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"How I found & fixed the root problem behind my depression and anxiety after 20+ years" by Kaj Sotala. It describes the concept of 'self-concept' and a, I gues
by ajkjk 5y ago
"How I found & fixed the root problem behind my depression and anxiety after 20+ years" by Kaj Sotala.
It describes the concept of 'self-concept' and a, I guess, pseudo-treatment for addressing deep-set neurosis/anxiety caused by having one that is a little malformed. This post led (in a sort of roundabout way, hitting at a good time in my life and while I was already thinking in the direction of fixing this problem) to a sort of self-therapy where I snapped out of an unhealthy mental state I had been in for something like a decade. Probably good therapy could have had the same effect but I've always had trouble with that, and the ideas here led to a non-unsuccessful self-therapy. My issue was not at all related to the one he describes in the post, but the approach seemed to work anyway.
https://kajsotala.fi/2017/07/how-i-found-fixed-the-root-problem-behind-my-depression-and-anxiety-after-20-years/ https://kajsotala.fi/2017/07/how-i-found-fixed-the-root-prob...
- rakejake 5y agoAmazing stuff
- Dumblydorr 5y agoThat seems like a very long-winded way of saying he didn't love himself, so he worked to reframe and reinforce positive memories and loving himself. That's pretty standard in metta meditation, you are instructed to direct love and kindness towards yourself.
- ajkjk 5y agoI think it is not quite that simple. The key insight isn't realizing that you don't love yourself, or whatever, but realizing that your behavior today is seated in specific reinforcing memories from your past, which can be specifically re-framed in a way that causes the present behavior to dissipate, as if by magic. Assuming that is really the mechanism for what's happening, I don't see a reason to think, a priori, that just 'loving oneself' is sufficient, as it wouldn't exercise that exact mechanism for self-transformation. Anyway, my particular case did not involve anything to do with loving myself, but the same machinery seemed to work for a very different neurotic behavior.
- kaj_sotala 5y agoThank you for sharing. <3