I agree that it seems like there is a baseline mood that sets us up for seeing the good or the bad. It's kind of a chicken or an egg situation. Which came first? The negative bias or the depression or whatever? With CBT and DBT the theory is that if we can change our perception of negative/positive, we can change our mood. Sometimes I wonder. I started doing CBT over 20 years ago and still seem to see negatives more clearly than the positives. Can it really be because I haven't worked hard enough? Is there something chemical or hormonal going on that is not going to be rationalized away?


I do need to dust off those books, I guess. My life would have a lot less suffering if I stopped ruminating on things that are not really in my control. Most of it is just so dumb - like I've spent several hours today thinking about whether or not I want to quit that group that's not going well. I finally decided to ask to switch to a different group and was told no. What do I do now? Quit the group? Escalate my request? Live with the group I have? In the scheme of things, is this group really worth spending this much emotional energy on? Nope. Will I stop? Nope.