I often experience negative self-talk which I call "The Mean Voice". I would never think or dare to speak to someone in the same way that my own mind talks to itself. It says things such as you are worthless and hopeless, you will never amount to anything, you're alone, nobody cares about you nor will they miss you, you're fat, ugly, and stupid. It makes me so sad to listen to myself. I try to remember what my doctor says about it. He says he can understand why I would listen to the mean voice because it is coming from my own mind. And also to remember that it is my depression talking and I am not my depression.
I am trying something new with the mean voice. When a negative thought comes in I try to combat it with a positive affirmation. Such as - I love and accept myself exactly as I am. And remembering that my depression is lying to me. It helps at the moment and this is not a quick fix. It also helps to separate my true self from the depression. The negative neural grooves in my brain are well formed and run deep. I would like to continue to create new neural pathways by using affirmations. It took a long time, many many years to install the automatic negative thinking. I know it will be worth it to try to create a new way of talking to myself.
Take good care,
Christine
"Go to your bosom: knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know."
-- Shakespeare