I used to say "you" rather than "I".
As in "It's really hard to accept a compliment when all you've ever heard was what a failure you are." I had to distance myself from it because I wasn't in a place where I could accept that it was really me. So I would put it into second person.
I now am able to comfortably and peacefully say "I have problems accepting compliments, as all I was ever told was how badly I'd screwed up. I have difficulty believing that a compliment is true." (as an aside: although I may not agree with the other persons compliment, I now believe that that is *their* reality, and thus can accept the compliment fairly graciously, even when I don't agree. I used to argue with the person about how I wasn't all that great).
We all create distance because we have to. Imagine if all the awfulness that is inside you came spilling out at once - you'd be a complete mess or a sociopath. The great thing about our brains is that they will protect us from ourselves and our surroundings. That is how we survived. During the recovery process, the brain will continue to protect you from overload, often by creating distance until you are ready to handle whatever it is that you are dealing with.