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Does Anyone Else Have A Racing Mind?

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I'm not even sure if this is part and parcle with PTSD, but I know that I don't have ADD, or HD so I can rule those out. My mind won't stop. It's been like this since I can remember. I have NO problem concentrating ( for a few minutes) and no problem completing a task. The thing is...My mind never seems to stop. I can think of a thousand things a day, and yet do everything I have to. I have never been able to do relaxation tapes or relaxation therapy, because I can't get my mind to shut off. :crazy-eye Even tried hypotherapy. That was a waste of time....

I had yrs of where I cauldn't sleep because of it, but that is better now too.

So if anyone has any thoughts I would appreciate it bunches....

Thanks

Wendy
 
Wendy, my mind is like Hamsters on crack running on a wheel. I'm always thinking 75 thoughts at once. I also used to have trouble sleeping from this. I usually can only slow it down for sleep. Then I start up again. Sometimes I think bad thoughts about myself and other times I'm just thinking or worrying about "something". Kinda sucks sometimes really. OOPS! My mind is racing now. I'd better go catch it.:crazy-eye
 
Sparta,

I loved "my mind is like Hamsters on crack running on a wheel" Actually you might be on to something with that theory. LOL!!!! That's exactly how I feel.. Well not like a hamster... But my mind. The ten thousand thoughts at once, all day long. Sometimes I actually tell my mind to just SHUT UP!!! The friggen thing never listens.

I really do wonder if it is part of PTSD or if I'm just nuts.....

Anyone else with any input????

Wendy
 
I have the same problem, Wendy

Wendy,
i have the same problem. The only differtence is that i have ptsd AND bi-polar disorder. i think that it's normal for us (people with ptsd) to worry and have racing thoughts. I, too, have lost much sleep because of it! Have you tried deep breathing; clearing your mind; thinking about something relaxing, etc... We can train our minds to relax if we try hard enough at it!
i know i haven't told you anything spectacular, but try to clear your mind, breathe deep, and relax. Let us know how it works out.
I have trained my mind to relax, and i know that anyone can; you just have to have patience with it.

Good luck and God bless,
Josh
 
God, that has been a problem for me all my life. As an artist/writer this means I have thoughts about stories and art work as well as thoughts about life circles in my mind and they battling for who gets the most attention.

I've found that I need to focus really hard if I'm going to get any writing done so I sit down from time to time and jot out a list of my thoughts, this sometimes stops a few of the thoughts because they have been logged away. I keep a log of a lot of my thoughts and dreams to keep check on them, one never knowns when they might be useful for a story. It sometimes helps and worked rather well when I could not get a nightmare out of my head. The only problem that I've found is that listing everything has ended me with 8 novels being worked on all at once, if I had not finished 5 in the past few years I would be going insane right now. Having my mind work on several projects at once can be useful at times, but it is a matter of getting control of those thoughts and explian to each one that they will have their time to step forward when I get the other thought out of my head, example I will tell myself that if I get a few chapters of my worries out on paper I can move to that new art piece that have been haunting me and then I can worry about the other things that want attention. I also find that playing music works to slow the thoughts down because it gives my mind something else to pay attention too, that or I would listen to Hitch Hiker's Guide late at night because it was hard to think of anything else while listening to that insanity.

Anyways, I hope you find a way around this issue.

Well, jaa ne

Kat
 
i have this too!!!gosh its so annoying irritating etc etc

My mind racing especially when im about to relax..during the day when i keep myself occupied, everything seems ok..when the nite comes, its time to sleep..my goodness!!i think all sort of thing..the past, present, future..i dont know if i worry abt anything..to me i think im just thinking...its a normal thinking for me..sometimes i cant get it out of my head like if i watch a movie that i can relate to myself..

With this mind racing..i have been having sleep problem for a long time now..im a light sleeper..i dont even know if i even sleep at nite..coz my mind constantly thinking abt stuff..when i get so frustrated..when nothing helps..like tryna clear my thinking, listening tu soothing music, even change my eating habit..i will turn to "XANAX"..gosh that helps alot..in terms of not thinking so much and calming myself so i can get sum sleep..

Isnt it frustrating not being able to sleep when u want to..and not being able to just doze off and forget the world..i'd do anything to have that!!
 
