Constant thinking [Archive]

Clarkeyk

06-01-17, 21:21

Hello,

Does anyone struggle with constantly thinking? I struggle with this all the time. It exhausts me to the point my body is constantly aching. Its
Not about anything specific just random thoughts but it increases my anxiety badly. Just wondered if anyone else Has this.
thanks

Sam Winter

07-01-17, 00:14

I kinda thought i was the only one haha, the only time i find i'm not thinking is if i'm coloring in or watching something really funny ect. anything that requires 100% attention i find helps, also music is really good, when you have something loud in your ears or you're multitasking you can't really think x

Jherron

07-01-17, 08:11

Billiards has helped me tremendously and so has "moderate drinking"

sollythegolly

07-01-17, 12:02

You can't stop random thoughts. The brain is designed to be constantly active. The trick is to ignore the unhelpful thoughts. Just let them float by.

Remember that you are not your thoughts. Just because you suffer a headache and think that you may have a brain tumour, does not make it so.

And yes, I know, it's all very easy to say, but very difficult to do.

Mindful meditation helps. Allocating a specific time to worry helps as well. Try allotting 10, 20 or 30 minutes a day to worry about stuff. Perhaps you could write all the worries down and then shred the piece of paper.

Clarkeyk

08-01-17, 14:04

Hey thanks all, glad its not just me having this. I'm trying to swap my thoughts with more constructive ones these days. Like focusing on moving forward in life. Not as easy as saying it though! I'm gonna try some of these ideas thank you.

Sam Winter

08-01-17, 19:08

Jacqueline7

08-01-17, 19:35

This is something I think we all suffer from. Claire weekes books explain this perfectly. Doesn't make it any nicer but gives u a reason

Going thru it so badly too

Jackie

ana

08-01-17, 20:42

I struggle with this all the time! I wish I could switch my brain off at times, or at least reduce the number of negative thoughts. I get intrusive thoughts a lot, too. Also, I get body aches when I'm extremely stressed out, just like you.

Emmajo

08-01-17, 21:08

I struggle with this all the time, especially if I feel I may have offended someone or made a fool of myself. I'm struggling with it tonight because I have to go somewhere tomorrow and I'm scared, I constantly keep obsessing over it. I was once told to allocate a time where I could allow myself to think about specific worries. It helps sometimes, sometimes not. You are not alone!!

Munki

09-01-17, 13:58

Absolutely. It's the pinnacle of anxiety.

Intrusive thoughts are one of the worst things that can happen. I can be happily pottering away when BAM, "your Moms going to die this year, no-one likes you, you're a social misfit, you're a failure, something terrible is going to happen while you're on holiday" all pile into my head. The Devil on our shoulder. Sound familiar?

When I get severe bouts of this, I pile up my literature such as 'Feel the Fear', 'Mindfulness for Dummies' and so forth in front of me and soak up everything I read. You'll find that distracting yourself really helps and, in turn, teaches you long term how to accept the negative thoughts and almost laugh at them. Imagine a bully keeps on at you and every day you argue back with them. It's exhausting, right? Equally, its unproductive and a constant cycle. So imagine one day, when the bully starts on you, you just laugh and say 'whatever!'. It's likely to throw them off track to the point that they realise they can't hurt you anymore. And that's what bully's like! So do the same with your anxiety, say WHATEVER out loud and laugh. In fact, ask for more anxiety! Go on, bring it on. You'll find that it starts to waver as it's no longer winning.

It requires hard work. It won't just 'happen'. Treat it like a project that requires 100% attention. I find it helps immensely.

Good luck xx

SLA

09-01-17, 14:11

We are all thinking constantly to varying degrees, but there are things you can do to have a break from it.

Cycling is my main one. Was out for 3 hours in the rain yesterday. It was heaven!

Jacqueline7

09-01-17, 14:46

Sounds like heaven. Peace. Freedom. Mine is yoga and swimming

Helps so much

Jacqueline

Clarkeyk

10-01-17, 17:14

What i find helpful is recycling my constant thoughts into my work, rather than waste it on being constantly anxious about little things i find it helpful to spend it on my writing and creative hobbies, i've just started writing a story and a couple of poems/jokes and it works quite well, so i'd suggest giving the constructive thoughts a go, try recycling them into thoughts and things that benefit you x

Recycling thoughts is exactly what I need to do. It's difficult as I've been this way for many years but am trying v hard to make time for it. Having focused on the anxiety for so long has left me feeling as if I don't know who the real me is. However I have managed to write some of these down and those thins are what I'm trying to put my thoughts towards.

---------- Post added at 16:55 ---------- Previous post was at 16:53 ----------

Billiards has helped me tremendously and so has "moderate drinking"

Ha ha, I have tried the drinking solution and did for some time but it caught up with me. I was prob drinking a little to much if I'm honest but just wanted some peace form the thoughts.

---------- Post added at 16:57 ---------- Previous post was at 16:55 ----------

This is something I think we all suffer from. Claire weekes books explain this perfectly. Doesn't make it any nicer but gives u a reason

Going thru it so badly too

Jackie

I recently bought this book but havnt read it yet. I will give it a go. Thanks

---------- Post added at 17:14 ---------- Previous post was at 16:57 ----------

Thanks for all the tips some really good stuff to be helping me along. The constant thinking has increased my anxiety massively over the years and I only realized how much this past year. I used to use the excuse that I didnt have time, which tbh is not a lot at the moment, I'm working quite far from home and have two children. But I need to put myself first and be good to me. If I can get use to doing things for me again hopefully I'll be going in the right direction. :-)