NintendoMan07
Smash Journeyman
Link to original post: [drupal=605]I'm so confused.[/drupal]
I've been an SWF member for a few months now... and I've kind of read the general community as something that really doesn't care for people as people. So... in one more try to prove myself wrong, I thought about this:
I'm thinking the competitive community has got me twisted into some really depressed monster or something. Either that, or all of this stuff is all psychobabble that can't be trusted. Heck, I'm not sure WHAT to believe.
Here's what I'm talking about: 10 "cognitive distortions". I've committed all of them (not all of them relating to Brawl), since the examples are things I've thought or said. In parentheses following the examples is a rough summary of the actual distortion.
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1. All-or-nothing thinking: "Well, I took off 3 of the guy's stock out of 5... but that was all. So... the game says I lost, so I fail." (performance falls short of perfect, so it's seen as a total failure)
2. Overgeneralization: "Well, I've lost 10 matches in a row, so I guess my streak'll continue while I'm at Smashboards..." (single negative event is seen as a never-ending pattern of defeat)
3. Mental Filter: "Wow... I got three-stocked by a guy who said he sucked." (Dwelling on a single negative detail so as to darken the reality)
4. Disqualifying the Positive: "I DID win against this guy in a FFA with items... but that just means I know how to abuse luck..." (Positive stuff gets rejected because it "doesn't count")
5. Jumping to Conclusions: "Well, I'm playing against X, so the skill gap is so wide here that there's no doubt he's gonna come out of this match grinning over his win..." (Fortune Teller Error - anticipating the worst convinced that it's an already-established fact)
6. Magnification/Minimization: "Everyone suddenly became god at Smash..."/ "I may be civil and friendly enough, but that doesn't get me anywhere on SWF..." (Make the small stuff big and the big stuff small)
7. Emotional Reasoning: I honestly can't fit something I've said to this, but I'm sure I'm not far from being guilty of this if I haven't already... but it's basically confusing feeling with fact.
8. Should Statements: "I should've... [insert whatever correction to a faux pas I made here]" (Motivation through "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts")
9. Labeling and Mislabeling: I don't think I've consciously gone to this extreme before... maybe saying I'm Brawl's only failure would be an example. But it's uh... I hope it's self-explanitory. X_X
10. Personalization: Again, I don't think I've applied this one to Brawl yet... but it's basically blaming myself for stuff that's not my fault. That... is probably the reason I can't apply this to my Brawl experience. >_>
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So yeah, I'm seeing a counselor about this. Kind of embarrassing, but something had to happen... I've been dealing with this for a while now... since the game came out. I've got pretty much a history report here: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=193814
I've been an SWF member for a few months now... and I've kind of read the general community as something that really doesn't care for people as people. So... in one more try to prove myself wrong, I thought about this:
I'm thinking the competitive community has got me twisted into some really depressed monster or something. Either that, or all of this stuff is all psychobabble that can't be trusted. Heck, I'm not sure WHAT to believe.
Here's what I'm talking about: 10 "cognitive distortions". I've committed all of them (not all of them relating to Brawl), since the examples are things I've thought or said. In parentheses following the examples is a rough summary of the actual distortion.
----------------
1. All-or-nothing thinking: "Well, I took off 3 of the guy's stock out of 5... but that was all. So... the game says I lost, so I fail." (performance falls short of perfect, so it's seen as a total failure)
2. Overgeneralization: "Well, I've lost 10 matches in a row, so I guess my streak'll continue while I'm at Smashboards..." (single negative event is seen as a never-ending pattern of defeat)
3. Mental Filter: "Wow... I got three-stocked by a guy who said he sucked." (Dwelling on a single negative detail so as to darken the reality)
4. Disqualifying the Positive: "I DID win against this guy in a FFA with items... but that just means I know how to abuse luck..." (Positive stuff gets rejected because it "doesn't count")
5. Jumping to Conclusions: "Well, I'm playing against X, so the skill gap is so wide here that there's no doubt he's gonna come out of this match grinning over his win..." (Fortune Teller Error - anticipating the worst convinced that it's an already-established fact)
6. Magnification/Minimization: "Everyone suddenly became god at Smash..."/ "I may be civil and friendly enough, but that doesn't get me anywhere on SWF..." (Make the small stuff big and the big stuff small)
7. Emotional Reasoning: I honestly can't fit something I've said to this, but I'm sure I'm not far from being guilty of this if I haven't already... but it's basically confusing feeling with fact.
8. Should Statements: "I should've... [insert whatever correction to a faux pas I made here]" (Motivation through "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts")
9. Labeling and Mislabeling: I don't think I've consciously gone to this extreme before... maybe saying I'm Brawl's only failure would be an example. But it's uh... I hope it's self-explanitory. X_X
10. Personalization: Again, I don't think I've applied this one to Brawl yet... but it's basically blaming myself for stuff that's not my fault. That... is probably the reason I can't apply this to my Brawl experience. >_>
----------------
So yeah, I'm seeing a counselor about this. Kind of embarrassing, but something had to happen... I've been dealing with this for a while now... since the game came out. I've got pretty much a history report here: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=193814
