[The Dan Keizer]

No, man, I like football.

[John F Kennedy]

When writing posts I only pay attention to not use "I" as the beginning of a sentences several times in a row. When I do commit the mistake, I know I'm starting to obsess about "me" and that I'm in a self-centred loop. Such a loop may be very bad for depressed people, as it doesn't let them see things from a meta-level or from a general level.

[spect]

Originally Posted by Selene To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

@ spect: According to the paper, writing topic was deepest thoughts and feelings about being in college, therefore it biased respondents somewhat against reporting their experiences as part of a social group. Given such limitations, what I can bluntly get out of the data is that perhaps, depressed participants have a higher need for social inclusion and this is literally disclosed by LIWC’s results on word choice. Zzz...

depressed people have a greater latent need for social interactions, which the condition of depression is depriving them from? so the text analysis reflects an expression of a need thats unfulfilled?

[Chaotic Enigma]

	Originally Posted by UltraIncredible To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Do you think depressed people tend to think about themselves way more than normal/happy people? And is this a bad thing?

Maybe they do tend to think a lot about themselves and their situation. But then again, don't you think about yourself even when you're happy and satisfied?

So, no, I don't see anything bad about one thinking or talking about themselves. I find it normal. I think all mental and emotional processes pass through the Ego and are reflected from it, since every thought, every feeling, every idea, every desire is either generated within ourselves and projected towards the outside, or influences us and is directed inward.

	Originally Posted by UltraIncredible To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Do you notice whether people focus more on themselves, on you, or on other people? What value judgments do you make about a person in each of these scenarios?

No, I don't notice. And if you ask me, I don't think you should be paranoid about this stuff. You can't spend your time counting how many times you say or think or write the first person singular personal pronoun!!! ..That would really deal as mentally ill!!!

---------- Post added 08-15-2012 at 10:21 PM ----------

	Originally Posted by The Dan Keizer To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Well I don't know who the fuck I'm supposed to talk about if not myself.

Hahaha Well said!!

[Jade333]

This is an interesting topic. It seems people who are constant victims are more often depressed, yet those who take full responsibility for themselves are less depressed. I have nothing to prove this by, just observations I've made over the years and similar research to your own. Wouldn't both of these examples be considered selfish and self-centered to some degree?

[spect]

	Originally Posted by Jade333 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	This is an interesting topic. It seems people who are constant victims are more often depressed, yet those who take full responsibility for themselves are less depressed. I have nothing to prove this by, just observations I've made over the years and similar research to your own. Wouldn't both of these examples be considered selfish and self-centered to some degree?

there may be some confusion with self-* terms, but i dont think selfish = depressed.

[Roescoe]

I use "we" a lot I'm wondering If that is even more selfish by trying to put others in my position. I guess that doesn't make me depressed just selfish. Though I've read somewhere that INFJ's are comfortable with using "we" and like to speak for groups in general. So Maybe it's just natural for me and not something I'm intentionally doing.

[wolfyx]

The world of “I” doesn’t have intrinseque logical consistency or any objective scale of value for one ’s self-worth.

This is why a purpose cannot be found by focusing internally, and without a purpose life becomes meaningless, which leads to depression.

A sense of purpose must be established in relationship with something that is outside of the ego, in order to logically establish one's self-worth in a coherent frame of reference.

Therefore happiness and mental balance can only be achieved by focusing externally.

[spect]

	Originally Posted by Roescoe To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	[B].. Though I've read somewhere that INFJ's are comfortable with using "we" and like to speak for groups in general. So Maybe it's just natural for me and not something I'm intentionally doing.

makes sense using extroverted feelings, might be more conscious of others and the audience that extroverted feelings are naturally oriented to addressing. but im not sure most people are conscious of personal pronoun use unless its drawn to their attention.

but i think theres something significant to word usage and cognitions. i just read something mentioned about abuse survivors taking the dissociative experiences scale (dse) test. dissociation was partially judged by memory recall and attention, with word tests that included trauma related and negative words. their performance and recall was slower and lower with those emotionally charged words than neutral ones.

This is why a purpose cannot be found by focusing internally, and without a purpose life becomes meaningless, which leads to depression. A sense of purpose must be established in relationship with something that is outside of the ego, in order to logically establish one's self-worth in a coherent frame of reference. Therefore happiness and mental balance can only be achieved by focusing externally.

interesting, you just described an aspect of spirituality and god being used in a therapeutic way in how it works, but meditative zen like wording that better suits an intj... who i think have some difficulty placing an ego outside of an internal frame of reference like most introverted intuitives do, they are all up in their head far more than sensors. so now im wondering if intj's have an 'i' orientation in language more than average.

[spect]

i just read an interesting comment from a child abuse councilor that does talk and journal therapy. she said it was common in journals to start out referring to themselves and their emotions in third person like using 'you' a lot.

example: "you got really upset today when x said y and reacted with anger"

she believed it was an effect of strong emotional repression, usually trauma related. a coping way to partially detach themselves from emotions by referring to themselves being more distant and safe, such as third person 'you' instead of something more immediate and sensitive, such as first person 'i' or 'me'.