Our internal narratives can hold us back. Changing them is tough but rewarding work | Modern mind

We develop stories as short cuts to navigate our worlds and it requires focus and energy to re-evaluate them

• The modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their work

Storytelling plays an important role in every culture and society. It is through stories that we communicate, learn and grasp the multifaceted nature of human experience. Beyond their social function, stories play a crucial role in shaping our internal narrative - the ongoing story we tell ourselves about who we are.

This narrative, formed from our beliefs, past experiences, and mental frameworks, profoundly influences our self-concept, our expectations for the future and our responses to new situations. As the Canadian Indigenous author Harold R Johnson asserted: We are the stories we are told and we are the stories we tell ourselves."