Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with selfawareness

Self-destruction and the struggle against depression

Aleatoire — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:37:06 -0800

What are we fighting when we fight against depression? A psychologist recently offered the following comment that struck me as a potentially constructive (read: not self-destructive) way of conceptualizing the strong sense of sorrow, solitude and of depersonalization that have me dwelling on death with unnerving frequency and concreteness: namely, that I should take care to not think and treat depression as separate and distinct, as if this gnawing and piteous feeling were something that eroded and displaced the self, to be "struggled against" (as the common expression goes) and opposed.

After this suggestion, I have come to suspect that the analogy of antagonism has done a particular disservice in the domain of mental disorders, when both the adversaries and the arena are aspects of myself. Further reflection brings the realization that what language I have to understand and express emotions is not only limited but seems to be limiting my own ability to cope with negative feelings and beliefs.

What follows, then, is this question: what other analogies are available? what modes of relating could I draw from that are not antithetical, to stop this "struggle against" depression and put an end to self-sabotage?

(Although I recognize that there are physiological components to depression, the fact that at my lowest of lows I feel acutely disconnected from myself and from my surroundings tells me that I could benefit from some kind of perceptual shift, beginning at how I conceive depression as a problem. If you disagree, and think that this is fruitless whimsy, then I would be equally grateful for your thoughts.)

Changing unhealthy thinking patterns

SpacemanStix — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:43:29 -0800

Are there unhealthy thought processes that you've had that once you've dealt with them, had a discernibly positive effect on your life? If so, how did you go about changing them? And what kind of benefit did you see? I'm realizing that there are ways that I process my interactions with others, and the way I think about the world such that it creates unneeded tension in my life, and keeps me from doing what I want to be doing at times. However, realizing a problem and changing a problem are two different things. It would be encouraging to hear stories from people who have been successful in changing unhealthy thought processes, and also how one actually goes about changing a destructive or unhealthy thought process, such that an interpretive grid for life is restructured, and changes life for the better.

I realize this may be a bit vague. As a general example: a success story would be the person who learns how to not internalize criticism such that it eats away at them anymore, as they've learned that excessive criticism often says more about the person criticizing than the person being criticized, and what may be sometimes interpreted as criticism may actually be a desire to help. It's hard to change this interpretive grid, but once done, can be very freeing.

I guess in the end, I'd like to know the best way to change an interpretive grid for life such that it really is changed internally, and not simply lip service or basic self-awareness of the problem.

Dogs: People Too?

showbiz_liz — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:28:38 -0800

What are the arguments for and against the idea that animals have self-awareness? I'm in an anthropology class called Moral Consciousness that discusses human conceptions of selfhood. It's a very interesting class, but I have one problem with it- the professor has stated several times, in an off-hand, of-course-this-is-true sort of way, that ONLY humans have selfhood. He seems to have a basic assumption that animals don't, and that humans have overcome their instincts in a way that animals can't.

I've always been very interested in the idea that humans and animals are far less different than we usually assume, and I'm not sure if I can just accept my professor's assumption without some evidence. I'm reminded of statements like "animals don't use tools" and "animals don't have emotions" that were accepted for years and later disproven. So, when he says that only humans are capable of thinking of themselves as "I", or of rejecting food when they are starving, or of sacrificing themselves, or of thinking abstractly, it bothers me that he isn't presenting any evidence. I'm not sure if there actually IS evidence for these things, or if they're just baseless assumptions.

So- where can I find some decent evidence for and/or against my professor's statements? Are there actually papers and studies on the question of animal self-awareness?