Don’t believe everything you think

Most of us walk around with a quiet narrator in our heads. It comments, judges, predicts, worries, and occasionally congratulates. Over time, that running commentary begins to feel less like a voice and more like a me.

This is useful for remembering where we parked the car. It is less useful when the narrator decides we are a failure.

Across many contemplative traditions there is a simple but unsettling observation: the sense of “I” we defend so vigorously is largely constructed from thoughts. We assemble memories, preferences, roles, and interpretations into a psychological structure called ego. Then we forget we built it. Eventually we begin to believe that this structure is not something we have, but something we are.

That’s where trouble starts.

The Tyranny of Self-Referential Thought

Self-referential thoughts are not inherently bad. “I enjoy gardening” or “I’m good at explaining things” are harmless enough. The difficulty is that the mind also produces darker material:

• “I’m unlovable.”

• “I always mess things up.”

• “I’m a burden.”

• “I’ll never change.”

These thoughts often arise automatically, especially in depression, anxiety, trauma, or chronic stress. They feel convincing because they are familiar, emotionally charged, and repeated. The brain treats repetition as evidence. The more often we think something, the more it feels true — regardless of whether it is accurate.

Over time, these mental habits can harden into identity. Instead of having a thought that says “I failed,” we unconsciously become “a failure.” The distinction collapses. Suffering follows.

A Subtle but Radical Shift

Nondual philosophies point to a deceptively simple insight: you are aware of your thoughts. Therefore, you cannot be your thoughts.

This is not mystical wordplay; it is direct phenomenology. If you can notice a thought arise, change, and disappear, then the noticing itself is prior to the thought. The thought is an event. The awareness is the context.

The problem is that most of us rarely experience this distinction clearly. Our minds are busy. Our identities are sticky. The narrator rarely takes a day off.

How Ketamine Can Help

Ketamine-assisted therapy often creates a temporary loosening of rigid cognitive and emotional patterns. Many clients describe a shift from being inside their thoughts to observing them. This shift can be subtle or dramatic, but its therapeutic potential is significant.

Common experiences include:

• Reduced attachment to negative self-stories

• Increased emotional flexibility

• A sense of spaciousness around difficult memories

• Recognition that thoughts are mental events, not verdicts

Importantly, ketamine does not “install” new beliefs. Rather, it can create conditions in which old beliefs lose their unquestioned authority. The familiar mental grooves are still there, but they are no longer the only available route.

For some people, this is the first time they clearly experience the difference between thinking a thought and being defined by it.

“Don’t Believe Everything You Think”

This phrase is humorous, but it carries real psychological wisdom. Thoughts are not facts. They are interpretations, predictions, and conditioned responses shaped by biology and experience. Some are useful. Many are noise. A few are actively harmful.

The goal is not to suppress thinking or replace every negative thought with a positive affirmation. That usually backfires. The aim is gentler and more pragmatic: develop the ability to notice thoughts without automatically granting them authority.

When someone realizes, even briefly, “This is just a thought — not the truth about who I am,” a crack appears in the wall of identity. Through that crack, relief, curiosity, and compassion often enter.

Integration Matters

Insight alone is not enough. The days and weeks after a ketamine session are where new perspectives can be integrated into daily life. Practices such as journaling, therapy, meditation, or simply pausing to question harsh self-talk can help stabilize the shift from identification to observation.

You don’t need to adopt any particular spiritual framework to benefit. The practical takeaway is universal: you are more than the stories your mind tells about you.

And sometimes the most therapeutic sentence in the room is also the simplest:

Don’t believe everything you think.