[Fuzzybear]

Roughly what percentage of the time, or to what extent, over say the last month, do you feel your perceptions are correct and accurate?

And how much are they scewed by your mental illness(es)

This is something I am working on...... as T says, "reality testing".

Feel free to discuss if you don't want to or can't specify "percentages".

I think as each "new" thing comes to light I realise just how destorted my perceptions truely are. Its not until I "see" something is it that I can change it. Things in my world can seem to real at times and its only in talking about it/them can I change it. Life after all is what we see it to be. Unfortuanaly I think most troubles in the world are caused by people not realising that its their perception and not always reality. I think most of the wars would cease as well if everyone was seeing reality rather than fantasy. Theres a saying in AA about looking at life through the wrong lenses. We need to take them of and turn them around.

[Perna]

I get some reality testing by talking; people look at me and have no idea what I'm talking about and get quizzicle (quizacle? Is it like icicle? :-) looks on their faces and I panic and start talking faster, etc. I need to slow down.

I have a lot of trouble with perceptions, especially online where feedback is so often missing/"silent." Somebody not responding to a post or my own worries about what I said can get me going. In my schoolwork, we have a board and everyone introduces themselves and I started responding to the first few people but I'm the only one doing that and thought it would look "dumb" to respond to everyone when no one else was responding. Too, I didn't want to respond to everyone as there's 50 people in the class, but who do you "decide" to leave out? Aren't they going to feel hurt? (LOL, hurt that they didn't hear from Me, whom they don't "know" yet?).

In the real world I've gotten much more outgoing and "friendly" than I use to be 4-5 years ago and my husband has even commented on it (a good thing) and how helpful and nice it has been for him as I "carry" the conversation sometimes, engaging people, which he claims not to know how to to do well. I think I may be channeling my stepmother again :-) which is a little disconcerting. I never really learned to cook but am a good cook and figure I must have just picked it up helping her but now I'm "older" I appear to be more of a conversationalist than I use to and I remember she was that way too as I was growing up and I'd sometimes notice and admire her skill drawing out and conversing with people.

I think when I take the time to really look at and think about my perceptions and what I'm feeling, things get "clearer" and more straightforward. I think challenging any "negative" ones is a good idea, looking at what is really happening versus what my head alone says it sees. It's more any judgment behind what is perceived that I think get in my way. I need to see what "develops" rather than "deciding" something means something specific before it plays out.

[Wants2Fly]

Fuzzybear, first, I spend so much time alone, I do not do much reality testing. When things IRL seem out of whack, injust, etc., it usually turns out that the people I turn to for reality testing -- my T, other older women who see the ageist/sexist social injustice toward us as a category -- well, it turns out they usually confirm perceptions that I was hoping were distorted.

[Rapunzel]

I have distorted perceptions or "screwy thinking" pretty constantly, especially since I can't let go of it even when I know it's not right. I don't think I can trust myself to tell what is accurate and what is screwed up.

T gave me homework to spend 15 minutes every day writing about my screwy thinking that day. Then I have to end with three positive coping statements. I can easily spend an hour or two writing about the screwy thinking. Then I sit there and labor over the positive coping statements, as they do not come easily at all.

[Wants2Fly]

That seems like a worthwhile strategy, Rapunzel. Good posting.