h “I” and replace person Y with “He.” “What irrational belief do I want to dispute or surrender?‘“He should have treated me fairly.’”Can I rationally support this belief?‘“No I cannot.’”What evidence do I have for the falseness of my belief?‘“Assuming that I can prove he did act in an unfair or wrong way, what law of the universe says he should or must treat me this way? None! Although, others and I would find it proper for him to act fairly he definitely doesn’t have to do so (Ellis 127).”This example provides the steps in controlling outbursts of anger and any other debilitating indulgent emotion. Through disputing strongly, intensively, and persistently, irrational beliefs become less absolutistic and more problematical to its owner; further more, via examining the perception of the emotional state of thought, the analytical mind will realize the maladaptive behavior associated with emotions. “It shows a lack of natural talent to spend time on what concerns the body, as in exercising a great deal, eating a great deal,drinking a great deal or copulating a great deal. Instead you must do these things in passing, but your whole attention toward the faculty of judgment (Epictetus, 41).”Once again, Epictetus has provided a rationally induced thought in order to cope with one of America’s largest Psychological problems, that of chemical dependency. Briefly stated, Epictetus explains to the reader that he must place all his attention on the judgment of pleasure that certain activities provide the body and not the actions themselves; to further explain, a person must make the judgment of pleasure in order to experience pleasure. An external event’s pleasure is negated without the individual’s perception of its gratification. In order to fight the relapse of a chemical dependent a person; one can use R...
