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Depression and negative affirmations

passingthrough
Community Member

Hi all,

 

I'm not sure how to use this forum to get help, and feel that I have nothing to offer fellow participants, but I need to try something at this time. 

 

I'm 34M, probably somewhat autistic (but undiagnosed) and been struggling with what I roughly call depression. I'm currently taking SNRI antidepressants and attending therapy. Other than that it's hard to say what's going on with any clarity.

 

I regularly tell myself these things, usually in threes and always including the last two:

“I can’t do anything right”
“I can’t do it”

"I can't do anything"
“I hate myself”
“I’m a loser”
“I deserve to die”

 

I believe that this is causing me to feel worse, and creates negative feedback loops. I just want to know if anyone has any suggestions for how to either stop or ignore this behaviour. I've tried contradicting it ("I'm doing my best, and I deserve to be happy") and tried logically dismantling it ("Loser? I didn't realise this was a competition", "Deserve to die? Everyone dies!") but so far nothing has really worked. It's mainly triggered by rejection or criticism, either by my partner or me, for example criticism of my work performance or behaviour.  I've talked to my therapist about it, but we haven't really discussed any strategies. 

 

I'm happy to read other threads, just don't know where to start. Thanks.

20 Replies 20

Hi Quirky and passingthrough 🙂

 

Passingthrough, that quote was me up until fairly recently. I’m learning now that I can and do have preferences. I just didn’t seem to be able to see them before.

 

All the best,

ER