For me, having a lot of people tell me I was a good writer, and seeing proof of that in terms of actual hits, was very helpful. Also, have a number of people express strong positive feelings for me made a big difference. I began to believe that maybe what they all said was true.
I think the drugs helped by making my doubts less powerful by changing my brain chemistry, but mostly a constant barrage of positive reinforcement eventually became too much for me to deny. Even now, I want to doubt this, or say it is temporary, or to qualify it in some way, and I am not doing that. I am not letting myself do that. I am able to stop myself from doing that. I am not listening to that part of me at the moment.
I’ve come an awful long way, I think. I am much better equipped to not let the problems and struggles of daily life (deaths, job losses, disappointments, etc) throw me. I am more able to forgive myself for all the mistakes I have made.
It’s just been a lot of work, emotionally speaking. A lot of therapy. But really, having other people believe in me and like me, and like what I do—as they say in the commercials—priceless!