Before I say anything else I know that someone will disagree with my use of “false” all moods are real and all thoughts come to our head are thoughts, I know that, what I’m talking about is the moods and thoughts that are controlled more by our mental illness or imbalances than they are by us. They are false answers to questions we could normally answer correctly.

Those moods and thoughts are a lot of time out of our control, but how we acknowledge them and how we act on them is completely our choice. Once we know they are “false” or from our imbalances it is easier to choose to not act on them or to do so properly, the problem is a lot of these moods and thoughts feel just as real and rational as our other thoughts and learning to tell the difference between them is insanely hard.

It might be easier to know where our thoughts are coming from if we ran every one by a group of trusted peers, but even leaking some of them toxic thoughts can hurt people and it can hurt us having other people tell us what is “real” and what isn’t. So how do you go about trying to figure it out?

Sometimes thinking about what a trusted peer would say to it can help a lot. It can give you insight. Sometimes thinking about what you would say when you were more stable can give you insight. Would you have reacted this way when you were in a happier mindset? No? Why not? Would your calm and collected friend widen her eyes at your thoughts in response to something?

Another way to try and figure it out is if your emotions really connect. I’ve had invasive fears that strike me into tears but when I try to think about addressing them out loud something in me keeps me quite, it’s normally my rational mind trying to fight me. It’s like when I have intense moods that break for short little windows when I feel the opposite. That’s normally a sign that I need to look at those moods or thoughts again.

Another way is really breaking down what would come from this thought or emotion if you did follow it all the way through. If you let all this anger out where would it lead you? If you accused this person of what you think they’re guilty of what would it lead to? If you acted on that impulse what would you gain or lose?

Taking time to dissect your moods and thoughts can be a lot, which is why I recommend starting with the bigger thoughts and mood swings till you come up with a system that works for you, even if it just works most the time. Things will leak out that shouldn’t, that’s part of dealing with a mental illness and trying to take control of your mental health, but keeping even some of those “false” thoughts and moods reined in can really help us keep control of our lives. It can help us be more authentic to the worlds truth and to our personal truth.