12 IRRATIONAL IDEAS THAT YOU SHOULD RID YOURSELF OF FOR GOOD

(Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts. What I consider The Scientific Method for developing good mental hygiene. But, BEWARE!...when you take #1 to heart, implement it into your life & quit being a patsy & a people-pleaser, it has a tendency to really tick off those people who are used to walking all over you.)


1. Everyone should love and approve of you (if they don't, you feel awful and unlovable).

2. You should always be able, successful, and "on top of things" (if you're not, you're an inadequate, incompetent, hopeless failure).

3. People who are evil and bad should be punished severely (and you have the right to get very upset if they aren't stopped and made to "pay the price").

4. When things do not go the way you wanted and planned, it is terrible and you are, of course, going to get very disturbed. You can't stand it!

5. External events, such as other people, a screwed-up society, or bad luck, cause most of your unhappiness. Furthermore, you don't have any control over these external factors, so you can't do anything about your depression or other misery.

6. When the situation is scary or going badly, you should and can't keep from worrying all the time.

7. It is easier for you to overlook or avoid thinking about tense situations than to face the problems and take the responsibility for correcting the situation.

8. You need someone--often a specific person--to be with and lean on (You can't do everything by yourself!).

9. Things have been this way so long, you can't do anything about these problems now.

10. When your close friends and relatives have serious problems it is only right and natural that you get very upset too.

11. You don't like the way you're feeling but you can't help it. You just have to accept it and go with your feelings (NOT!).

12. You know there is an answer to every problem. You should find it (if you don't, it will be awful).