Maverick’s Blog

Category: Mental Health

  • A Winning Mindset

    It could be hard to deal with a mental illness that affects almost every aspect of your daily life. It poses several stumbling blocks in your path. Even the simplest of tasks could seem like an insurmountable hurdle. Self-care and self-sustenance become an ordeal. However, if we adopt a mindset that intends to meet the problems face-on, then it could do wonders.

    But how do you develop such a mindset when you cannot trust what your brain is telling you? Like other things in life, it requires a certain level of skill. One needs to completely restructure the way one thinks. Baby steps are the most helpful. The idea is to create a small set of achievable tasks and follow this routine religiously. It is an excruciatingly slow process, but patience will reap its fruit. The most important thing to keep in mind is to radically accept the challenges in life. The tougher the challenge, the sweeter the victory.

    One should never derelict one’s duty. This serves as a motivation to keep going. As you start incorporating this mindset, it becomes self-sustaining. This positive feedback makes it a runaway process. This is the essence of a winning mindset. To focus on one step at a time, be confident of your ability and persevere. It is a fight and a crucial fight one must win. It is vital to inculcate the ability to start from a basic understanding and build your way up to the nitty gritty of the concept. In the process you create something beautiful, and this beauty only adds with time. In retrospect, when I look back, I find that I’m in a much better position than the previous day, and the cycle continues. This, in turn gives a boost to the confidence.

    So, to sum up, when facing any challenge, simply break it down and take it step by step. Eventually, you will get there. 🙂

  • Fallacies and Cognitive Distortions

    The Strawman fallacy is the most common fallacy seen in any debate or argument. Debates and arguments are not just idiosyncrasies of politics or religion, but is inherently present in many daily-life conversations. But if we ask, why do people use a Strawman fallacy-or any fallacy, for that matter? If you explore different types of fallacies, you see a similarity in the types of fallacies and cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions are a way of thinking things in an unclear manner which often results in worsening of anxiety and sadness. These are quite amplified in those suffering from mental health challenges. But it is a mistake to think that only mental health patients should worry about identifying them. An average individual is also prone to a cognitive distortion albeit at a lower intensity.

    Let’s try to highlight the similarities in cognitive distortions and logical fallacies by seeing some common types of both.

    1. Slippery Slope Fallacy and Catastrophising – A good thing about the names of these fallacies is that they are self-explanatory. It would be ironic if they weren’t. Slippery slope is a metaphor for an irreversible and unmanageable damage or outcome. The cognitive distortion in which one catastrophises and assumes the worst outcome is not very different from this way of thinking.
    2. False Dilemma and Black and White Thinking – A false dilemma is when you think, if you don’t take the one option, there is only one other option apart from this and you hence put yourself in a dilemma. Similarly, black and white thinking is a distorted way of thinking in which people think either something is all bad or all good. It can also mean similar polarisation of people, emotions and such into two categories : one of which is positive or favourable.

    Coming back to the topic of arguments and debates, it is important to be aware of these fallacies and how intrinsically linked these are with our psyche. Being aware of these fallacies can help you be on track and avoid being swayed away by red herrings (another fallacy) and Strawman arguments. Knowing this also makes it easier to argue in a debate since the pattern of thinking is fundamentally similar and you can apply the same counter-argument to different people who have a similar tendency to be fallacious. Knowledge about cognitive distortions is also equally important because everyone is prone to it and understanding and countering these can save us a lot of worry and stress.

    I surmise the thing that makes these two similar is emotion. Debates and arguments are often fuelled by emotions which can cloud the nuances of the topic and lead to misunderstandings. Cognitive distortions are also a byproduct of emotions, and when mental health issues make emotions difficult to manage, these distortions amplify. 

    Of course, no one can be entirely rational all the time. But the goal is to understand why and where we are more likely to fall short of making a rational decision and pursuing a rational process, especially when the stakes are high. Little insights from trivial debates, arguments, and thought distortions can train us for applying the same principle to more important issues where personal bias and fallacies should be kept at bay.

  • A Panacea to Insomnia

    Sleep is a queen. It doesn’t obey any directives. However, it is adherent to routine as it is a natural consequence of the circadian rhythm. So a disciplined routine is what helps most for a regular sleep schedule.

    Alas, one can’t be always regular as life is full of stressful events which disturb the daily schedule and inadvertently the sleep schedule. Moreover, you might also find it difficult to sleep in a new environment. What to do then? You might have an important test or interview the following day and waking up early is a must.

    The more you chase it, the more it runs away. It creates a runaway cycle of anxiety. The more you see the time, the more you think that you should be asleep by now. This raises your anxiety which is a deterrent to sleep. More anxiety leads to more sleepless hours which in turn lead to more anxiety and so on. 

    I have learned to experiment with the mind to learn how to trick it. I try to be reckless about the time I go to sleep if I realise I am having symptoms of insomnia. I aim to make my mind relaxed by watching funny and light stuff even though it involves exposing myself to the blue wavelength of light— Another deterrent to sleep. However, it works for me since I am not worried about the time of night and happy-go-lucky. This sounds easy in theory, but I haven’t still mastered this art. It’s as if the mind finds it natural to worry rather than relax.

    I think medications should not be used to treat insomnia as they make you dependent and devoid of the necessary skills to trick your brain. They also do not let your sleep to be in your control as the dosage can affect the quality and quantity of sleep. They should be used only in an emergency. The idea is to experiment with different ideas that might not necessarily be what “sleep experts” say. You are awake and it’s midnight, might as well relax and let your mind-monkey wander and get tired naturally. It will eventually come home to sleep.