Anonymous-EmpathyAI/Distortion-Analysis-PACLIC39 huggingface dataset:
Patient question:  (I’ve edited this letter down by half) From a 19 year old young man: When I was 12 years old a new teacher came to my school. She was young, approx. 22 years old, and this was her second year of teaching. We clicked from day 1, and over time, we developed a strong, positive student – teacher relationship.. . We began email communication between her and I. At first, they weren’t really anything, just conversations about school, the subject she taught, and things we had in common (which turned out to be a lot).

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: From the U.S.:  My husband and I separated 2 years ago for a couple of months (he was my fiance then). Guess the wedding planning was taking its toll on us. After 5 months we got back together and went ahead with the wedding. During the breakup he met a woman and started a relationship with her. When he realized he still wanted to be with me he called off his relationship and we got married.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: My boyfriend of four months has invited me on a trip across Canada this summer. We have already planned out most of the itinerary and have discussed the cost of the trip. All that I needed was a yes from my parents. When I brought it up, my mom was on board, initially, but asked me to speak to my father about it. She then told me that she was less comfortable with the trip because I haven’t been with my boyfriend for long enough. When I asked my dad about it, he was initially concerned with the distance and length of the trip, because I do get anxious at times and can have panic attacks. After speaking with my dad, he seemed to be okay with the trip except for not having known my boyfriend for long enough. While I agree that this is completely reasonable, I want them to be able to see it from my perspective.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: We’re both in our late 20’s and have been dating for 8 yrs now. We enjoy being with one another, he makes me laugh and I make him laugh too. But lately, I’ve been feeling very jealous. He works a lot and the only time we have together are on the weekends. But he doesn’t even want to spend that time with me. All he ever wants to do is hang out with his friends, and when I get mad at him, he thinks I’m being “crazy”, unreasonable, and can’t understand me. I’ve been getting mad pretty frequently lately. And I’m sick and tired of being mad. He thinks the part of the problem is me not wanting to hang out with his friends. Am I really being crazy? What can I do?

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: From a teen in the U.S.: I’m 19 years old, and I have a great fear of developing schizophrenia. It all started when I watched a video about Marina Joyce and her supposed mental illness, and being the idiot that I am looked up the symptoms and noticed something I sometimes do (thought blocking), but I stopped myself from doing that.

Distorted part: I’m 19 years old, and I have a great fear of developing schizophrenia.
Dominant distortion: Emotional Reasoning
Patient question: I grew up in an extremely abusive home. My mother used to watch me get beat, she too was beaten, and there was never anyone that could help me. At age 9, I snapped and decided to kill my stepfather, but on that day my mother’s parents came took me to live with them. They showed me love, and cared for me, but I have always felt like something was missing from my life. I have sought to fill that void through relationships, but all have failed except the one I am currently in. I have had a spouse that got hooked on drugs commit suicide, then got remarried years later only to be cheated on, and now I can’t stop being suspicious of my current spouse.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: I have severe generalized anxiety and treatment resistant major depressive disorder. I am prescribed medication by my family doctor, whom I see once every two months. During my last prescription renewal, I asked him if there are any other treatments or medications that I haven’t yet tried, and his answer was very confusing. He said, “Psychiatry hasn’t changed. The only treatment I know of that works [for depression] is to have a full life, be active socially, work full time, get plenty of exercise, and get up at 6:30am every day.” I asked him, “How do you do that with anxiety and problems, and chronic trouble sleeping?” He responded, “All at the same time, I guess.”

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: From a 13 year old in the U.S.: Hi, I struggle with what seems like depersonalization but I can’t find anything like my case on the website. I don’t take any drugs and I haven’t had any really bad anxiety since fifth grade. However, I feel detached from reality.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: Well I fell in love with a friend. first I didn’t know she was bi. we hangout a lot and one day we were at my house and she started getting close to me and she kissed my neck and I didn’t push her off. we didn’t kiss or had sex. well the two days after we acted like we were together but secretly because she wasn’t out. and after that she apologized for the day when she got close to me. than I had to tell her that I love her and she rejected me. we met for a quick talk and she told me that she is in love with our straight friend (her best friend) and she don’t want to use me as a rebound. and what she felt the day we got close was only physical. well I don’t think so because she is not a sexual/physical person and she told me that when we talked again on the phone (contradiction) What I know that she had issues with her dad and that common friend (a girl) stayed by her side back in the days. I don’t know also what type of issues she had with her dad. what I know is that when she talks about him she describes him as an animal. the straight friend is so much caring, she cares about everyone and stayed next to her this time. it’s hard for me because I saw the spark in her eyes when we hang out together even this one friend want us to be together because she thought that the girl I love likes me too because it’s obvious. it’s hard for me because she still talks to me every day I see her at college we have the same classes. it’s very hard because she gave me signals than she rejected me I don’t know if I should tell our common friend that she loves her I don’t know if a should stay by her side I don’t know if I should leave it’s just too hard for me I care for her and want to know if this bad relationship with her dad and our friend being caring are the reasons that she rejected me or she maybe thought that was love and she is just afraid of losing her best friend. ps she told that even if her best friend will only think of her as a sister she would be happy to stay with her because she loves her and she rejected my help to get out of the situation. (From Lebanon)

