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Ask HN: How Do You Avoid Falling into Self Pity
My condition (you can skip): Sometimes in the past I fell into self pity to myself which put me into depression and made me do terrible stuff (hurting others).
Question: how do you avoid falling into self pity?
- CyberFonic 8y agoI think that there are many interpretations of the concept of "self pity". You don't specify what sorts of thoughts you are referring to. In my experience, I can't tell whether depression leads to self-pity or the other way around. The "falling into" part is hard to discern until you are already in that negative space. If I find myself lashing out at others and hurting them, I stop and ask myself how am I hurting? Why do I feel that the people I hurt are out to hurt me. The act of "stepping outside of myself" in the moment provides an alternative perspective and the kernel upon which I can forge a new direction, hopefully out of the pit of self-pity. Not easy but achievable.