People who have unusual, or non-existent, inner voices

Re:People who have unusual, or non-existent, inner voices by smeej on Wednesday November 03, 2021 @06:04AM (#29092713)

I started going by a nickname as an adult and that was what made me realize the voice in my head that constantly told me I wasn't good enough wasn't mine, but my narcissistic father's.

It still called me by the name he gave me, not the name I call myself.

So now it's under the same restrictions he is. It doesn't have my permission to speak to me anymore.

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Re:People who have unusual, or non-existent, inner voices by josephg on Thursday November 04, 2021 @02:02AM (#29103974)

Does that work? When you tell that voice to shut up, does it fall silent?

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Re:People who have unusual, or non-existent, inner voices by smeej on Thursday November 04, 2021 @08:19AM (#29106184)

No more than my actual father's voice does, but that doesn't mean I have to hear it.

From my family members who are still in touch with him, I hear that my dad sends me angry or manipulative messages fairly frequently, but just like I have all my electronic forms of communication set to delete his messages without opening them because I've firmly decided I don't care what they say, the rest of my mind dismisses his voice in my head as pathetic, irrelevant, and not even worth hearing.

Once I realized the opinions of that voice deserved to be regarded with contempt--specifically contempt, and _very_ occasionally pity--it became much easier not to be their victim.

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