A Little Epiphany - (and a newbie delurking)

[Dia]

And FYI for those who were following the cognitive dissonance/cognitive distortion stuff, that's precisely what we're grappling with right now.

Example - The Drinker: Gosh, my W is upset about my drinking. If she's right, I might have a drinking problem. If I have a drinking problem, I would have to do something about that because a drinking problem is a really bad thing. Wow, and I'm pretty attached to my alcohol. I don't want to change my drinking behavior at all.

Cognitive dissonance: I want to drink vs. my wife is upset and drinking problems are bad mojo.

Defensive solution: If my W is wrong, then I don't have to change my behavior and I'm not a bad person for having a drinking problem!

Cognitive distortion (in this case, denial): I don't drink nearly that much or that often. You're just exaggerating, so quit nagging me.

I'm inclined to call in some outside help a la DB coach or IC/MC, but that's a discussion for a bit later in the game.

Note: the example above *is* exaggerated, and it's not meant as a representation of my H, accurate or otherwise. It's a made-up example to show the cognitive dissonance/cognitive distortion progression.