SLC-S29/W6-Mind & Learn : The Psychology Journey "Self Examination"
Hello everyone! I am delighted to be part of this sixth week of Mind & Learn: The Psychology Journey. This week's topic, Self Examination feels deeply personal, and I am grateful for the opportunity to reflect honestly on my inner world. Let me walk through each task below.
Task 01 How effective have the psychological sessions been?
Taking a retrospective view of the last few weeks of this journey, I am able to say with a hundred percent surety that these sessions have truly changed something within me. Prior to joining, I regarded my emotions as background music, they are constantly present, always buzzing, but never really talked to. The exercises we were provided with especially the ones that were based on journaling and mindful reflection enabled me to stop and actually hear myself out.
I liked the story telling exercises most. When I read about other people and hardships they had to go through and afterwards related it to my life, I realised that I am not alone in my struggles as I had believed to be. Something about this is silently powerfully alluring in knowing that this person is hurting you when he or she talks about you.
There was also an unexpected impact of the physical activity reminders. I began walking a little in the evenings and after a few days I felt that my mind had become light. Movement was like a way of taking my overthinking out there. All in all, I would give these sessions a real effectiveness rating, not dramatic, overnight, but in the gradual, substantive manner in which true growth is likely to occur. It has increased my self-knowledge and that is all it has been worth the ride.
Task 02: Surviving in the Good and the Bad.
Life is always ready to give us all the blessings as well as challenges without necessarily having to wait until we are ready. Considering my personal experiences, I have encountered failure in the workplace, poor relationships, and time periods of severe self-doubt. However, I have also undergone the fruits of real friends, unexpected luck, and days that have made me remember, that life is actually beautiful.
The barriers to my success: The most serious impediment to me has always been the catastrophising tendency. Whenever something goes wrong, my mind will automatically jump to the worst possible conclusion. This habit caused me problems thinking logically in hard situations and I even ended up isolating those whom I love.
My chosen strategies: With time, I got to know how to create a small gap between an event and my response to it. I began to write before I could say anything and then I could feel the anger or the despair before jumping right into an angry or hopeless situation. This exercise made me less fast and enabled me to react instead of responding. I also started sharing my emotions with my close friends as opposed to holding them in, and the freedom was overwhelming.
The wrongs I committed: I was too proud to seek assistance too long. I mixed asking assistance with displaying frailty and that arrogance cost me his fair share of calmness. In retrospect, I would have saved months of suffering which would have been avoidable had I called earlier.
The good things: Each tough experience made me learn something. I started to have a better understanding of people experiencing difficult situations. I became more patient and more thankful of the days of quiet, normal existence that I had previously taken a bit too much of.
Task 03 Reflection on the story by Mehvin.
The story of Mehvin is a heartbreaker and at the same time very familiar. The burden of an unspoken notion that they are just not enough lies with many and Mehvin is a part of them.
The initial error in this case was done not by Mihvin, but by those surrounding her. Her father was also original in denying her pain as it would eventually clear. This is among the most harmful reactions to mental health challenges - reduction of them. The same way that physical wound left unattended will just get better is that mental pain will not go away by itself.
Mehvin had her own fault of taking all her failures as something that was a permanent demonstration of her unworthiness. Every job lost, every abandoned project, was another stone in the wall that she put between herself and hope. She had developed what psychologists termed as learned helplessness - a situation in which an individual ceases to attempt anything because they are sure that nothing he or she does will achieve anything.
Intervention is what should have been done at a much earlier time. A friend, a teacher, a family member, somebody close to Mehvin should have been able to notice the symptoms of deep psychological distress: withdrawal, self-blame, inability to do anything, and, ultimately, disappeared out of her life altogether.
The counsel that the doctor gives to Mehvin, which is that she should believe in herself and not regard herself as a weak person is correct but only the tip of the iceberg. It is impossible to teach people confidence but rather build it up through small victories, reliable encouragement, and professional therapy. Mehvin should know that she had failed and that was no indication that she was not worth anything. These were cries of desperation which waited too long to be answered.
To respond to her question -
- *Is she really not weak? — No. Mehvin is not weak. She is exhausted. And fatigue, with proper nursing, may conquer.
Task 04 — Five Steps of Self Examination (Infographic)
The five steps, which I consider to be significant in meaningful self-examination, include:
- Pause and Breathe - Get out of the noise and make a quiet place in yourself.
- Observe Your Thoughts - See what the mind is saying without evaluating it right at the moment.
- Identify Patterns — Find out which emotions, reactions and behaviors recur in your life.
- Accept Without Shame- Recognize weaknesses and strengths without lying or self-pity.
- Set a Growth Intention — Select one small, specific improvement action.
These five steps are illustrated visually (please, refer to the attached infographic image).
Closing Thoughts
Self-examination is not the dissecting one in search of fault. It concerns a lifting high a tender mirror and looking at yourself plainly - the beauties and the cracks. This week has helped me realize that I will never have a better relationship that the one I have with myself.
This is a great series, thanks, @memamun.
I invite @josepha, @stef1 and @mikitaly to drop a very constructive comments on this post and also to participate in this contest.
Thanks for the invite. I have just submitted my entry.