It goes with bi-polar and PTSD. It takes extra time and work to learn to control through relaxation tapes and meditation. My therapist described it well (she has PTSD too) she called it monkey brain but was quick to say she did not coin the term. But that is exactly what it feels like since it jumps all over. Years ago my mind could not get certain thoughts out and I was told I had mania since I did not say what was stuck in my head, but said my brain won't "shut off".

I suggest do not give up on the tapes, it can take months and full days to finally get there to shut off. She also described when I was finally able to block out my world and thoughts to hit total silence as "blissing out" (she said she hates that term but it is accurate). I do not even try to sleep without my meditation CDs going. It is a long hard road to get there but very normal.
 
Oh good grief the rumination. Yes, its kept me awake. No, I've not found a cure for that. Alcohol to get drowsy is not a good thing. Yes, I've tried other things but am still controlled with the racing thoughts which are always negative. They drive me out of bed from which I was attempting to fall asleep. I try to be quiet while doing stuff around the house until I get tired even if that means falling asleep watching the news. There've been countless times I don't even make it to sleep only to sleep during the day. I call them depression naps since the dreams during those naps are morbid if not out right nightmares. A vicous cycle. If and when I manage to fall asleep, I have play back messages or my mind is saying negative things. In other words, when I go to therapy, any good feedback I heard from the therapist is therefor over ridden by my mind saying negative. Her postive words only last a day or two at best. Its going to take a long time I can see to over write the negative thinking even while I'm unscious during sleep. Talk about getting out of the wrong side of the bed every day. Its draining.
 
The racing mind in my head has a mind of it's own and that drives me crazy. Can't shut it off and can't shut it up. I also jump from chore to chore. I start cleaning the bedroom, take a glass into the kitchen and the next thing I know I am sorting old photos. We are a scattered lot aren't we? I was always told as a child how scatter brained I was and did not really know what that meant---but I sure know now!!! Unfortuately, I am using meds to shut this uncontrolablr mind off. Nothing else has worked for me and as long as doc allows this to go on and gives me the meds, I'm gonna take them. It's the only way I can sleep at all. And on busy racing nights I need to take 2 pills. I don't like doing this but after all the mind and body needs to sleep eventually or else we fall over. So I guess we are all in the same boat. But I keep my sanity by recalling that all the great people were nuts. Picaso, Dali, etc. All creative people are wired diferently, that's all
 
my mind is like Hamsters on crack running on a wheel.
Great line, Sparta! I know this feeling well.

In addition to PTSD I also have ADHD. I've had that since childhood. All of the tricks I learned to deal with the ADHD became pretty much null and void when the PTSD jumped into the mix. I've had to relearn a whole new bag of tricks for keeping myself focused.

My mind will race to the point that I just stop. Mentally and physically. I try to catch it before it gets so far out of hand that I do shut down. Stress levels being high makes it tougher to keep it together. One of the reasons I write so much is that that has become an outlet for me. When things are running around my head and each loop around they get bigger, if I write then they (the thoughts) are out of my mind and on the paper and I can get back to what I was doing.

Lisa
 
Mind spinning

hey wendy,

I know how you feel.....I sometimes think that I'm five steps ahead of someone in a conversation....my mind has skipped the subject we're on and is on to the next interest of sideline of that subject......in an effort to curb some of my Hypersensitivity(sp?) I startted to read some of the Dali Lama's books.....not too sure about some of it but the meditation part was usefull. I find that if I just stop and follow some of instruction to meditate that it gives my mind a rest for at least a few minutes......they say you have to really practices to reach the full benefits.....I'll take what I can get though. If you're interested in leqrning more drop me a PM and I'll shoot you over some of the stuff from the book.
 
I still catch myself doing exactly what you described sometimes. It is SOOO annoying when I can't shut my mind up. It has taken me 3 years to find a meditation tape that is right for me. (Or it might be that it took 3 years for me to calm down enough to LET any of them work.)

Now I am finally at the point that I can take some deep breaths and concentrate on nothing for a minute or so, and that seems to stop the racing quite well, and control it for a long period of time....except at bedtime. Then all bets are off and I might as well not even try. So I try to read when I should be sleeping instead. At least that way there's no room for my meandering thoughts, only the book unfolding in my mind.
 
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