I think this is a difficult question.
It is similar to a past post of mine. The problem of intersubjectivity. I regret having posted it in the philosophy section. Barely anyone read it :(
For me logic is quite important. I try to make the best decisions and rely on science. Or at least on good, trustworthy sources. Listening to different opinions and trying to be unbiased when doing that. But honestly this is almost impossible., I think everyone has biases. Our brain categorizes people and situations into different schemes. This is a necessity so that we can be productive. And not ruminate all the time before making a decision.
I try to be rational. But damn this is extremely hard. Knowledge on human biases, cognitive processes and heuristics is important. But when I am facning a difficult decision my brain rather melts down instead of stayng rational.
I think mental illness can make it worse to be fully rational. I elaborated on that in the thread about intersubjectivity. Due to the fact we are inside our minds it is impossible to be fully independent of our mood. Some people claim this is why mentally ill people could never be rational. I doubt this a lot. I think with this logic one also had to conclude that all humans were irrational. Because we all have shifts in our thinking. But for sure to a different degree. Then there are even people who say suicide is always an irrational act in my point of view foolish.
But I think my different conditions can make it more difficult to remain rational. With mania I tend to too positive thinking and dangerous decisions. Depression can make you feel more pessimistic about life than it actually is. Psychosis and delusions can make you...yeah fully insane. Listening to voices. When I was psychotic i was pretty irrational. OCD can also shift my thinking. I think a lot of self-hatred stems from that.
But honestly all in all I think I am quite self-aware. But maybe this is just an over-confidence bias. But at least considering this possibilty is a step into the right direction. I tend to be too determined future. I feel like I cannot escape from my pain and nightmare. Because there are some signs that the horrible past will just repeat. So I think to a certain degree it is rational. I am not sure. Sometimes maybe I am a little bit too convinced what will happen in the future. The past was so tortorous and so much cynical shit happened. Maybe it is kind of a protection for me in order not to get disappointed. But in fact this would be a bias.
The whole thing is pretty complex. I am sure I am thinking more about this than most mentally healthy people. So I conclude I might be more rational than some of them. But mental illness can make it difficult. In mornings I am more optimistic because I have less depression. And in the evening when I am struggling I always expect the worst.
It is similar to a past post of mine. The problem of intersubjectivity. I regret having posted it in the philosophy section. Barely anyone read it :(
https://sanctioned-suicide.net/threads/the-problem-of-intersubjectivity-and-mental-illness.91724/
For me logic is quite important. I try to make the best decisions and rely on science. Or at least on good, trustworthy sources. Listening to different opinions and trying to be unbiased when doing that. But honestly this is almost impossible., I think everyone has biases. Our brain categorizes people and situations into different schemes. This is a necessity so that we can be productive. And not ruminate all the time before making a decision.
I try to be rational. But damn this is extremely hard. Knowledge on human biases, cognitive processes and heuristics is important. But when I am facning a difficult decision my brain rather melts down instead of stayng rational.
I think mental illness can make it worse to be fully rational. I elaborated on that in the thread about intersubjectivity. Due to the fact we are inside our minds it is impossible to be fully independent of our mood. Some people claim this is why mentally ill people could never be rational. I doubt this a lot. I think with this logic one also had to conclude that all humans were irrational. Because we all have shifts in our thinking. But for sure to a different degree. Then there are even people who say suicide is always an irrational act in my point of view foolish.
But I think my different conditions can make it more difficult to remain rational. With mania I tend to too positive thinking and dangerous decisions. Depression can make you feel more pessimistic about life than it actually is. Psychosis and delusions can make you...yeah fully insane. Listening to voices. When I was psychotic i was pretty irrational. OCD can also shift my thinking. I think a lot of self-hatred stems from that.
But honestly all in all I think I am quite self-aware. But maybe this is just an over-confidence bias. But at least considering this possibilty is a step into the right direction. I tend to be too determined future. I feel like I cannot escape from my pain and nightmare. Because there are some signs that the horrible past will just repeat. So I think to a certain degree it is rational. I am not sure. Sometimes maybe I am a little bit too convinced what will happen in the future. The past was so tortorous and so much cynical shit happened. Maybe it is kind of a protection for me in order not to get disappointed. But in fact this would be a bias.
The whole thing is pretty complex. I am sure I am thinking more about this than most mentally healthy people. So I conclude I might be more rational than some of them. But mental illness can make it difficult. In mornings I am more optimistic because I have less depression. And in the evening when I am struggling I always expect the worst.
