tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886575137375451769.post6369654759989871092..comments2023-08-08T00:53:58.434-07:00Comments on Garth Kroeker: Psychiatry and LinguisticsGKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14714377295981745087noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886575137375451769.post-33994647870760647202010-11-01T13:51:53.771-07:002010-11-01T13:51:53.771-07:00I find the term "cognitive distortion" e...I find the term "cognitive distortion" excessively pejorative in many cases. Some more neutral term should be found. On the other hand, perhaps it is fair to acknowledge that there are levels to cognition which are always distorted, in all of us; this may accurately suggest how difficult it can be to change the way we interpret or experience events. It is not a simple matter akin to taking a different side on a debate -- it is extremely hard work which may at times contradict a deeply felt set of values. <br /> <br />I don't believe that CBT exercises require one to paint experiences with an unrealistic positive gloss. At best, however, they may be formal challenges to experiment with a different system of interpreting events, to determine if this different system leads to a more satisfying, and less painful or negative, experience of events. A strength of CBT is that if any exercise doesn't work, based on your own subjective standard, it can be dealt with in the same way as any scientific experiment with negative results (i.e. either shelved entirely, or patiently revised). <br /><br />In general, I think that at the very least, we have various types of cognitive filters or amplifiers, which process stimuli in different ways, sometimes in a very selective way, and sometimes in a way which causes a behavioral response increasing the likelihood of experiencing further, similar stimuli. This can become a vicious cycle involving self & others. <br /><br />It is very clear that emotion changes perception of events. Some of this change may take place on a type of intellectual, or philosophic level, but in this post I am hypothesizing that some may also occur on a visceral, "neurologic" level, similar to the McGurk effect. An intellectual dialog, with self or others, can sometimes help with depression, but I suspect it is important to know about the possibility of visceral perceptual change in depression as well. In some angry states, for example, a human or any other creature may have a hard time responding to any stimulus, or any event, without aggression. An intellectual dialog about anger may serve, at the height of the moment, mainly to delay and defuse action, rather than to effect persuasive intellectual and resultant emotional change directly.GKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14714377295981745087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886575137375451769.post-75434908268470106452010-11-01T12:49:58.176-07:002010-11-01T12:49:58.176-07:00The term "cognitive distortion", and man...The term "cognitive distortion", and many of the CBT theories often really annoy me. I recognize that I have an illness that may make my thoughts distorted, but it doesn't necessarily mean my thinking/perceptions are wrong.<br /><br />I believe there are people who see more than others intend them to see. People who have a depth of feeling and perception that is more "sensitive" to external stimuli. People who see subtle changes in body language, words, or tones of voice. People who pick up on underlying messages that are really being sent whether the sender knows it or not.<br /><br />If everyone outside myself were really positive towards me in the way CBT exercises seem to suggest, why are we, as humans so intrigued and captivated by other's downfalls? The news, the magazines, the books...so often what people seem to want is to see others fail. <br /><br />It isn't a stretch to extrapolate that interpretation of what drives other's behaviour towards us in our own lives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com