Yeah - I think the issue is that many people want to feel miserable (or at least be comforted), and don't appreciate the suggestion that they could stop doing so on their own. Not that there'd be anything wrong with that, per se - I've certainly done this myself. But these days, if I realize that I want to feel miserable, I'll at least try to avoid burdening other people with it.
And to be clear, I don't think that people who react negatively to such suggestions always want to feel miserable. These kinds of skills are hard to communicate in writing or speech, and often it might just be the case that somebody is genuinely feeling miserable and would want to stop being so, but the feeling is so strong that any kind of "just ignore it" advice just sounds like the other person has no idea of what they're talking about. Which, to be fair, is sometimes the case, as some people seem to genuinely have no idea of what serious depression is like.
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Date: 2012-01-24 08:50 am (UTC)And to be clear, I don't think that people who react negatively to such suggestions always want to feel miserable. These kinds of skills are hard to communicate in writing or speech, and often it might just be the case that somebody is genuinely feeling miserable and would want to stop being so, but the feeling is so strong that any kind of "just ignore it" advice just sounds like the other person has no idea of what they're talking about. Which, to be fair, is sometimes the case, as some people seem to genuinely have no idea of what serious depression is like.