Anonymous-EmpathyAI/Distortion-Analysis-PACLIC39 huggingface dataset:
Patient question: From Algeria: I’m a student at the university, I’m the first in my class but I have a really low self esteem and confidence I always think that I’m always little than the others I’m not satisfied with my self even with my knowledge in my field of study. I feel always that people are watching me. When I go to the board to do a presentation I forgot sometimes what I have to say and my face turn to red. I have no stable decision and I feel weak.

Distorted part: I feel always that people are watching me.
Dominant distortion: Mind Reading
Secondary distortion: Overgeneralization
Patient question: From the U.S.: I recently started seeing a psychiatrist for ADHD. She also offers psychotherapy and comes from an ISTDP and CBT approach. I am now on medication for that and requested therapy to help me understand and manage some of the issues my ADHD has caused. During my first 30m med management appointment yesterday, it became clear I was more depressed than I had considered myself during intake.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: From Albania: Hello and thank you for reading this. Last July, my brother got married to the love of his life. They had been together for 10 years (since he was 20 and she 19), lived together for 2. She was the first and only girl he ever dated and was completely committed to raising a family with her. In November his wife started a new job, and in March this year she left him. He is completely devastated. When it happened, he cut off all relationships and we were not able to see or talk to him for a whole month. At that time he was still hoping that she would go back to him, and was waiting for her at their home. When it became clear that she wouldn’t come back, he moved back home with the family. For 2 weeks, he would just lay in bed staring at the ceiling, and couldn’t sleep at night. My mother and I stayed close to him and whenever he wanted to, we would talk and discuss what had happened with him. At least he started to go to work. He is a very introverted person, and he had invested so much in that relationship at the expense of other relationships in his life. He has very few friends and he is not really close to family members. It seemed that things got a bit better. He started going out at times, and he started sleeping again. It has been 3 months since, but he is not capable of moving on. He has shut down again, doesn’t want to talk to us, doesn’t go out, has no interest on anything. We are trying to convince him to see a psychologist, but he won’t go. He feels that his life has no meaning any more and he feels like he is suffocating in this life. He thinks now, that the only solution would be to move to some other country and start a new life. How can we help him? What else can we do to make him see that there is still life ahead? What can we say to him? Thank you in advance.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: My boyfriend just told me that he was abused as a child by several different people. One of the predators was a family friend, one was a classmate, and one was a family member. He told me his parents were angry with him for not speaking up sooner and basically blamed him.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: From Canada: First, I’ve always had a ton of stress, depression, and anxiety from being raised by dysfunctional parents (which persists), along with other things. However, newer issues have really started taking there toll on me when I suffered an injury to my neck.

Distorted part: First, I’ve always had a ton of stress, depression, and anxiety from being raised by dysfunctional parents (which persists), along with other things.
Dominant distortion: Labeling
Patient question: What do I do!? I just feel like I have no control over anything… it’s like I’m just always supposed to be on… I never have time for myself… I’m always either studying or working or listening to my mother’s problems with her ex-husband. I typically like to unwind by playing the bass, but I can’t even get what I need out of that.

Distorted part: I just feel like I have no control over anything… it’s like I’m just always supposed to be on… I never have time for myself… I’m always either studying or working or listening to my mother’s problems with her ex-husband.
Dominant distortion: Emotional Reasoning
Secondary distortion: All-or-nothing thinking
Patient question: I’m a 34 year old male and for many years i went through phases where i was very hard on myself, no matter what i achieved, I would still tell myself that its not good enough and pretty much destroy any sort of “good feelings” that i assume come with such things. Thats not to say that i’m a perfectionist , the work i’m in now is far from impressive, nor is any other aspect in my life, in short to say that i’m a failure is a understatement. Over the past 16 months i have been going to counseling and talking about these feelings, along with some very strong feelings of anxiety, that almost lead me to taking my life, and things have got a little better , i’ll admit its nice to be able to sleep without first reliving almost every event of the pervious day and picking out the mistakes i made and how these mistakes will affect me. despite all this, i still feel that i’m the same person, i should be better , i should be in a better work position , i should be more outing , but i’m none of these and fear I never will be; simply because all of the things i’ve done so far are no good if i’m just going to remain in the same position. I’ve tired different methods of dealing with these feelings ( questioning them, standing up to them, positive self talk, exercise ) but none of these have worked out to well. At the moment i’m stuck, the strong feelings of anxiety have gotten a whole lot weaker, i don’t have a urges to hurt my self physically , but I still feel like the same person and fear i’ll remain like this forever (age 34, from Ireland)

