The inner critic compounds the effect of anything negative in your life by blaming you for it. It keeps drawing your attention to the negative and spoils your pleasure when something positive happens by telling you that” it won’t last” or “you don’t deserve it." This negative dialogue takes you out of the moment and makes you feel depressed. Negative thinking can be a symptom of depression and may be a causal factor in interaction with negative life events. The first step to combat an inner critic is to become aware of what it’s saying, the second step is to externalize it. You could give your critic a name and imagine what it looks like picturing it as a grumpy old crone, for instance, or a vicious barking dog. Then begin talking back to it and telling it to back off. The inner critic generally has a negatively biased perspective and overestimates your responsibility for—and control over—outcomes in your life. It also often has perfectionistic expectations. Tell it to give you a break for a change!
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