[Onward2wards]

I have a hard time with criticism. I struggled with 'why" for ages until I realized that, on some level, I must be taking it at absolute literal face value. It's like the psychological shields that most people have to deflect it, slow it down or interpret it with a grain of salt are very weak for me, and sometimes they just switch off completely. I have to actually think about it, sometimes very hard. I have no clue how to fix that. I don't even know why I'm like this.

[IchbinkeinTeufel]

Hmm.. sounds like a problem I may unfortunately have.

Could you give a couple of examples to give me a better idea?

[Strive4health]

One thing to keep in mind with criticism is to look at the context. If the criticism seems aimed at a more personal level, I think it may have more to do with that person than you. People often don't like to see what they perceive as negative traits in themselves echoed in other people.

[Voss]

One thing that helps is to keep in mind that value judgments (this is good, bad, aesthetic, etc) are often subjective. An example is that one person might think that a piece of writing is terrible, but others won't.

Originally Posted by Strive4health

One thing to keep in mind with criticism is to look at the context. If the criticism seems aimed at a more personal level, I think it may have more to do with that person than you. People often don't like to see what they perceive as negative traits in themselves echoed in other people.

This is true, too.

[Perna]

I think everyone has to rearrange criticism in their head until they can grasp it in their way, think about and work with it. One has to consider the source, what was actually said and how, what one thinks about the situation (is what was said "true"?), and what one wants to do. It takes a lot of practice to begin to get comfortable with criticism! The only way to practice is to be given criticism and work with it, differentiate the good from the "bad"/worthless, learn how we want to respond, etc.

[Jolisse]

You have to look at the source it's coming from. People love to put others down, it makes them feel better about themselves.
I've get criticized often, usually in regards to my personality. I'm a strong woman who has a mind of her own, some people don't like this. I refuse to sit idle and do what society tells me to do.
When you speak your mind and do your own thing, people don't like it.
I'm in a situation now, because I made a decision that was not in line with another person. This person has stopped talking to me and is getting to the point of a nasty confrontation. It will be a couple of weeks, before I can cut this person out of my life!
But I will continue to do things my way, because I know it's the right decision.