Distorted part: Thats not to say that i’m a perfectionist , the work i’m in now is far from impressive, nor is any other aspect in my life, in short to say that i’m a failure is a understatement.despite all this, i still feel that i’m the same person, i should be better , i should be in a better work position , i should be more outing , but i’m none of these and fear I never will be; simply because all of the things i’ve done so far are no good if i’m just going to remain in the same position.
Dominant distortion: Should statements
Secondary distortion: Labeling
Patient question: From the U.S.: Why don’t I feel any desire at all for physical contact with my boyfriend of 3 years? We are both divorced, in our 40’s, have kids from previous marriages, and are both Christians. We decided early on not to have sex, but after a month or so, we gave in. This lasted a few months, then we backed off.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: Is this normal behavior for a parent to neglect spending time with their kid(s)? Before I turned 10, my childhood was good and I have fond memories of my family hanging out / doing activities together. However, after reaching the age of 10, my father just stopped bothering to spend time with his children. Over the years he acts like he wants to hang out but when time rolls around for the activity to take place, always comes up with excuse to not hang out (be it family activities or spending time with individual family members). This obviously hurt my feelings as a child (mainly because I would try to follow things up) and he would always get angry at me. I’m now a 29 year old adult, and he still claims to want to hang out from time to time. However I really don’t believe him and get annoyed with this behavior because I know he won’t follow through. Problem I have, is not that he won’t hang out. If he doesn’t value his family enough to spend time with them, that’s fine. But he acts like everyone else is to blame for this (even though he suggests hanging out, and other people have to follow up to see if event is really taking place).

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: Hi I am a 23 year old virgin. I was coming out of my shell and kissing and dating. I was really starting to enjoy life then I started having ED issues and my penis started to curve also. I was diagnosed with venous leak by a urologist. I had a complete nervous breakdown. I spent night after night hyper-ventilating and wishing for death as I felt totally worthless and very suicidal. It was all I thought about and it ruined me. I dropped out of university as I couldn’t focus on my work with my misery and obsessive intrusive thoughts. My libido went entirely and orgasm lost any mental benefit if anything it made me feel worse. This went on for a year. During this year my grandfather died and my cat went missing without a trace also. Any sexual reference made by friends or in show movies or books just made me feel horrible. Seeing a woman that I would have usually found sexually attractive was not arousing in the slightest and that is just upsetting beyond words.

Distorted part: I was diagnosed with venous leak by a urologist. I had a complete nervous breakdown. I spent night after night hyper-ventilating and wishing for death as I felt totally worthless and very suicidal. It was all I thought about and it ruined me. I dropped out of university as I couldn’t focus on my work with my misery and obsessive intrusive thoughts.
Dominant distortion: Magnification
Patient question: I’m 17 now and should be off to university next year, but I’m so scared I don’t know if I should. I have a history of depression, really bad self-esteem, and I know I show many symptoms of OCD and anxiety, specifically GAD. The thought of going to university at this point terrifies me as I am worrying that all of my problems will get worse and worse to the point that I can’t cope anymore. In fact the only reason I think I’m dealing at the moment is because I have friends to talk to when things are getting tough, but I won’t have them when I go to uni. I just really do not know what to do at this point. I keep changing my mind between definitely not wanting to go (like now) and thinking that it wouldn’t be too bad. I admit I have spent most of my time in the not wanting to go category though. I have applied to go and got a couple of places so far, but even applying took a lot of convincing. I’m just so stuck and panicked. (age 17, from UK)

Distorted part: I’m 17 now and should be off to university next year, but I’m so scared I don’t know if I should. I have a history of depression, really bad self-esteem, and I know I show many symptoms of OCD and anxiety, specifically GAD. The thought of going to university at this point terrifies me as I am worrying that all of my problems will get worse and worse to the point that I can’t cope anymore.
Dominant distortion: Should statements
Secondary distortion: Fortune-telling
Patient question: From Canada: I’m an 8th grade boy, I hope I won’t be judged differently or ignored because I am under 18. I have severe ADHD and sluggishness and I find it very hard to incline myself to work or study. I don’t want to lose my future because my grades are going down and i just brush it off and say “maybe next time.” I’m worried because this is also bringing down my confidence, which is one of my key traits and I want to be who I am and have a good future with good grades. Is there any way I can be helped?

Distorted part: I’m an 8th grade boy, I hope I won’t be judged differently or ignored because I am under 18.
Dominant distortion: Mind Reading
Patient question: From the U.S.: I’m a 20 year-old female, and in the past I was on the promiscuous side. My downfall started when I was 16, and was coerced into having sex with a 20-year-old guy I wasn’t even into. From there I had several more casual encounters. I acted like I wanted it, and was proud of “being a slut”, but to be honest I died a little on the inside every time.

