If there is one generalisation we can hazard about those who end up mentally unwell, we could say that they are masters at being very nasty to themselves.
The worst kind of nastiness doesn't have to involve shouting at oneself or calling oneself an idiot, though this might happen too. It means that one part of us continually drives the other toward self-doubt, fear, paranoia, shame, and despair, without revealing that it is doing this, or that there might be other options available. Panic and self-flagellation become identified with safety and virtue. No attention is drawn toward the partiality of the choices that are being made internally, otherwise the game would be up. Self-loathing may be the order of the day but it is never presented as such. We just think that we are “normal,” hard-headed and interpreting reality as it truly is.
Release from the grip of self-loathing therefore
