Arguing with the voices (or thoughts) in your head

The other day the New York Times had a riveting article about a man with schizophrenia who keeps his condition under control by figuring out which are the real voices and which are the heard ones, and talking back to the latter. It's endless work: day in and day out, he has to be alert and perceptive and resourceful and determined. He can't decide that life shouldn't be this hard -- it is this hard. He can't stomp off in a pout, or blame the stress of his job. This is the way things are, and if he wants to live a life of any quality, he has to talk himself out of things "others" want to talk him into.

Go read it.Most of us don't hear voices, but we all hear our own, negative thoughts.Some days they grind us down, and often they talk us into (temporary) paralysis. It's completely possible to talk back to those thoughts. They aren't always right. They aren't always honest. They almost always limit what we can do. But we're the ones who let them do that. Fight back.