You deflect from the issue at hand by proclaiming that someone is an “ass”
or an “idiot” without any argument to back it up.
Ad hominem.
You attack the character or the authority of the person without addressing the actual substance of the argument. (If someone who smokes says:
“Smoking is bad,” you respond: “Who are you to say?!” rather than seeing it as an objective truth.)
Responding to tone.
You criticize the tone or the diction of the person making the argument as a means of deflecting from actually addressing the argument itself.
Contradiction.
You state the opposing case with little or no evidence to back it up. You’re arguing for the sake of it, you just inherently do not want to validate or agree with the person for some reason.
Counterargument.
You contradict the statement, then back it up with reasoning and/or supportive evidence.
Refutation.
You find the mistake in the argument and explain why it is a mistake using direct quotations or inferences from the person’s original statement.
Refuting the central point.
You explicitly refute the central point of the argument, providing sound logic and reason (if not research, or personal experience) to back up your claim.
32
SIGNS YOUR
MENTAL BREAKDOWN
is actually
AN EMOTIONAL
BREAKTHROUGH
01. You’re questioning everything.
You’re done believing that things are as they appear, or that what you were raised to believe about something is the right way to think overall. You’re exploring new ideas of philosophy and spirituality and politics and thought, and you’re coming to find that you didn’t know what you didn’t know.
02. You’re realizing that there’s a difference between happy thoughts and happy feelings.
You’ve been trying to fill yourself up with “happy thoughts”
forever, only to find that you get attached to a certain outcome (that doesn’t become reality) and you’re even unhappier in the first place.
You’re realizing that there’s a difference between “a way of thinking that lets you enjoy the moment” and “a way of thinking that makes you happy about potentials, possibilities, and things that are everything but what’s actually happening.”
03. You’re starting to see patterns.
You’re realizing that many of the things that keep resurfacing in your life—relationships, jobs, ideas, feelings—are products of what you believe they are or should be. They are patterns, and maybe if you could figure out how to change them, the way they emerge would change, too.
04. You feel irrationally angry.
Anger is a good emotion; that is, when you finally figure out that you’re not mad at the world—you’re mad at yourself. This is usually what happens right before change is going to be made.
Anger’s younger siblings—dissatisfaction, resentment, irritation, self-pity, etc.—are unpleasant but not disturbing enough to make you act. Anger makes you act. It burns through you and delivers you somewhere new.
05. You’re starting to question: “Is this all there is?”
You’re starting to wonder whether or not you really were meant to just sleep, eat, work then die. You’re starting to wonder if this is all that exists, or if it’s a small aperture for a far greater reality.
06. You had the million-dollar idea, found The Relationship, got the big break, and all of a sudden, you’re paralyzed.
We call this some good ol’ resistance. When we perceive happiness, we perceive fear to an equal degree. It’s not actually that you’re resisting your new life, it’s that you're very clearly identifying what you want (and experiencing a natural and balanced amount of fear about it).
07. It seems like your emotional state is unwarranted.
You shouldn’t feel anxious and depressed, but you do. There’s no reason for your irrational fears, but they’re there. You can’t quite make sense of what you’re feeling, and you realize that’s because you’re in the process of developing that skill.
08. You’re uncertain about who you really are.
You have come to terms with the fact that you’ve defined yourself based on either how people see you, or how you think you should be, and there’s a bit of a discrepancy between what you think you want and what you actually want.