How To Fight Obsession??

[Hush92]

I can't stop. I am completely incapable of stopping thinking about my life. Every day almost all day my life plays out in my head from as far back as I can remember to now. Over and over and over. And all it does is overwhelm me. I spend hours analyzing everything trying to understand, or else just feeling horribly depressed or disturbed. My life flashes before my eyes constantly and I'm not dying. I've spent almost this entire day sitting in my bed obsessing over my life. Writing about it. Thinking about it. Talking about it with people online. The repetition is killing me. Does anyone else deal with this and if so what are your tips to stop it?? I've spent all weekend fixated on my life and have gotten nothing done and need help.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

I do something similar. For me it's cyclical ruminating thoughts that come from PTSD and from GAD or generalized anxiety disorder. I get a lot if distorted thoughts. And I can spend hours and days overthinking. I feel like I'm being productive and trying to figure things out. In reality I'm making myself more anxious and making the cycle continue.

I'm still working on how to stop the thoughts. It feels a lot like whispering to a tornado. I see it. I know it's happening. I know it's not helping but the urgency that it can cause makes me feel like I have to keep thinking about it in order to figure it all out and make it stop.

 

[Hush92]

Yes. Exactly this. It is always relieving for some reason to find other people dealing with the same thing. My brain is just stuck.

 

[Anarchy]

Have you encountered "mindfulness"?
can I suggest that you search youtube for
the full audiobook of "the mindful way through depression" and download it

(you can get youtube downloaders as plug ins for most browsers)

listen to it in manageable chunks, for example 10 minutes a day. the full thing is about 5 hours.

I haven't posted a link, as they frequently go dead.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

Yes. Exactly this. It is always relieving for some reason to find other people dealing with the same thin...

I don't know if it helps you but it helps me to know something specific. And that is you're right. Your brain and mine and others with PTSD our brains are stuck. Figuratively and literally. Your amygdala and hippocampus are stuck. One is holding the memories and the other is stuck throwing your memories back to you at inappropriate times. It makes us sufferers feel broken. The reality is we're not broken. We're traumatized.


It feels insurmountable. It's intimidating and overwhelming. But the truth is on a physical and chemical level your brain thinks there is danger. And in that moment with all of it's strength it's fighting to find a way to keep you safe. That's amazing.


It's just hard to get our brains to believe us when we tell it the danger has passed. Try to slow your breathing. Try to be patient with yourself. I can't promise that the thoughts will just stop and the urgency will go away. But I will tell you this. You have 2 centers in your brain that are trying right now to work at the same time.

What I'm saying is one center is responsible for logical thought. And the other center is responsible for your survival mode. When you go into survival mode your logical center shuts down so your body can focus on surviving. One thing that's very important is to physically calm down as much as you can. Once your brain sees you calming down logical thought can resume and survival mode shuts down.

With that information when you feel yourself going too far in your thinking maybe you can try to do something to calm your physical body. That way you can think more logically again. You can try grounding techniques which are posted in various places on the message board and all over the internet. One of the first you'll find is breathing.

I do what's called the 4 7 8 breath. Inhale through your nose for the count of 4 hold for 7 and slowly exhale through your mouth for the count of 8. I do this 3 times in a row. I know it might sound cliche but slow steady deep breathing can help your body calm down.

 

[Nevermore]

Ah yes. Like I'm always trying to figure something out - but I'm missing crucial pieces of the jigsaw.
Mindfulness has helped me too, I have to say. I had a flash once, msybe just a few seconds, of expanded consciousness where I suddenly realised I was in the present snd everything was so incredibly alive!
It was just s flash but It gives me hope to know what it could feel like. Something to aim for. Or even if I never achieve more than that flash at least I know it's possible!
Meditation is a good thing for me. I know that's not so for everyone but it gives me hope

 

[theshadowoftheliving]

Sertraline has helped me so, so much on this front. I wish I could say that I'm able to stop rumination on my own, but I've never been able to.

 

[Friday]

It really depends on where the obsession is coming from. The answer (what helps/ what makes things worse) is going to be different for someone with PTSD, vs OCD, vs a delusional disorder, vs Bipolar disorder, vs Psychosis, etc.

I'm comorbid ADHD + PTSD, and even though it's the same brain between my ears? When something is a shared symptom between the two? I have to come at the symptom different ways depending on which disorder is kicking things off.

So... For me that would be the first step; figuring out what exactly I'm dealing with, so I can use the right tools for the job.

Knowing that you've struggled for years with hallucinations & delusions / have been diagnosed in that sphere... makes me really hesitant be talking about obsession from a PTSD perspective, since a lot of the tools we use make delusional disorders significantly worse.

 

[Hush92]

Having comorbid disorders is just generally terrible. I faced a similar issue when it came to medication for my anxiety disorder. I never wanted to go on antipsychotics for a multitude of reasons. But most anti-anxiety meds/anti-depressants can also exacerbate psychotic symptoms. So it was challenging to find a fit for me. Therapy is equally tricky and my therapists have always been worried about setting off my psychotic symptoms.

This weekend has just been really nasty. I was looking for my Xanax (I was told to take it only in emergencies) and I can't find it anywhere. I think I may have thrown it out during my last bad psychotic episode this summer. Was paranoid if I kept them around I'd become addicted or they would mess up my brain forever. Lovely.

 

[Hush92]

Sertraline has helped me so, so much on this front. I wish I could say that I'm able to sto...

I will ask my therapist about this (she can prescribe medication, she's sort of like my therapist and psychiatrist in one, except she's a nurse practitioner or something instead).....the last time I tried to go on medication I was not in a healthy state of mind and was very paranoid....resulted in me quitting the meds almost immediately....I should give it another shot.

 

[theshadowoftheliving]

Sertraline is an antidepressant; it's one of the only FDA approved ones for PTSD. Definitely talk to your doctor, however, since @FridayJones isright that depending on your diagnosis/makeup, things may or may not be helpful for you.