When We Label Ourselves, Do We Limit Ourselves?

This is a question that arose in a therapy session recently as the person in front of me was determined to pigeonhole themselves by using all sorts of labels to describe the person in the mirror. None were affirming, a few were neutral, and most were disparaging. When I started considering all the ways we label ourselves: parent, partner, friend, employee/employer, gay, straight, bi-sexual, asexual, cis-gender, transgender, rich, poor, tall, short, thin, fat, old or young, that I had the thought that, indeed, we can put severe constraints on ourselves. What if, instead, we threw off those mantles and experienced the freedom to create ourselves anew each day? For many, the stigma of mental health diagnosis comes courtesy of the DSM-V with its labels of depression, anxiety and schizophrenia. I recall a poignant moment in a mental health focused 12-Step meeting at an acute care psychiatric hospital where I worked. The patients went around the room and introduced themselves. One said, “I’m so and so and I’m bi-polar.” When they were all finished, I chimed in and reminded each of them that although their charts indicated certain disorders, it didn’t mean that they were those conditions. Instead, I suggested that they might say that they had those conditions. Without the pejorative terms, they might feel a bit more hopeful. The same is so when people attend Alcoholics Anonymous and declare, “I am an alcoholic.” For some, it is a means of claiming their behaviors fue...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Motivation and Inspiration Benefit Limits Labels self-limiting beliefs Source Type: blogs