Distorted part: My downfall started when I was 16, and was coerced into having sex with a 20-year-old guy I wasn’t even into. From there I had several more casual encounters. I acted like I wanted it, and was proud of “being a slut”, but to be honest I died a little on the inside every time.
Dominant distortion: Labeling
Secondary distortion: All-or-nothing thinking
Patient question: Within this month, some extremely frighting and scary things have been occurring to me. I have begun to hear noises in my head saying different things with different accents, they tell me different things all the time. Once I remember seeing a man in the forest all alone, and hearing voices stating to murder him. At some times, definitely a lot in my school, it feels like the entire day was one minute, I sometimes literally cannot remember anything I just did. It is extremely terrifying. I feel tired all the time, I rarely, if ever, smile. I am barely passing school, mostly Ds and C minuses – I dont use a single second of my day on studying or doing homework, and seeing as I barely can function in my school environment, I barely understand anything I am supposed to be learning, and I really dont care. I am always silent all day, and when confronted I simply answer with the quickest response I can.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: From the U.S.: I’m 30 and have never experienced the feeling of being embarrassed or shame. I constantly read and see the word (embarrassment) in books or TV, but I have never identified with it. When growing up, I actually thought the feeling of anger (which I experience quite often) and the feeling of embarrassment were one and the same thing. I now realize from my past that in situations were I was supposed to feel embarrassed such as when I was bullied or ridiculed, I only felt anger.

Distorted part: I’m 30 and have never experienced the feeling of being embarrassed or shame.
Dominant distortion: Overgeneralization
Patient question: From England: My boyfriend and I met at university, and since graduating we have lived with his retired parents. They are comfortable and are helping us find our feet. I work part time and make a small contribution, my boyfriend is given a small allowance until things pick up. We are very appreciative of their support and respectful in their home.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: Hello everyone, about a week ago I started to have intrusive sexual thoughts about children and am very tired of having them. I don’t even find these fantasies arousing, I find them more annoying, but in the end all this train of thought leads me to is panic of being a pedophile and tiny stomach pains. I just went on a site that says if you have thoughts like I did you are automatically a pedophile. I would never in all good consciousness ever harm a child like that!

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: Hello. I have suffered from depression for about 15 years, but right now I am experiencing symptoms I have never had before. I’ve always felt the emptiness, the numbness, fatigue and often the suicidal ideation (more often than I care to elaborate on).

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: From the U.S.: I’ve had extreme depressive lows with suicidal thoughts for as long as I can remember. I was diagnosed with anxiety as well as depression when I was 16. On my 18th birthday my boyfriend slept with my best friend, but I stayed with him. He became very emotionally abusive towards me and I lost all my friends. I was more depressed than I had ever been in my life. We broke up right before I moved out of state for school. I was still suicidal and started drinking, doing drugs, and having casual sex very frequently. I failed most of my classes. I got a therapist who diagnosed me with ADD.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: Despite my numerous attempts to reach out to my parents for support about my mental health, I am constantly dismissed and told it’s ‘not that bad’ and I’m treated like I have to ‘just get over it’ and receive no compassion or support. It’s like they could care less about me at all. I’d like to seek treatment for previously diagnosed mental illness along with ones I suspect I may have, but I feel like I won’t be able to be successful with my parents constantly making me feel like my illnesses are made-up or just an excuse. None of my attempts to make them understand do any good, they just see them as more excuses as to why I can’t function ‘like an adult.’ I approached my mom recently to express concern that I may have dependent personality disorder and avoidant personality disorder, and she basically just waved me off and dismissed my concerns. It really tore me up and disappointed me. I already suffer from depression and anxiety.

Distorted part: I’d like to seek treatment for previously diagnosed mental illness along with ones I suspect I may have, but I feel like I won’t be able to be successful with my parents constantly making me feel like my illnesses are made-up or just an excuse.
Dominant distortion: Fortune-telling
Secondary distortion: Mind Reading
Patient question: From the U.S.: About four years ago I was released from a psychiatric hospital after a month, and my mom had picked me up. I was looking at the papers and I saw under diagnosis, along with what I had been diagnosed with before was ‘psychosocial’. I asked my mom what that mean and she said it meant I have no social skills. I could had told you that!

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: From Iran: I am very frustrated right now because my 57-year-old mom is very depressed, which by the way is not a new topic, yet it bothers me so much. She is always tired and sad. She is sad because her knee hurts and she is frightened to go for a surgery although she has so much trouble walking, nobody helps around the house, my grandma visits her everyday and drives her crazy, dad is so messy and unhelpful, and many other things that she calls me everyday to nag about.

