a problem I have a lot is thinking something along the lines of "but I'm actually <xyz> inside and I've somehow hidden it from everyone!", but like. my internal perception of myself is the one thing that isn't visible to everyone else, so it doesn't actually matter
of course see the bit about brains not behaving rationally, but if to everyone else I am how I act consciously than my subconscious doubts can't be valid if I don't let them affect my conscious behavior
this is hard to put into words... like, I define my sense of self as how I appear to everyone else, discounting any thoughts I m…