Illusions, Delusions, And The Truth
Exploring our beliefs about ourselves
Know Thyself, Heal Thyself Wednesday- What Illusions do you need to clear?
What is the Difference Between Illusions and Delusions?
I have wondered what the difference is between illusions and delusions. MedicineNet says:
Illusion: A perception that occurs when a sensory stimulus is present but is incorrectly perceived and misinterpreted, such as hearing the wind as someone crying. Everyone may occasionally experience an illusion. However, illusions are extraordinarily common in people suffering from schizophrenia.
Delusion: A false personal belief that is not subject to reason or contradictory evidence and is not explained by a person’s usual cultural and religious concepts A delusion may be firmly maintained in the face of incontrovertible evidence that it is false. Delusions are common in psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Delusions can also be a feature of brain damage or disorders. Medicinenet.com
Why Explore the Two?
I definitely find myself having some thoughts about myself that are not grounded in the truth. I wanted to know how I should be labeling these thoughts. I wondered if maybe they are a form of illusions or delusions.
I do not have a diagnosed mental illness or undiagnosed one that I know of. Because of that, I will connect my experiences lightly to a definition and proceed using the language of false personal beliefs. The false personal beliefs discussed here will be focused on the self.
I hold some false personal beliefs about myself. But, not to the extent of being a delusion that cannot be dispelled by evidence. When made aware and presented evidence, I am open to adjusting.
The Struggle to Adjust
False personal beliefs about oneself are hard to adjust for several reasons.
- We often aren’t even aware that we are holding them. (listen to yourself)
- If we are aware, we often believe them to be true. (question yourself)
- Even if we are aware and we agree that a belief is false, it is often as deep-rooted and sturdy as a tree. That makes it hard to change the thought patterns and actions that have branched from it. (be willing to change)
How To Identify False Personal Beliefs About Self
Our beliefs about ourselves, true or false, are revealed through our thoughts, actions, and our self-talk. Our thoughts and self-talk are based on what we believe.
These days, having a big ol’ booty is seen by many as a good thing! I wouldn’t mind having one. But I don’t have one. When my thoughts or self-talk says, you better get your fat-@** up and make dinner, that is based on a false belief about myself. What do I believe about myself that would have me saying such things? Where did that belief come from?
Another example. When I mess something up, no matter how simple and easy it may be to fix, my negative self-talk shows up and says — STUPID! That thought is also based on a false personal belief about myself. Or is it? Do I actually believe I am stupid? Do I think that anyone else in the world thinks I’m stupid? No. I don’t think I am stupid at all. No, I don’t think anyone else does either.
Awareness that these beliefs are driving our thoughts and actions is the first step to adjusting for the better!
What To Do When We Find Them?
This is where these things get tricky. There are two choices at this point. We can dig deeper and try to find out what false belief this thought is based on or we can move forward with reprogramming our minds to become more aware and to affirm better thoughts for ourselves in the future.
If I try to dig deeper, I may find that I don’t actually believe that I am stupid. Maybe I believe I won’t be able to get things done well enough. Sometimes these beliefs are rooted in early childhood experience. Those experiences may pop right back up in our minds when we get to the bottom of this belief. Other times we may still be missing a piece of the puzzle.
I am missing a piece with both of my examples. I can’t pinpoint any reason they are part of my loop.
If we can’t figure out the missing piece — whatever it is that the belief is grounded in, may come up out of the blue sometime as we push forward with our reprogramming efforts. We can keep a lookout for it! Then, we can deal with it if it does come up. In the meantime, we can move on with adjusting our thoughts in a more positive direction. As long as we are making progress…we are making progress!
Every thought we think is creating our future. — Louise Hay
How Do We Switch Them Around?
The negative self-talk that is produced from these beliefs needs to be switched around. A good starting point is identifying the type of self-talk it is. Elaine Meade in Positive Psychology offers these categories:
Personalizing — Meaning you blame yourself when things go wrong.
Polarizing — Meaning you see things only as good or bad, no gray areas or room for middle ground.
Magnifying — Meaning you only focus on the bad or negative in every scenario and dismiss anything good or positive.
Catastrophizing — Meaning you always expect the worst.
Understanding these categories can help us better understand negative self-talk. Then, we can identify positive affirmations that counteract the negative shifting into more accepting, positive, and growth-based language.
The Truth
The truth is that we all have some thoughts, habits, and beliefs that don’t serve us well. We deserve to be served well by each and every one of our thoughts, beliefs, and actions.
Many people have true and positive self-beliefs. These were developed by input through their experiences as children or by adjusting as adults.
If you are not one of these people, it is worth the work to make any needed adjustment. Identify and dispel false beliefs and adjust the negative self-talk that has been growing. Life is much better when we are accepting ourselves as enough so we can focus our energy on blooming!
Final Thoughts
I have been doing personal work in this area for quite a while. It is so interesting to see — the more we look for something the more we find it. I was a negative self-talk oblivion. I had no idea it was happening.
Once I became aware, I couldn’t believe how much of it was happening. Then, as I made the shifts, I started to hear more positive self-talk. The more of that I looked for, the more of it I found!
The more positivity that we have for ourselves, the more we can share with others!
Thanks for reading! I hope you fill yourself with positivity! Thanks, 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘊. for the prompt: Wednesday- What illusions do you have to clear?
