YOU!

 “We get what we settle for”

Disputing negative thoughts…correcting your thinking.  Awareness teaches you to make your mind work for you through critical thinking…not against you with emotional thoughts. Clarify and evaluate every thought.

Clarifying thoughts allows us to discern between what’s in our best interest, and what’s not. It’s important to note that our brain is indifferent to whether we have happy, meaningful lives. The main function of the brain is wired to have an insatiable appetite for survival and reproduction. This is a very important part of understanding behaviors when it comes to knowing who we are, and why we do what we do.

 

“The lives of many humans are governed by nothing more than the pleasure and pain that comes from the satisfaction and frustration of appetites. Appetites and reason are part of every human, but his or her character is revealed by which of the two dominates”

 

                                                                                    Aristotle

                                  

Distorted Mirror Syndrome (DMS)

 “Nothing is good or bad, but thinking you looks better or worse than you do, does make it bad”

                                                                                                                  ~ Shakespeare

Have you ever noticed, for the most part, men think they look better than they do while women think they look worse than they actually do. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had consults with couples where the men think they only needs to lose a few pounds, however, they believe their wives could take off about 20-30 Lbs.…."yep…. then she would be fine!”

If you find yourself in a DMS type relationship or work environment… don’t worry.

There is help.

What Are the Treatments for DMS?

Depending on the type and stage of DMS, treatments to eradicate the delusion or slow its growth may include some combination of psychotherapy, radical honesty, or a mirror placed in an unexpected located.

(Have you ever seen yourself in a mirror and thought, “Hey, who’s that fat guy”…and it turns out to be you?)

DMS Support

Supportive care from family’s and other mental professionals should accompany DMS treatment. The goal is to relieve pain from those who have to be around you, maintain a body that looks close to what you think it looks like, general health (for your friends), improve quality of life (for your friends), and provide emotional, and psychological, support to the DMS patients and the poor soul who are forced to be in the same work environment with them. Similar supportive treatment is also available to rehabilitate patients post DMS treatment.

Supportive Therapy

~ Most mainstream care is geared toward providing supportive treatment through the broad resources of a DMS treatment center (this is also for victims of friends). Complementary DMS therapies, which are generally provided outside a gym, can also provide supportive care.

 ~ Join support groups who are post DMS and now realistic about their bodies…this can provide relief from pain and other irreversible symptoms that come from delusional thinking.

~ Friends who don’t allow you to continue to lie to yourself.

~ Tailors…tailors can be helpful in making suggestions on appropriate clothing so you don’t embarrass your children or disgust your friends and family.

~Mirror therapy…the mirror is the way. Ironically, what created the delusion… repairs the delusion. (Remember to place mirror in unexpected locations…for the shock factor)

These are just a few suggestions that can fight this irrational disease for the DMS patient, and lead improved quality of life for friends, family members, and co-workers.

Together we can all fight this horrible neurosis.    

 “Keep in mind, we don’t always see things as they are…we see them the way we want to see them…please…don’t do that! “

                                                                                                        ~ Kelly