Eps 181: are you out of your mind
— podca
| Host image: | StyleGAN neural net |
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| Content creation: | GPT-3.5, |
Host
Everett Pena
Podcast Content
You might find out the reasons you cannot stop thinking whatever is on your mind. Writing what you cannot stop thinking in a journal or piece of paper can be helpful in getting the thoughts out of your mind. Getting the thoughts on paper may help clear the mind, making it easier for your thoughts to escape. Try filling your thoughts with things that you enjoy thinking about, or avoid having thoughts that interrupt your day.
It may help to try focused distractions or re-direct thoughts toward something specific rather than just letting your mind wander wherever it wants. Some focused self-exploration may help distract you from thoughts about the person or people you wish you could stop thinking about.
As a result, it is easier for your mind to stay locked in a negative thing. Having something negative lingering in the back of your mind could prevent you from living the best life possible. Dwelling on that negativity can cause major problems like depression, so it is important to learn how to let things go. Deep-seated feelings of resentment may also feed the thought, so you may also find yourself stuck in thoughts about the person who just cannot get enough.
The most likely reason why you simply cannot seem to shake the person off of your mind is because you are falling in love with him or her. Of course, just because you cannot seem to put someone away from your head does not mean that you are necessarily feeling romantically attached to them, or want to re-establish contact one way or another. Or perhaps you are both just so similar that whenever you are doing something that you enjoy, you cannot help but think of how they would likely enjoy it the way that you did. When it comes to the one person who is closest to you, though, things can get complicated, and you have to think it through a bit to determine whether the feelings you are feeling toward them are love or just admiration.
It may simply be that there is something about someone that you are attracted to, that your mind simply cannot stop focusing on them -- in short, it may simply be you are enamored, or you are enamored. You know, the things that often get sidelined as you become consumed with thinking about somebody else. Even if you cannot seem to figure out how to pull anything from your mind, at least you will have some solace knowing there is someone there that cares. It is also useful to share with someone that you are just having trouble getting things off of your mind, regardless of whether or not you tell them the details of these thoughts.
Talking to someone can also give you some perspective on why you are still thinking about something, and the idea can leave. Other techniques can help you start exploring and accepting someones thoughts in order to eventually move them from the back of your mind. In therapy, you may learn productive ways of challenging unwelcome thoughts and breaking their grip, as well as mindfulness practices and other useful coping skills. If you simply cannot get anything out of your head, it is not a bad idea to think about therapy.
Doing something physically with your body that is pleasurable may distract you from thoughts that you donat want to be thinking about. Taking up your thoughts through an activity can take your mind off of thinking about the thing you are worried about all the time. This state allows your mind to relax and mindfully concentrate on the task at hand, replacing other thoughts that might have been taking up your attention. By practicing mindfulness, the mind is focused on the task at hand, instead of thoughts and feelings you might rather have.
When you are living in a state of awareness, you are more attuned to every passing moment, and thus find it easier to interrupt recurring thoughts and bring your focus back to the thing you really want to focus on. Often, the more you try to distract your mind from those thoughts, the more they persist. This makes us feel like our thoughts are spinning out of control. This disconnect may cause you to feel like your thoughts are spinning out of your control, and as though there is something wrong with you.
One of the reasons that panic attacks make you feel like you are losing your mind is because you can get a sense of something frightening happening, when nothing of the sort is happening at all. If this is your first time experiencing one, you might not even know what is happening, and may feel as if you are losing your mind. One danger with having things stuck in your head is feeling as if you are trying to fix a problem by going over it again and again. If you cannot sleep because you are constantly thinking about something uncomfortable, try writing your thoughts in a journal.
Avoiding uncomfortable thoughts sometimes makes them worse, and talking to someone about what you are feeling may help you to feel better. If that is why you cannot stop thinking about someone, the best thing you can do for yourself is try to make time to sit and process it. While you cannot simply snap your fingers and work some magic to distract yourself from anything, there are a few smart, simple things you can do to help you let go of thoughts that are creating confusion in your mind. Ideally, you will find something to keep your mind busy and occupy enough of your brainpower that the spiral of thought-ruminations no longer exists.