Distorted part: it’s hard for me because she still talks to me every day I see her at college we have the same classes. it’s very hard because she gave me signals than she rejected me I don’t know if I should tell our common friend that she loves her I don’t know if a should stay by her side I don’t know if I should leave it’s just too hard for me I care for her and want to know if this bad relationship with her dad and our friend being caring are the reasons that she rejected me or she maybe thought that was love and she is just afraid of losing her best friend.
Dominant distortion: Mind Reading
Patient question: From a teen in Australia: I don’t know why, but I enjoy feeling in control of others more than I should. I manipulate and blackmail to get what I want, which makes me sound like a bad person when I’m really not, but recently I have started to think about and even seriously consider murder. How easy would it be to just stab my parents in their sleep? Of course, I would never do something like that, but for some reason I’m not worried about my homicidal thoughts, when I really should be. I would ask my mother about this, but I’m pretty sure she’d just dismiss my questions, as I have a history of lying to get attention.

Distorted part: I don’t know why, but I enjoy feeling in control of others more than I should.
Dominant distortion: Should statements
Patient question: Alright, quick backstory here: I’m currently 17 years old and I’ve moved out of my mother’s place last year. For pretty much my entire life, I’ve witnessed my mother acting like a lunatic. My dad and her argued over nonsense and he had to move us multiple times because she thought there was something wrong with the houses we lived in. She complained about demons being in the walls or something.. I don’t know.

Distorted part: For pretty much my entire life, I’ve witnessed my mother acting like a lunatic.
Dominant distortion: Labeling
Patient question: …but it seems different to other experiences people have with it on this site. I think i may have OCD but i am slightly confused as it is very area based. The type of OCD that certain items ahve to be in the right place. I also do a lot of mental counting. Such as the fact that I have to do everything either 3,4,9,10+ (not 13) times. Everyday i have to do these counting and moving rituals although some days are worse than others. Some days i have no control but some days i have more control over them. Individually these rituals do not take long but when added toughener they take up about 30 minutes. It vary a lot by each day)(I have never really counted and so this is just a guess) of my day. For example when i am going to be I always have a certain pattern that can take quite long. I can also get quite distressed if i do not do these rituals. These reasons i am saying this and not looking at other, already answered questions is that it is very area based. I only get the moving and organizing rituals at my house. Anywhere else and I do not get them. Even the counting rituals are not as bad. But when i get home they suddenly all come back. I am speaking about it now as i used to just think that i was just an organized person but i am thinking now that because i have little control over my obsessions that it may be OCD. I feel like if i do not do my obsession then something bad will happen. Such as my house burning down, family member getting ill or something bad happening to another human/animals. I have certain images stuck in my head that make me do the rituals, otherwise the images will come true. When writing those words i feel anxiety rise up. I also get lot of other small obsessions. Too many to count. For example so are how i look at video online, i cannot skip backwards and this can very annoying. I is as though i have another brain telling my what to do.

Distorted part: I feel like if i do not do my obsession then something bad will happen. Such as my house burning down, family member getting ill or something bad happening to another human/animals.
Dominant distortion: Fortune-telling
Patient question: How do I stop myself from losing control, all of sudden I will be freaking out screaming at the top of my lungs at my bo? I have been dating my boyfriend for 2 years now and we are certain we are going to spend the rest of our lives together, but will wait a few more years for marriage. I love him so much, but we have these huge horrible fights. For example today, he came over for lunch today and everything was great, I found out he had Saturday off of work, so I said we should plan something. And he thought I was yelling and I did not think I was, he said that we don’t have to have this perfect day like in the movies, but I was just excited to have a day off together and wanted to plan something so he did not make plans with others.

