~Can You Switch Your Brain Off?~

[black_mamba]

This is my first 'here is my symptom, do you have it too?' thread.

Last night I lost 3 hours of sleep because I simply could not switch my brain off. Admittedly it could be down to nerves about today's driving theory exam but I did not spend 3 hours pondering over traffic signs believe me.

Does anyone else feel that their mind is constantly making connections and won't stop?

I see that a lot of social phobes are quite intelligent people and one explanation could be our over-active brains. This would also give rise to our over-analytical minds which in turn make us more suseptible to self critisism.

I have about 5 fat sketchbooks in front of me now full of words, dreams, pictures, paintings, project ideas, articles I like to re-read, stuff that inspires me...yadda yadda. Looking through it I can't decide what project to pick next or who to draw simply because my brain is drowning in a soup of ideas. It actually makes me feel queasy at times, disorientated. Like the way in which I change my dream job every 2 weeks and can't finish anything because I'm so excited about the next big project...

Also, has anyone here successfully managed to locate the OFF switch?

That gives me another idea for a painting....hmm....*strokes imaginary beard*

Tsk, damn, you see what I'm like!! :x

 

[Toad]

yup...this is one of my major annoyances. I've pretty much given up going to bed before 3 or before I'm so tired I'm ready to pass out...I know if I go to bed early I'll just stay up worrying about something, or just playing out scenarios in my mind. Even during the day if i'm not busy, my mind will start going over things. It's the worst the day before something i'm dreading. Unfortunately i have yet to find the off switch although i've tried many times to find it :?

 

[black_mamba]

Toad maybe its an internal switch, ya know, someone's idea of a joke.

I used to love thinking about the days scenarios and replaying them in my head as I lay in bed. Often I would replay them with a happier outcome. I miss that, when you share your bed with a partner its harder to contemplate things (well it is for me what with all the snoring).

 

[Remus]

last night

brain in overdrive mode

finally manged to relax abit

sleep at 3am

awake at 6.30am

brain in overdrive mode

BAH!

 

[black_mamba]

Damn thats not good, sleep is so integral to my health, can you cope with so little Remus?

4am for me, snoozed off then was awoken by the rush hour traffic noise at 8am.

How about a little brain reboot, come on all you computer geeks help me out here. :?

 

[black_mamba]

I'm sure one day one of us will publish a book of poetry and art from the tortured minds of the depressed and socially anxious. Maybe you could be that person thoughtless? 8)

 

[redlady]

I know what you mean about mind jumble, a lot of the time i even talk like that - which is why a lot of the time i hesitate to. You can't even get the first thought out before the second thought begins and so on....... Well what about this, oh wait but then that would give rise to this making the previous thought defunct and blah blah..................
It's very frustrating to be the only one who knows what they are going on about.

 

[outside_looking_in]

I kind of hate saying the obvious thing ... so sometimes what I say is so distantly connected to what the person actually said, that they think I didn't understand and end up patiently explaining again what they already said :evil:

The early hours whizzing mind thing is the norm for me ... I get sleepy about 10pm but work til 12.30am so get second wind and by then it's hard to shut down. If I didn't have to be up before 8, I'd be on the forum every night when I get home 8)

 

[racheH]

The more anxious I get, over anything, the more random, irrelevant thoughts pass through my mind. I think it's because I've practised that defense mechanism of 'going somewhere else' for so long that it happens automatically now, even when not thinking about a problem actually makes it worse. In my mock exams last year, I found that as much as I cared about an exam, I couldn't concentrate. My imagination took over instead. My reaction was to try to scare myself into paying attention, but eventually I realised that it was happening because I was so scared in the first place. When I stayed calm, it stopped.

 

[racheH]

I'll try that tonight grumblina, thanks

I normally find a technique my grandad told me about useful.
Starting with my feet and working upwards, never going back, I tell each part of me to 'go to sleep'. You should end up completely unaware of any part of your body, which cuts out most distractions. Some people even lose all their other sensations, including hearing. If you do this, with your body asleep and mind awake, you are actually in the state some people think is necessary for astral projection. From here it at least it should be easy to sleep :wink:

 

[zyxockjm]

black_mamba, I used to have the same problem you did until I got this book on how to meditate properly. It's similar to what someone posted above me, put all your focus on something else, like your breathing. I can not meditate well at all but I can atleast turn my 'brain switch' off. It has helped me a lot and I really suggest you to read the book I read. It's called "Turning the mind into an ally" by "sakyong mipham".

 

[black_mamba]

Thanks for the recommendation zyxockjm! I've never really meditated properly before. My only experience of it was of being forced to lie down on a dusty classroom floor and do exactly what racheH described (it was a personal education style lesson). It was the only time my tension headache completely dissappeared and I felt like a changed teenager.

 

[black_mamba]

Hey masterpiece

Your post made me think about the negatve side of being switched off mentally. To be honest I think I'd rather stay alert even if it meant less sleep. I couldn't cope without my imagination ... (sundays are for sleeping anyway).

 

[Loopy_Lil]

I do that as well
I lie in bed awake just thinking yet wanting to sleep
It doesn't happen every night thankfully but often enough to be a pain
I never connected it with my anxiety before thanks Black Mamba
I've done a kind of meditation where you relax your muscles from the toes up to the head
you breathe in and then tense that muscle group hold it tense for a few seconds then release and breathe out
it works a bit for me (scrunching up my face so it's tense then releasing it is really good its so freeing)
I hope this helps
Lil

 

[Jack7]

I have about 5 fat sketchbooks in front of me now full of words, dreams, pictures, paintings, project ideas, articles I like to re-read, stuff that inspires me...yadda yadda. Looking through it I can't decide what project to pick next or who to draw simply because my brain is drowning in a soup of ideas. It actually makes me feel queasy at times, disorientated. Like the way in which I change my dream job every 2 weeks and can't finish anything because I'm so excited about the next big project...
Tsk, damn, you see what I'm like!! :x

I'm similar in that respect, I've got loads of notebooks and sketchpads and stuff filled with ideas that I flit to every now and then. I want to be a writer but I can't really get started on anything because I lose interest too quickly.

 

[black_mamba]

Yup me too. I'd love to have a book to my name but I can't think of any one subject to devote to. (Actually I once wanted to do one on popular culture, although a new book I see may have covered some of my views; its here)

I've decided to put away all my sketchbooks. Out of sight out of mind - I can now feel my brain relaxing. I just keep one mini sketchbook in my backpack now because don't you just hate it when a good idea hits you and you're stranded with no paper! 8O

 

[Jack7]

Yup me too. I'd love to have a book to my name but I can't think of any one subject to devote to. (Actually I once wanted to do one on popular culture, although a new book I see may have covered some of my views; its here)

I've decided to put away all my sketchbooks. Out of sight out of mind - I can now feel my brain relaxing. I just keep one mini sketchbook in my backpack now because don't you just hate it when a good idea hits you and you're stranded with no paper! 8O

They seem to hit me exclusively when I'm in a paperfree zone :wink:

 

[black_mamba]

But then again paper can always be salvaged...old newspapers on the train, receipts, cigarette packaging etc. Next problem, who looks unintimidating enough to approach for a pen?

 

[Jack7]

But then again paper can always be salvaged...old newspapers on the train, receipts, cigarette packaging etc. Next problem, who looks unintimidating enough to approach for a pen?

I've got a receipt in my pocket that I wrote something down on when I was in a pub with my parents a few weeks ago :? I'm surprised I haven't written anything on the back of a stamp yet

 

[black_mamba]

Ah bugger it, just carry a pen and draw on your hand [or alternative limbs].