what is mind chatter really??

[Chrysmar09]

I think I am coming out of my schizophrenic fear but there is a last thing with what I guess is mind chatter but I don't know what is normal mind chatter and what is something I should worry about.

In my mind its either song loops of random songs jumping from one to another to thinking out future conversations or thinking of past conversations. Having ongoing conversations with scenarios I think may happen...kind of like trying to gage what the other person may say. in the morning its worst like my mind if just running random words and phrases that make no sense but then they slow down as I wake up.

Example: I went to the store walked up to the register and in my head I pictured (or heard) the clerk said hello and I was waiting for the clerk to say it but she didn't. I will think out my text before I write them a lot more now....

I have always acted out scenarios I wish could happen ( I was very anxious as a kid and was scared of saying the wrong thing) but I am wondering if this is what it means to have mind chatter.

can anyone give me any examples?

[MyNameIsTerry]

What you need to remember is that it's about fight or flight being triggered too often. This mechanism exists to problem solve a feared situation. Therefore in us it is being applied more heavily to situations where normally it wouldn't.

We end up playing scenarios through our heads to analyse the risks involved rather than live in the moment and just tackle them as they come.

I've had hours at a time running through a past event looking at various outcomes. Even after going through them all I would just start again.

This is went things like Mindfulness are getting a lot of success because part of this is learning to use the DOING brain less and the BEING brain more, as they call them.

[Chrysmar09]

terry you are awesome. I think its so odd to have my mind always ready to respond to someone or a conversation. My dad just came up the stairs as always and each night he talks to me and my daughter and I guess out of habit I was ready to tell him that my daughter was gone so I said it in my head but he never asked like normally.... I guess I am always trying to respond to things because of the fight or flight... it makes a lot of sense....

I need to live in the moment.... which I never do I am always in my head...

[MyNameIsTerry]

Thanks for your kind words! :flowers:

Nick's just responded to one of your other threads. Have a chat with him because you've got similar elements to your worry as he did e.g. The ear worms, Schizophrenia worries, sleep stage phenomena worries, etc.

Much of what we do is autopilot. We are taught to cut down on the autopilot as it stops us living in the moment. But we also have trouble in trying to take over from the autopilot too. For instance, some try to control their breathing which you never truly can anyway. Disengaging from autopilot means learning to live in the moment rather than try to obsessively control it's functions.

It's a big job for recovery as it's fighting against us. Anxiety likes to preserve it's need to exist, which is very frustrating!

I think you need to work on calming your mind. Distraction, healthy hobbies, Mindfulness, relaxation work, etc and more all add up. Mindfulness is a good one as it will teach you a skill that helps you observe your thoughts rather than interact with them, amongst it's many benefits, but as a skill it takes time to learn and can be hard at first when your mind is racing so much.

Working through a problem on paper can help you get it out of your head and reduce the looping. I found that helped with some of mine as it felt more real on paper so a conclusion was more real.

Grounding techniques might help. They use these for DP/DR too. These are quicker to learn.

[fishman65]

Would this include dozing in bed before getting up? Anxiety at this point seems to produce all sorts of bizarre and nearly always negative thoughts. Scary scenarios the day has in store etc. Which is why Claire Weekes says 'off that bed!!'

[Chrysmar09]

Im always laying around lol so im not sure if its because of that. But its just weird. Its like ill be watching something and its like im adding dialouge that they havent said in my mind which then throws me back in the you are schizophrenic scare... its all in my mind i know im.in reality its just weird to hear it. Its like predicting what people are going to say.... should I be worried or this just a busy mind