Distorted part: How do I stop myself from losing control, all of sudden I will be freaking out screaming at the top of my lungs at my bo?
Dominant distortion: Personalization
Patient question: All my life I’ve been the outcast and honestly I prefer it that way. But I quickly realised that I’m different. I don’t really feel much. I don’t feel guilty or sorry for people and I knew it wasn’t normal for a boy at the age of 7 to be obsessed with murder and crime and killers. I knew I had to adapt and not draw attention to myself. So I created what you could say an act, a fake person. A role I had to commit to in order to seem as though I conformed, that I fit in. However, as i got older, I began to become cold and bitter but had to hide it. I wouldn’t say I’m a psychopath or anything of the sorts. I do share some similar attributes, for example I’m good at manipulating people, I’m smarter than average and I suppose in some senses i am fairly narcissistic though it pains me to say. I also like to consider that the person I am around people is confident and charismatic. All of this I have become accustom to. It is day to day life for me now. But as I come close to completing school, I realise that I’m drawn to death. The idea of killing someone is about the only thing that interests me and even for me that is worrying. The last thing I want to do is act upon such urges and find myself in prison for the rest of my life. I know this isn’t normal behaviour for any normal, functioning person but this is a last resort I suppose to really see if there is anything I can do before its too late. (From England)

Distorted part: I know this isn’t normal behaviour for any normal, functioning person but this is a last resort I suppose to really see if there is anything I can do before its too late.
Dominant distortion: Should statements
Patient question: I am the divorced mother of a 16-year-old daughter. My husband and I split up when she was 8. Since she first began to speak, she has always called me and my husband by our first names. She is my only child and I have always wanted so much to be called “mom” or “mommy” or whatever. I’ve never made a big thing about it till my birthday just recently, when I told her the best birthday present she could give me would be to call me “mom,” even if it was just for one day. She refused.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: First of all I want to thank the therapist who is patient enough to go through the problem I am facing.I am not sure what type of disorder I am suffering from but this problem is almost killing me I am very very very very depressed and want to commit suicide because I feel it is worthless to live this type of life. I literally have no friends in my life and I have made several attempts to make friends but I never succeeded. Till the age of 10 I was fine but the trouble started after that. I have changed school and in my class no one seemed to like me. I can confidently say that I am nice person and I never did any unpardonable mistake to be ignored like that .

Distorted part: I am not sure what type of disorder I am suffering from but this problem is almost killing me I am very very very very depressed and want to commit suicide because I feel it is worthless to live this type of life.  I have changed school and in my class no one seemed to like me.
Dominant distortion: Magnification
Secondary distortion: Mind Reading
Patient question: From the U.S.: I quit smoking Marijuana and cigarettes. I have no health insurance and used for injuries on top of fear of my anger. Today, the internet crashed in the middle of a workout and without warning, I was filled with rage. There were no thoughts to sort through, I just flipped and destroyed my phone and hurt my hand.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: OK. I started with depression in my late teens. It only worsened over the years despite ongoing treatment with antidepressants. Nothing has resolved my depression. I have been diagnosed with bipolar. I have very bad anxiety and frequent panic attacks. It has become so bad that I do not leave my house. I do not want to be around people, and if I have to it usually triggers a panic attack. I am on lexapro, lithium, xanax, seroquel, and because I can’t sleep ambien. Although these meds get me through my days, they do not solve my anxiety, social phobia, and my depression is worse. I feel I am useless to my kids or my husband because of the psychological problems I cannot be normal. I cannot hold down a job. I have been treated since 2001 and nothing has worked. The fear I have of going out in public is the worst. The panic attacks and anxiety is so difficult on my body. I have thought of suicide before but I could never do that because of my kids that need me here. I often have disturbing thoughts that come from nowhere and I am alone most of the day. During this time I tend to sink deeper into my depression. I feel fatigued constantly and have no motivation to do even simple things around the house. My memory has become worse in just a short time. I cannot remember things that were said to me or that I say even within an hour ago. I repeat myself a lot because I don’t remember anything or who I told. Is there any hope for someone in my situation? I feel like I suffer from so much that I have reached a point of no way out. No treatment has worked, and the meds just get me through day to day, but I still can’t go out in public even with the medicines. I need help. Please.

