Feel Better Blog

A long time ago, I read a wonderful book called the Tau of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. It explains the Tauism philosophy via the behaviour and actions of Winnie the Pooh as well as the other characters in Pooh’s universe.  It occurred to me recently, while studying Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, that the various Cognitive Distortions might map neatly on to those same characters and this might be a simple memorable way to understand these distortions.  However, a Google search tells me that this is not an original thought at all and such a post, albeit focused on the character Eeyore, has already been written on this: Marissa Lee - Cognitive Distortions With Eeyore Maybe one day, after a bit more CBT practise, I'll have a go at the timid character Piglet who labels himself so very small and weak, the feigned superiority of Owl who is anxious that the fact he can't actually read is never discovered, or the egotistical overconfidence of Tigger who cognitively distorts himself into cri...

One of the things that has struck me in the past few years is how much of a symptomatic overlap there is between a wide array of mental health disorders and syndromes. One such symptom is the Impossible Task that I’ve seen described as a symptom of depression, a symptom of anxiety and a symptom of ADHD. The Impossible Task could be anything: going to the bank, refilling a prescription, making your bed, checking your email, paying a bill. From the outside, its sudden impossibility makes ZERO sense. — M. Molly Backes (@mollybackes) August 28, 2018 Impossible Tasks are small every-day simple tasks that everyone, including the person experiencing the problem, knows are not difficult but are surrounded by an invisible but impenetrable barrier preventing their completion. They are generally very mundane such as making a doctor’s appointment, taking out the garbage or cleaning your desk. This impenetrable barrier can take on many different compositions including: The expectation of signific...