Getting stuck in unproductive thought patterns

[Exoteric]

As a warning, this post talks about getting stuck in your head and having a pessimistic worldview. If you know that that could cause any problems for you today, you don't have to read it.

So, I tend to worry about everything. Based on what I've seen and heard, I feel like there are always more ways for something to go wrong than to go right. And because of that, things do mess up most often than they don't. That idea is still kind of half-baked in my head, though, and I think I'd still have this problem if I hadn't thought of it. The thing is, I get anxious about things I have no way to impact. And I can't decide what to think about that. I definitely want to be aware of the world's problems, and all its shitty possibilities, but sometimes I can't stop thinking about them and my train of thought ends up going in circles, from one topic I've been over hundreds of times before to another without forming any kind of conclusion.

I still would rather live with that than try to ignore the world's flaws. So if I want to free up my mind for more productive thinking I'll need to learn to acknowledge them and factor them into my thought processes without my brain melting down. I've already gotten some advice on that and started trying to apply it, but I want as much help as I can get. So if any of you know any ways to combat what I'm talking about, please share them. I understand a technique that worked for somebody else isn't guaranteed to work for me, but there's a chance.

[Pergamos]

That sounds like anxiety.  I know there are some effective medications, and meditation can also help.  If it is reaching the point where you are noticing physical effects like shortness of breath or increased blood pressure meditation or medication are a very good idea.  Personally I would avoid Benzodiazepines, they are definitely effective, but they impair your ability to drive, and they impair impulse control badly enough that I think anyone who gets urges ever to hurt either themselves or others should avoid them.  I don't think I know anyone who never gets urges like that, but I may just be cynical about human nature.

Addressing things in the spirit of how you presented them meanwhile, there are a lot of things that you don't have control over.  It's important to know what those things are, especcially when they effect things that you do have control over, but the exact details of them do not matter.  What matters are the details of what you can control,  you want to understand the situation as close to perfectly as possible, as far as those things that you can effect. that way you can act in the most effective way, in order to change things in a way that you want to change. If you are spending time thinking about the horrifying details of something awful that you cannot change, try to redirect your thoughts to the pertinent details of something that you can change instead.  If you already have figured out exactly what you can change, and how you intend to do so, but cannot currently do anything productive, amuse yourself with a distraction to get your mind off the things you can't change.

[The Johnny]

One alternative conceptualization of trauma is: that it is borne out of excessive cognitive/sensorial stimulus that we do not have a chance to process.

This "buildup" of raw representations and psychical material can happen in a slow creep over the years, or it can happen in a single extreme event, or whatever in between these poles.

Personally, i never ever "think" if i dont have to, without a Word document or a pen and paper where i dump my thoughts, because otherwise youre not making progress, akin to a dog chasing its own tail.

Gauge and valve the experiences you subject yourself to, lest you want to get overwhelmed... if you dont control the influx, then go see a professional.

[Exoteric]

I don't think I know anyone who never gets urges like that, but I may just be cynical about human nature

Yeah, I mostly agree. I don't think it's physically impossible for people like that to exist, so I guess at least some of them have to, but they're definitely a small group so I shouldn't take the chance. Thanks for all the information, I'm sure it'll be useful.

Personally, i never ever "think" if i dont have to, without a Word document or a pen and paper where i dump my thoughts, because otherwise youre not making progress, akin to a dog chasing its own tail.

I'll try this out. When I think about something serious in an idle way, like when I'm walking or doing something else, it feels like when I try to remember a song and end up repeating the same parts in my head. I just go over the same points without making any new connections between them. Writing them down should force me to fill in the gaps between them.

[lexi]

How did writing things out work for you? I've fallen out of that habit, but this thread reminded me how useful that tool can be. When I think about the times I felt trapped by looping thoughts, the inability to adequately express them was a root cause.

I feel like there are always more ways for something to go wrong than to go right.

I agree with that if you take individual short-term situations and score them. I also feel there are more positive long term outcomes possible in the branching and merging of reality trees, which contain those negative knots, and couldn't exist without them.

[Doktor Howl]

So, I tend to worry about everything. Based on what I've seen and heard, I feel like there are always more ways for something to go wrong than to go right. And because of that, things do mess up most often than they don't.

This isn't pessimism, it's realism.

If the universe behaved properly, anyone could do what we do.  We prepare contingencies, mug angels, whatever it takes, because we are murderous primates and we get the job done.

[Exoteric]

This isn't pessimism, it's realism.

If the universe behaved properly, anyone could do what we do.  We prepare contingencies, mug angels, whatever it takes, because we are murderous primates and we get the job done.

You're not wrong there

How did writing things out work for you? I've fallen out of that habit, but this thread reminded me how useful that tool can be. When I think about the times I felt trapped by looping thoughts, the inability to adequately express them was a root cause.

Quote from: Exoteric on December 07, 2020, 11:08:30 pm
I feel like there are always more ways for something to go wrong than to go right.

I agree with that if you take individual short-term situations and score them. I also feel there are more positive long term outcomes possible in the branching and merging of reality trees, which contain those negative knots, and couldn't exist without them.

I think it's helped. I've gotten out of a couple spirals by sitting down and getting it on paper. It took a bit to get started, I ended up telling myself that I'd get rid of whatever I was writing. That made it easier to push past any blocks that came up, and I ended up keeping some things.

[Doktor Howl]

This isn't pessimism, it's realism.

If the universe behaved properly, anyone could do what we do.  We prepare contingencies, mug angels, whatever it takes, because we are murderous primates and we get the job done.

You're not wrong there

Targets are made to hit.  The universe is there to kick.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I empathize with this so hard! I want to give you a thorough response later but right now I'm on formatting all day. Replying to remind myself to loop back.

[P3nT4gR4m]

If you look for threats, you'll find them. If you look for opportunities, you'll find them too. I try to keep an eye out for both.

[Doktor Howl]

As a warning, this post talks about getting stuck in your head and having a pessimistic worldview. If you know that that could cause any problems for you today, you don't have to read it.

So, I tend to worry about everything. Based on what I've seen and heard, I feel like there are always more ways for something to go wrong than to go right. And because of that, things do mess up most often than they don't. That idea is still kind of half-baked in my head, though, and I think I'd still have this problem if I hadn't thought of it. The thing is, I get anxious about things I have no way to impact. And I can't decide what to think about that. I definitely want to be aware of the world's problems, and all its shitty possibilities, but sometimes I can't stop thinking about them and my train of thought ends up going in circles, from one topic I've been over hundreds of times before to another without forming any kind of conclusion.

I still would rather live with that than try to ignore the world's flaws. So if I want to free up my mind for more productive thinking I'll need to learn to acknowledge them and factor them into my thought processes without my brain melting down. I've already gotten some advice on that and started trying to apply it, but I want as much help as I can get. So if any of you know any ways to combat what I'm talking about, please share them. I understand a technique that worked for somebody else isn't guaranteed to work for me, but there's a chance.

Occasionally, I tend to worry about people who have ghosted me and why they did so.

But I then I stop.  Half of them took special moments here and there to tell me how much contempt they had for me PRIOR to The Great Seriousness, and why the hell would I worry about them?  Hell, I couldn't be arsed to shit on their graves.

And why is that?  Because giving a shit about someone who doesn't or never gave a shit about you is an unproductive thought pattern.

And there's work to be done.