Distorted part: I feel I am useless to my kids or my husband because of the psychological problems I cannot be normal. I cannot hold down a job.
Dominant distortion: Fortune-telling
Patient question: Q. My boyfriend and I have always had a great sex life. I have 4 kids, stay at home mom, plus I homeschool 2 of my children.. I am really busy, but we have always made time for each other. The other night I was just tired and wanted to watch a little tv and go to sleep, my boyfriend wanted to have sex, and when I said I didnt feel like it… he got violent and tried to slap me in the face. And made some comment as to the effect of ” Ill go pay for it” jokingly or not, I would this to be BS and downright disrepectful.. then he stormed out of our bed and slept in a different part of the house.. What’s his problem? He is constantly wanting sex, and some nights I am so tired, I just have no energy.. Why can’t he understand this and back off and respect this fact? we have sex quite frequently.. but when I don’t feel like it one time or another he flips out and yells or gets violent.. Is this normal?

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: So I’m not really sure what’s wrong with me but I know something is not right. I just feel numb. The things that I used to be excited about or enjoyed doing have no effect on me. I used to be a straight A student but now my grades are tanking and I just. don’t. care. I can’t focus for longer then three minutes and I can’t even read the work I’m supposed to be doing. I feel detached when I hangout with my boyfriend. I have no friends and have no desire to reach out to people. I’ve felt like this for almost two years now. I used to be able to fake it but now I’m just too tired. I’m not even sad anymore. I just feel like I either have no emotion or I can’t express it. I want to do something to feel something again but I can’t. I feel trapped and suffocated but at the same time detached. I just don’t know what to do. I’m not one to whine about my problems because I know people have it worse then me but I can’t push down my feelings anymore. I can’t ignore them. What’s wrong with me?

Distorted part: What’s wrong with me?
Dominant distortion: Personalization
Patient question: What sort of mental disorder is this? I’ve had an eating disorder since summer 08. I lived off vegetables and fruits and did an excessive 3-4 hrs of exercise per day. My parents kept nagging at me to eat right but I just ignored them. I lost quite a few kilos and felt good about my appearance but it felt so tough to keep up all that exercise. I found myself really tired all the time and always in need of sleep. However, when night time rolled around, instead of going to bed at the right time I would stay up watching TV. This sleeping pattern began quite a while back in high school as I was always working late to complete my assignments. So I was sleeping late and waking up early for my morning exercise. Each day I probably only managed to get 5 hrs of sleep but that had been the norm for me since I was 14.

Dominant distortion: No Distortion
Patient question: My friend recently introduced me to miscopy.com which is a website normally used for watching gore videos mostly including death. My friend introduced it as sick and disturbing but after watching a couple of the videos i found that i kinda enjoyed it. Not in a sexual way though its like i was watching a funny cat video although instead of cats doing silly things it was people dieing i brushed it off as a one time thing and that i was just being an edgy teenager (which i still think is the reason btw) but when i was at school one day i got the urge to watch some more so i went into the bathroom and did just that its progressed to the point in where i send some snapchat clips of some of the videos that i find amusing they for the most part think that the videos are funny too although they could just be saying that. Anyways i think ive just got a messed up sense of humor and i just wanted to ask what you people thought.

Distorted part: Anyways i think ive just got a messed up sense of humor and i just wanted to ask what you people thought.
Dominant distortion: Personalization
Patient question: As far back as I can remember I’ve always heard a voice, I can remember being maybe 3 or 4 years old and having her with me. She sounds just like me but isn’t, she bosses me around all the time telling me what to do what to wear telling me when to go to bed, saying things when we’re in public like. “They don’t like you, they’re probably laughing at you.” They probably think you’re weird.’ I remember being 5 years old in kindergarten and her telling me to raise my hand and what to ask the teacher. I’ve told my therapist about this and I’ve told counselors at my school I even told my mother when I was little, all of them brush it off saying “that’s just your inner voice.” Or they misinterpret what I mean, most of the time when you hear voices its outside of your head or it comes on later on in life. But mines has always been there since I was little. I’ve been thinking that maybe my mother had a miscarriage and I had a twin sister and maybe I absorb her soul and now we’re part of each other and sharing the same bodies. I haven’t told anyone this I know they’ll say “stop acting crazy” Or that’s ridiculous. Sometimes I do things and don’t remember them, I don’t know if this is DID I didn’t have a bad childhood or anything, I asked my mother and she says I don’t have another personality that I need to stop. I told my therapist and she keeps saying so you hear “voices.” I keep telling her no I don’t hear “voices” I hear myself but there’s two different versions there’s me and there’s her she sounds just like but isn’t me. And no one seems to understand this. I’ve had dr and dp since I was young too most people get that later on. I’m scared and I don’t know what’s wrong.

Distorted part: I haven’t told anyone this I know they’ll say “stop acting crazy” Or that’s ridiculous.
Dominant distortion: Mind Reading