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Topic subjectI'm not a psychologist, but from the subject matter of your post,..
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=18&topic_id=180395&mesg_id=180559
180559, I'm not a psychologist, but from the subject matter of your post,..
Posted by obsidianchrysalis, Sun Dec-06-15 10:42 PM
you may be experiencing distress because of obsessive thoughts.

Like SimplyHannah said, at least you are aware of your biases creeping into your conscious thoughts which cause you distress. That awareness definitely makes you more conscious of the harmful consequences that acting on those fears would cause to innocent people.

As strong as many of us who post here are, we're not wholly immune to a culture that is full of conscious and latent expressions of distrust and in some cases overt anger towards Arabs and Muslims and other minority groups. It's easy to become psychologically riddled by ignorance and simply isn't your fault that these biases are overwhelming you or isn't who you are.

I wouldn't be tough on yourself, because 1.) It won't get at the root of your issue and 2.) you are simply human.

That being said, I would recommend either talking to a counselor (religious or otherwise) and asking him or her about cognitive behavioral therapy. The therapist could offer techniques to 'stop' your mind from reacting in a way to these situations in a way that is keeping with your character and alleviates the stress to yourself.

Not to steer the post towards myself, but I've suffered from thoughts and subtle, subconscious reactions that you described for a number of years and talking with a counselor really helped with those feelings.

My issues dealt with a generalized fear that I had of a group of people that was based upon a number of bad experiences. But over time, I was able to admit and express my anxieties to others, including a counselor, and that decreased the anxiety significantly.

The fears were real, but after I was able to maintain better boundaries and felt comfortable expressing anxieties to people of that group, my sense of calm became more natural and stable.

If you want to check out CBT on your own, I would recommend 'Feeling Good' by David Burns. Or there's another book called 'Feeding Your Demons' that's effective as well.