Teachers know that if a student has an unhealthy tape (from a dysfunctional home life) in his mind, he is difficult to influence with healthier ways of thinking. In short, damaging voices are difficult to undo.
Sometimes the most damaging voice in our head is our own. We are hypercritical of everything about ourselves, from looks to habits to productivity. How did we get there? One unsupervised thought at a time. It seems there is a gate at the front of our minds and each of us is our own gatekeeper. If the hypercritical thought is allowed access, it enters right in and takes up space. When the power of cumulative (damaging thoughts over time) is added, the recipe is self-destructive energy that seems to snowball with ever-increasing strength.
What is the most damaging voice in your mind at the moment?