Mental Health Mental scenarios

Black Rabbit of Inle

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I've been noticing a lot more lately that I will spend ages (hours, days) creating mental scenarios. These don't necessarily regard anything in my life, some of them are completely bizarre and impossible things.

I feel that I put far too much into these, such as planning it out with every possible variable covered, every possible response to every possible question and the consequences of it all. IMO I spend far too much time in my own head and it's become worrying to me. It happens both when I'm sober and not.

Does anyone else experience this?
 
Yep, all the time. :) I usually try to take at least 5 to 10 minutes a day to at least *try* to meditate and focus only on my breath and it does seem to help me stay in the present a little bit more and think about the things that really matter rather than the little life that's playing itself out in my head. Other times I just go with the thoughts if they aren't bad ones and can sometimes learn something new about me that I never would have thought of otherwise if I didn't just go with it.
 
If you feel that these daydreams are harmful to your well-being, that's up to you. Do you associate them, with wasting time or anxiety? Figuring out why you devalue these 'mental scenarios' may be a.first step to identifying other issues you have in your life that you're using this to as a coping mechanism for.
 
I'm not entirely sure what you mean, Re-Distributed, however I'll share some thoughts that may or may not be relevant, but I hope it helps.

Often when I wake up from a lucid dream, no matter how amazing it was or horrible it was (most of my dreams are nightmares), I feel obligated to go right back into that state by falling asleep again, because often my lucid dreams will feel more real than this reality does to me when I'm awake.

That's probably somewhat similar but not entirely, or what not, but I figured I'd share.

Recently I have tried waking up from lucid dreaming and I actively try to stay awake, especially if the lucid dream turned out to be a horrific nightmare.
 
Most people would associate this kind of thing with dwelling on a past event, "I should have said this" or "I should have done that" kind of thing. With me it goes far beyond this to the point that I will have thought out an entire scenario that lasted for days (Which doesn't have an even triggering it).

I had an example typed out but it sounded too batshit insane to me to put it up :\

I guess I'm just at a point where I'm questioning my own mind...
 
i used to to do that constantly,in elementary school,middle school and high school while zoning out in class my mind would come up with extensive mental scenarios, about stuff like: what if i did this and then these people thought this and that made this other person think this and on and on and on, or on the flip side of things i would have these mental scenarios where i would be almost certain that these people think this about me and that means that they know this about me, which means that this girl or something would never like me sorta crap. That to me was a big part of my social anxiety: i would make the mistake of automatically assuming that what i thought other people thought of me IS what other people thought of me.
I have other mental scenarios play out know but they revolve around drugs or my GF finding out i do drugs.. and that sorta crap.
IDK if that at all relates to the mental scenarios your talking about but its my 2 cents..

O yeah i forgot to say I love these new Forums:) thanks to all who put in the time to create them.
 
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I do this constantly. Usually when I'm sober. If I try to do it whilst using it gets too real and I snap myself out of a nod by talking out loud. I definitely find them harmful to my mental health, I get so depressed by the world I live in and trying to escape it constantly isn't healthy for me.
 
I do this.

It makes me super anxious. I try to step back & relax but it doesn't always help. Usually I think up worst case scenario about every little thing in my day too.
 
Sounds like you all may have a good mindset to be writers, convert some of those scenarios into plots.. Writing for me claims as well as calms that insanely active mind.. So when i write I get into a zone, that completely pleasant place in our minds where we loose ourselves in what we are doing, where two hours feels like fifteen minutes and you look up at the clock happy and wonder where the hell that time went.. and after i'm done my head is allot clearer and I'm allot happier.. allot of writers talk of literally having to write or be miserable or possibly go insane..
 
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i used to to do that constantly,in elementary school,middle school and high school while zoning out in class my mind would come up with extensive mental scenarios, about stuff like: what if i did this and then these people thought this and that made this other person think this and on and on and on, or on the flip side of things i would have these mental scenarios where i would be almost certain that these people think this about me and that means that they know this about me, which means that this girl or something would never like me sorta crap. That to me was a big part of my social anxiety: i would make the mistake of automatically assuming that what i thought other people thought of me IS what other people thought of me.

Hahaaaa, oh yes. That last line especially. The difference between imagining something could be true, one among many possibilities, and believing something to be true as the only possibility can be as thin as a sheet of paper. And then you begin to interpret current events and relationships and reinterpret things in the past in terms of these imaginings. I certainly used to do this, imagine myself into other people's heads and try to see myself through their eyes. What I saw when I did that was always negative, it was a wholly distorted image of myself. I guess it could only be distorted but the more I did this the more distorted my own self-image became, and the more anxious, self-conscious and introverted I got. It was almost a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Something similar to this, or following on from this would be the constant second guessing of myself. Re-dist, I don't know if this is part of what you're driving at but in conversational groups I would feel myself about to say something but would catch it always, starting down a train of thought along the lines of if I say this how might someone interpret it, what might their comeback be, how might I respond to that, what then could happen, how will I look, what will they end up thinking of me, yadda, yadda, ya. This train of thought might last only a fraction of or couple of seconds but it was enough to kill all spontaneity, I was always lagging a little behind, and by the time I did pipe up often it would be just too late, the moment for it had gone. That kinda leads to these tumble-weed moments where there is a pause, the dynamic interrupted, and then things would pick-up again as though I'd not spoken sometimes. Or so it felt to me, though I suspect this again was more in my own head than in actual reality. Nevertheless, after a time I just stopped piping up unless I was on very safe ground with people I was most comfortable with. Some would describe me as a people-watcher, or a good listener, things like that, but in reality it was me keeping silent for fear of making myself look a twat. I don't do this nearly so much anymore. I don't recall making any conscious effort to fix this all that much, maybe I just grew out of it, who knows?
 
Sepher I'm exactly the same when around friends. Always a step behind and over thinking what I have to say, except when it comes to drugs... thanks to BL they've dubbed me the drug encyclopaedia.

NSA I've tried writing, I have the beginnings to a novel typed up but I haven't even looked at it in about 6 months. I get really into it for a couple of weeks and then give up, I can't go back to it after that as I can't get into the rhythm again.

I find that creating scenarios distracts me enough that my anxiety almost completely disappears.
 
Most people would associate this kind of thing with dwelling on a past event, "I should have said this" or "I should have done that" kind of thing. With me it goes far beyond this to the point that I will have thought out an entire scenario that lasted for days (Which doesn't have an even triggering it).

I had an example typed out but it sounded too batshit insane to me to put it up :\

I guess I'm just at a point where I'm questioning my own mind...

Oh, I understand completely what you mean man.

I used to do this too. You can't do this to yourself though. There's no going backwards in time, only moving forwards. You can learn lessons from the past, but you can't relive it, and there's no need to dwell on it too long.

I often think about how I could have made my past better, but sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances to actions. The important thing is that you're still alive, and you're still here to make your life amazing, one day at a time. :)
 
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