Eckhart Tolle describes how the mind traps you during dark periods by generating thoughts that reinforce meaninglessness, fusing despair with your identity. He proposes a simple practice: observe your thoughts without believing them. Awareness alone, he says, is the first step to break the cycle.
What kind of thoughts are you thinking while you are trapped in the dark night of the soul? What is your mind saying? It will be saying things, but what it will be saying is it reflects the emotions that you feel, and what your mind is thinking reflects the meaninglessness and perpetuates the sense of meaninglessness. So it says, "It's all so pointless. What's the point of it all? I've done all that work, it's come to nothing." nothing, every thought that you have will be reinforcing what you feel. After a little while, the negative mental-emotional state can become part of yourself, your sense of self. A delusion, but it can become a very strong delusion, and you are then trapped in an angry deeply unhappy sense of self. Some humans are trapped in that for years. So if you want to get out of that prison that you are trapped in, ask yourself, can I be aware of what my mind is saying? And no matter what your mind is saying, you're aware of it, but you don't believe in it. Just let your mind say what it wants to say. Just be aware of what it is saying. That's the beginning of possibly becoming free of how your mind perpetuates and continuously recreates the dark night of the soul.
Why alcohol feels like relief, and what it is really giving you | Eckhart Tolle
