Humor/Critical Voices

[Don W]

Hi, I took the advice from Moning Glory about giving my voices another job. This was difficult, so I tried adapting her suggestion to my head. ( Good Luck To Me) I understand that making fun at ourselves is difficult. However, I have had some luck looking for humor in my situation. I have made jokes out of some of what the voices are saying. Sort of when we were kids and somebody teased us. We were told to ignore it or laugh. When the person didn't get the response he wanted, they would move on to someone else. I stuck to making jokes about myself. Like, I said to my wife and a few friends.
" I know I look crazy but, I want to assure you that I'm much, much crazier than I look. Even, just adding humer to my relationship with my wife has worked. Many times, because I have a serious problem, I feel like I always have to be serious about life. I have had her, myself and even strangers laughing. Like, I have been asking people if, subway drivers get tunnel vision.
Even just typing this I have silenced the voices. So, what I think I have done,( by accident), is not give them another job but, reduced the importance of their job. This in turn has helped me put less importance on what they said. Make any sense? I think our minds have to be fooled, and understanding that it can be fooled is a start. I'm using the example of entertainers, TV, movies etc. fool our mind all the time. Even, doctors can fool us. There are studies that some people get a real pill and some a fake pill. Some with the fake pill also will get better. So, I am going to continue to give these critical voices fake information, and use humor to do it. Don W

[Gabe]

Go Don, fake 'em out.
My critical voices fall for that one every time.
Putting less importance on what they say is the first step to getting beyond listening to them.
Gabe

[journeygal]

Originally Posted by Don W

Like, I have been asking people if, subway drivers get tunnel vision.

Hey, fake it till you make it - it's what I always say.

I have a really hard time with my critical voices. The problem is that my thoughts don't use words. Remember the look you would get from your parents when you did something wrong and there was company over and they didn't want to say anything in front of someone? That's how my critical voice is. It's the critical look.

I have to figure out a way to deal with that.

<img src="http://www.chrislancasterweb.com/look.gif">