**I might take this down later. Let me know what you think.**

     Because I'm a nerd, and because you might be interested in what I have to say, and because that last chapter didn't help at all with how I'm feeling, I wanted to make this chapter to go hand-in-hand with the previous one. 

     A psychologist named David Burns talks about cognitive distortions (remember Thomas Sanders's video, My Negative Thinking?) when it comes to dealing with bad thoughts. It doesn't have to be diagnosed anxiety or depression, just bad thoughts in general. 

     Using the bad thoughts from the last chapter as examples, I want to break down the separate cognitive distortions, and we can reshape the thoughts to make them better. 

     The sun's already up. You slept in. Idiot.

     This is Labeling. Just one bad morning doesn't automatically dub a person an idiot. nothing does, once you think about it. This is also Magnification. Literally all he did was, he woke up a few hours later. So what? No big deal. It's okay.

     He got up before you. Great job being there for your fiancee. He probably hates you now.

     Mind Reading. Fortune Telling. Jumping to Conclusions. Oh boy. You can never, ever tell exactly what someone is thinking or feeling. To make this assumption is to only make the situation worse. It's similar to the feeling of dread you get when someone takes a minute too long to respond to a text.

     Hell, even your own mother treated you like shit. It's all your fault.

     Self-Blame. That one's awful. It pretty much speaks for itself; you incorrectly assume that something is your fault. As long as you're not entirely responsible for whatever happened, this is an unreasonable thought.

     Well, you look like shit. Per usual. 

     Mental Filter and Discounting Positives. Also, kind of hidden Labeling. These distortions mean dwelling on the negatives. In one of Lin-Manuel Miranda's pep talks in his book Gmorning Gnight, he says:

     "I'm tired.

     I bet you're tired. 

     But you're awake and alive and that's enough. Cmon."

     He's noticing the bliss of being alive and awake in this world instead of dwelling on how tired he is. I see that as an example of a contrasting thought to an AoN or DP distortion.

     These are just a few examples. I don't want to go on forever. This really helped, and I hope it helps you in whatever way that might happen.