Hi janniebug. I find that meditation helps me alot. I'm not talking about anything related to eastern religions... just really deep thought. Conversation with yourself. At night when I have a moment, or whenever actually, I'll think about my problems, become aware of them. Once you become really aware of your undesirable traits you catch yourself acting them out. Eventually it gets easier to catch yourself, and then correct yourself. For example: I use to have a serious problem with eye contact. Someone would talk to me and I would let my eyes roam around and focus on anything but the eyes of the person speaking to me, giving the impression that I'm not listening or do not care. I still have this problem on occasion but I'm usually aware when I'm doing it. Slowly over time I've been able to correct this problem as it occures. Awareness can apply to anything else. And you can correct yourself. It takes hard work but it beats the alternative.

Another thing that has helped me, which also ties into meditation, is thinking about the problems you have and are aware of and then writing them down. It helps to see it on paper. Once its on paper you can start picking it apart, analysing it basically. The whens,whys,whos, hows... etc. Ask yourself questions like: How can I stop doing this? Why do I do this? How is this effecting me and those around me? When did I start doing this?... etc. Those are a couple things that have helped me out alot. Basically, becoming aware of and admitting to my problems and then trying to figure out how to correct myself.