Distorted part: She is sad because her knee hurts and she is frightened to go for a surgery although she has so much trouble walking, nobody helps around the house, my grandma visits her everyday and drives her crazy, dad is so messy and unhelpful, and many other things that she calls me everyday to nag about.
Dominant distortion: Overgeneralization
Secondary distortion: Labeling
Patient question: I was in a relationship for two years throughout high school. It was my first “real” relationship and I fell in love with him. I thought we were going to try to make it work through college even though it would be hard because we loved each other so much. However, he randomly broke up with me before the summer even started. He wouldn’t tell me why or what had gone so wrong. Naturally, I was absolutely devastated. He just dropped out of my life completely.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: From the U.S.: I hate to be seen in public, I am very self conscious. I always feel like I am fat. I always think of worst case scenarios, for example, my husband will leave to go to the store and I’ll worry that he’ll get in car accident. I worry a lot that my children will hate me when their older. When ever someone asks me for advice I am always negative. I get angry over nothing. I hate it. Anything will set me off such as just having to repeat myself will make me extremely upset. I have a hard time falling asleep at night because I am afraid someone will brake in and kill me while I’m sleeping. I will think about a situation over and over in my head and I have to tell my self constantly to stop thinking about it because I get so upset mostly thinking that I looked like an idiot.

Distorted part: I always feel like I am fat. I always think of worst case scenarios, for example, my husband will leave to go to the store and I’ll worry that he’ll get in car accident. I worry a lot that my children will hate me when their older. When ever someone asks me for advice I am always negative. I get angry over nothing. I hate it. Anything will set me off such as just having to repeat myself will make me extremely upset. I have a hard time falling asleep at night because I am afraid someone will brake in and kill me while I’m sleeping. I will think about a situation over and over in my head and I have to tell my self constantly to stop thinking about it because I get so upset mostly thinking that I looked like an idiot.
Dominant distortion: Fortune-telling
Secondary distortion: Emotional Reasoning
Patient question: Hello. I am a 15 year old girl. Since I was a little girl, I never really went outside. I always stayed at my home most of the time. I only had one friend with whom I would talk to most of the time. I was terrified of what people thought about me, and I still am. And because of that I avoid people, even my classmates. A humiliating incident happened today. After tuition, my tuition sir’s small girl who is about six years younger than me was playing with me. She then suddenly took a leap on the double-swing seat’s edge and was standing and swinging. I was worried she would accidentally fall and hurt herself. So, I went over and playfully hit her leg and told her she might fall. After that she did something which really humiliated me in front of my friends. She slapped me. I was speechless and I walked away. What’s worse is that I didn’t even tell her anything. What’s even more surprising is the fact that I didn’t even get angry. When I went home, I was only thinking what my peers would say about me after that embarrassing and humiliating incident. I still wasn’t angry on the girl.

Distorted part: I was terrified of what people thought about me, and I still am. And because of that I avoid people, even my classmates.
Dominant distortion: Mind Reading
Patient question: From the U.S.: In short, my ex wife cheated on me twice. Once while we dated and the last time while we were married. We divorced 4 years ago but I have trust and self esteem issues. I let these seep into my relationship with a wonderful woman and after a rocky few weeks and me telling her my gut was telling me something was not right and asking her if she was involved in something behind my back, she finally suggested a break but said that basically this means we are broken up but, if I take the time to work out my issues, it could be just temporary.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: Recently became very depressed and really felt like ending my life. I also have a dissociative disorder (de-realization – though I did not know until recently what the symptoms were called), I suffer from frequent nightmares, about 1 every 10 days, I was abused and neglected as a child. I only did anything about this 3 months ago when I became very depressed. I have been in Therapy 3 months. Ok, someting very strange I have noticed is that I’m unable to visualize my therpaists face (no problem recognizing her) it is truly bizare as I have no problem with anyone else I know, I have an excellent memory and very good 3D visio-spacial, I’m very good at visualizing situations I’ve been in and can visualize people in meetings from months ago even having only seen them once. I’ve sat looking at this lady for over 15 hours now but draw a complete blank when attempting to visualise what she looks like (unless I’m in the session of course!) — There is definitely some strange stuff going on subconsciously I think. I’m interested to know your thoughts on this matter, and whether this is a known phenomenon, and what it might mean. Many thanks.

Distorted part: Ok, someting very strange I have noticed is that I’m unable to visualize my therpaists face (no problem recognizing her) it is truly bizare as I have no problem with anyone else I know, I have an excellent memory and very good 3D visio-spacial, I’m very good at visualizing situations I’ve been in and can visualize people in meetings from months ago even having only seen them once. I’ve sat looking at this lady for over 15 hours now but draw a complete blank when attempting to visualise what she looks like (unless I’m in the session of course!) — There is definitely some strange stuff going on subconsciously I think.
Dominant distortion: Magnification