Overthinking, Analysis Paralysis, and Addiction

clayboyn (70) in philosophy • 7 years ago (edited)

View this post on Hive: Overthinking, Analysis Paralysis, and Addiction

7 years ago by clayboyn (70)

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accelerator (67) · 7 years ago

Hi, you were one of two winners in the Tales from the MAP Room curated content post.

Your prize is 200 SP delegated for 10 days (from the @rycharde account). Apologies for the delay in processing this, but I hope it comes as a welcomed surprise!

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clayboyn (70) · 7 years ago

That's awesome, thanks for including me! :)

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jakeybrown (57) · 7 years ago

Nice @clayboyn, I've gone through a similar process and continue to. I like that you focused on addiction a bit, I feel like I used to be addicted to negative thinking, and not really purposefully. Like all my negative thoughts would subconsciously come up as I went about my day, and I didn't know how to deal with them so I just kept thinking that way and eventually became pretty apathetic towards the world because I never could listen to anyone either.

My method for dealing with these thoughts during the day is by catching myself thinking them whenever they come up. They come up quick, so I can't really avoid them, but once I notice I can sort of release them, because like you said, I was

identifying ourselves as the negative thought patterns or behaviors and start looking at ourselves as the one allowing them.

Once I realized I was apart from my thoughts it really helped, I just had to remain aware of them.

And of course, meditation has been huge, I started being able to be quiet and let the rest of the world speak to me, it actually took longer to be able to listen during conversation, I was less open to other people's words and opinions at first. That was a difficult step, but one I knew I needed to make.

Awesome article, this topic is a huge interest of mine and really cool to see your perspective on things!

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clayboyn (70) · 7 years ago

Glad to hear you are making positive progress as well. It's certainly a big hurdle to shift that perspective away from identifying with out own thoughts and being separate from the rest of creation, but once we make that transition it's kind of comical in some aspects to think that it was such a massive hurdle in the first place.

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jakeybrown (57) · 7 years ago

I feel like I'm going through this still, I can tell how my perception is changing, and during my meditations I start losing the tension that holds "me" in place and really open up and free myself. Sometimes, since it's so different, I automatically shrink back from it, so it's a process of more and more letting go for me. It's odd how we separate ourselves

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ngans (54) · 7 years ago

Really enjoyed this. I am very interested in mindfulness meditation, as well as the neuroscience behind its effects on the default mode network. I am considering making an article on this very topic! if your interested, I wold love feedback on my most recent article about memory engrams:
https://steemit.com/neuroscience/@ngans/what-really-is-a-memory-bio-physical-representations-of-memories-and-implanting-fake-memories-on-command

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clayboyn (70) · 7 years ago

Interesting post, I like the distinction between memory types and the purposes.

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unique18 (36) · 7 years ago

Hi @clayboyn,

Thanks so much for this masterpiece !

As said, i believe one can deal with it. It has a process and with time ,one can overcome it.

Also, this question of " why me " should be eliminated. Everyone faces challenges in one way or another. It will never stop coming as long as you are on earth. All you need is keep equiping yourself with the right knowledge on how to deal with them . Be prayerful as well.

I believe we are all born a winner.

Keep it up.

I am glad to be your follower.

esaia.mystic (54) · 7 years ago

Very Great Post! We all find ourselves in that place where the world is to blame, until we sit back & find the power in our very psyche that creates the reality perceived. Changing negative thinking to positive looks more like switching the thought “I’m a peice Of shit because I spent my money on a watch I don’t need” .. to “I am good with money because I saved 5 dollars today”.. instead of “I’m not a peice Of shit because I did not spend my money on a watch” which is still technically a negative thought..

See the difference?

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clayboyn (70) · 7 years ago

Makes sense.

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danielmcguire (25) · 7 years ago

Terrific article! I have always loved that phrase: "Analysis Paralysis." In my work as a Substance Abuse Counselor I love to use an exercise called "Putting Your Thoughts On Trial." The idea is to identify an irrational belief or thought and to literally "put in on trial" by developing argument for its validity of in invalidity. In a group setting this can be fun because you can set it up as a "trial" with one half the group being the "prosecution" and the other the "defense" for the thought on trial. Also, one member of the group can be selected as the judge and hand down the verdict as to the truthfulness of the thought. This can help people identify and consider irrational thoughts when they are on their own.

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whatamidoing (69) · 7 years ago

We’ve been down a similar path, though my addictions were mostly things which people don’t really associate with addiction. I’ve also developed a habit of addressing negative thoughts as well and learning to replace them without denying how I feel. Once I got in the habit, I found Everything kind of started falling into place, and when it doesn’t I know I’ve missed something.

It’s interesting what you said about being addicted to the recovery process. I remember a family member telling me all about AA and how brilliant one of the fundamental ideas was, something you mentioned, to focus on what you can change and forget what you can’t. Still I always felt offput by this continuous identification with being an addict, like once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic, as if it’s the alcohol that’s the problem and not the addiction. I never saw that as being very productive, not nearly as productive as the other take away, focusing on the present.

I really enjoyed this read.