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How should I respond to criticism?

Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: Aug 18, 2019 | Replies (13)

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@gingerw

@aliali Like you, I am a perfectionist. But over the years I have learned to soften the edges somewhat, and not hold myself to such strict standards. It takes work. Often being a perfectionist may turn people away from you. If you are like me, I would correct people all the time, in their speech, grammar, tasks, etc. It drove people away from me. I am a much happier person and a happier person to be around, now that I worked on becoming softer.
As for the list - what do you hope to accomplish with this? Have you thought about how family member might react when you ask them about the list? What is the purpose of rehashing a negative [to you] event that occurred, as that might increase a family member's opinion of you being a source of problems? I hope you will consider these questions just posed. Will you do that?
Lastly, remember, sometimes when someone is criticizing you, it might be because they are reminded about something they do not like about themselves, and if they can make you feel poorly, it raises themselves up in their own eyes. I hope the wording was understandable.
Ginger

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Replies to "@aliali Like you, I am a perfectionist. But over the years I have learned to soften..."

@gingerw My son is like this it drives me crazy. He will correct my grammar and if I put preposition at the end of a sentence it drives him wild

Hello @aliali, I feel that what @gingerw has said about the list is true. Your family has been unduly critical of you and I'm not sure that giving them another opportunity to criticize you would be at all helpful.

Instead, why don't you tell them of one of their positive characteristics and then ask them to tell you one of the positive characteristics that they see in your life? In other words, write affirmations for each other! This may not change their attitude overnight but in time, if you keep telling them something good about themselves and then ask them to tell you something good about yourself, it might eventually turn their critical attitudes toward something more positive.

It might be worth a try to just see how it works.