Persistent 24/7 anxiety about being in a thought loop
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About a month ago I had a bad trip on weed and had a panic attack where I started to fear that I was in a thought loop and that I would be in one for the rest of my life. The next day I woke up and this thought loop was still there. I was constintly no matter what I was doing thinking about the idea that I was in a thought loop. Even when distracting myself in the back of my mind I would still always be thinking about the fact that I was caught in a thought loop. Every moment of respite was followed by a realization that I was distracted which if course brought me back into the cycle. I can only describe it as a radical form of White bear syndrome.During the first period of this loop which lasted 4-5 days I was almost completly immobile for the entirity of these days. I felt sick and could not eat anything. I spent all day lying in bed watching Netflix but this dod nothing. I would constantly check the time to note the space between the start of cycles and it would usually be no more then a minute. I would do this every minute for the entire day until I essentialy passed out from the exaustion. I would wake up in the middle of the night however and essentially never got any good rest. As I mentioned this lasted 4-5 days where upon I had a complete mental breakdown and just started crying in my bathroom. This was actually quite cathartic as after that moment I started to get better I was no longer worried about the thought cycle constantly and eventually it just went away. After there were some lingering symptoms like mild panic attacks but not the 24/7 cycle I had been in. I was then fine for two months but 6 days ago I got back inti this omnipresent cycle of hyper self awarness. I can still eat now and have recently been trying to exercise but still felling, even though rationaly I know it is not the case that I will be stuck like this for ecer and will just gave to life like this. Essentialy I'm just wondering if any one else can relate to this. A constant, and I'm not being hyperbolic i mean everysingle minute of the day, hyperawarness of the fact that you are aware of youd own thoughts and felling like your stuck in a permanant thought cycle? And if so how do you cope? Success stories would be greatly appriciated as I feel like I'm going mad.
0 likes, 2 replies
jan34534 oisin66821
Posted
same thing happened to me. Thought I was going crazy. I would fixate on some worry and then my mind would never stop about the thought. The key of course is to stop fixating on yourself. Do you have a lot of idle time? That was my problem. The more I was alone with myself the more my mind would take over and go to the negative and panic. Like a deep dark hole that I could not get out of. I was literally self-destructing. I felt hopeless for a while.
something that has helped me a lot is taking my mind off of myself and staying super busy. Helping other people who really need it has been miraculous for me because I’m not thinking about myself and those people truly appreciate what you were doing for them. The minute I get a negative thought, I acknowledge it but then immediately re-focus on to something else that is pleasant. You have to be consistent and determined otherwise your mind will take you over.
Basically when we have these negative thoughts, a groove is formed in the brain. Not a literal physical groove, but a place where our brain tends to go because the grooves have been Formed so deep. It can be reversed by immediately stopping the thought and doing something else. but like I said you have to be persistent and patient because you will have good and bad days for a while. take care of yourself and be positive
ann55375 jan34534
Posted
sounds like youve managed to get this under control. i havent and am experiencing all the symptoms. dr says its anxiety and gives me valium. its not working. are you on any medication to help?