![]() I asked her if she could think of any times in the past several weeks when someone had been cruel or insensitive to her. But was she involved in Mental Filtering, and focusing only on the negatives? Of course, these observations were at least partially valid, since human beings certainly DO have the capacity for great self-contentedness, insensitivity, and cruelty. She also described seeing a homeless man on her way her therapy session, and said that no one really cared about him. When I asked her how she’d come to this conclusion, she described seeing some kids in her dormitory who were joking in a cruel, insensitive way about girl with depression, and said that if you’re looking for her, you can probably find her sitting on the edge of her dormitory window, meaning that she’s probably about to jump. ![]() For example, a teenager with extremely intense depression, strong suicidal urges, and anger told me that human beings were inherently selfish, insensitive, and bad. When you’re depressed or anxious, you’ll do this to yourself as well, thus intensifying your negative thoughts and feelings. They’re just acting fake.” In this way, you convince yourself that he or she really is “bad.” For example, when they say something kind or supportive, you might think, “S/he doesn’t mean it,” or “isn’t being genuine. And when you’re ticked off at somebody, you probably focus on all the things they do or say that turn you off (mental filtering) and discount the positive things that they do or say. Similarly, if there is someone you strongly admire, you may selectively focus on the positive things they do or say, and discount or dismiss things they do or say that might be quite offensive. For example, if you are firmly committed to some belief, you might look for evidence that supports your belief, and discount evidence that contradicts your belief. In this way, you can maintain a uniformly and totally negative view of yourself, the world, or other people.ĭavid and Rhonda discuss the fact that humans can be very biased in our perceptions of things that are emotionally charged. You insist that the positives about yourself or others don’t count. this is an even more spectacular mental error. ![]() This is like the drop of ink that discolors the beaker of water.
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