Comments on: How To Stop Racing Thoughts

By: Syd

Syd — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:53:12 +0000

I too have had a life of anxiety & racing thoughts, self medicated with alcohol for many years. Am not good in conflict but always confronting things that really did not need to be dealt with! Big swings in career as I always believed i was getting anxious due to the job I was doing. Was prescribed 20mg Citalopram, stuck with that for a while but then realised it was just a cover up & wanted to deal with the actual demons. Stopped the meds about a year ago, keeping off the booze (mainly). Struggling to engage with the world tho, racing thoughts and fear of “getting it wrong” seem to stop me doing stuff. Interested in comments above about diet, thanks Matt! On the sleeping front I use a sort of a spin on transendental(spelling?) meditation. Think of a regular calming movement (I use waves lapping in & out on a beach) you tie your breathing into the motion of your chosen movement, like my waves. keep you movement simple but calm/nice (clock pendulum, table tennis players etc). Bit like counting sheep (if you know that one) but you do not end up with a massive number building up. This process forces your brain to only thing about one simple thing and you get to breath properly & hey off to sleep. Worth a try maybe, works for me.
Oh & Gaurav, very familiar with your need to confront & resolve things, trouble is it is usually a waste of time as the other person thinks differently to you or me and they can also become nasty bullies towards anxious people (without even knowing it!!!) so my suggestion is just accept that people think differently to “us” and they are dealing with their issues in their way, you could however say to the person that what they say upsets you.. Take care guys, think that seems to be the obvious solution I hear repeatedly, difficult for me as a people pleaser tho. Got to now decide what to eat for my dinner, that does me every day!!! that will be the perfectionist playing games on me!!

By: amy

amy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:04:39 +0000

I was on 6 meds and miserable. Stopped all. It is now 7 months later. I am on a whole foods/ plant based diet, but racing thoughts and unrelenting sadness still come back fast and hard, like a punch to the face. Have an appt. w/ new Dr. on 14th (I am bipolar) and will give lithium a try. I have been told I need to be on an anti anxiety or I will stroke out. I was finally able to curb my drinking so maybe it woudn’t be as bad as a year ago (?) anybody???

By: GAURAV

GAURAV — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:36:08 +0000

IT STARTED ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO. I WAS PREPARING FOR SEMESTER PAPERS, DUE TO EXAM, SITUATION WAS ALREADY STRESSED.THEN I HAD SEVERE ARGUMENTS WITH MY ROOM MATE FROM TIME TO TIME WHO IS A WEIRED GUY.I TRIED TO REMAIN COOL BUT HE USED TO MAKE WEIRED COMMENTS & SUCH STUFFS. ALTHOUH THER ARE OTHER PEOPLE, WHO CAN NEGLECT OR AVOID THESE THINGS. THEY DON’T HAVE PROBLEM WITH IT. BUT I USED TO GET ANXIOUS, I WAS THINKIG ABOUT THESE THINGS ALL TIME(RACING TTHOUGHT), I WAS NOT ABLE TO CONCERAATE ON MY EXAM. EVEN EMOTIONAL BRAKE DOWN TOOK PLACE I FELT LIKE CRYING, WITHOUT ANY REASON, SOME TIME. THEN I CAME BACK TO MY FAMILY DURING SEMESTER BREAK…BUT STILL I WAS THINKING ABOUT HIM & THINGS LIKE HOW WOULD I FACE HIM & HOW WOULD I REPLY HIM. THINKING OF THESE THINGS MADE ME ANXIOUS, FEARFUL & EMOTIONALLY WEEK MISERABLE.I KNOW AVOIDING CAN BE A SOLUTION. BUT I WANT TO FACE IT, BECAUSE IT IS SUCH A SMALL PROBLEM & ESCAPING IT IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY. WEIRED THING IS THAT IT IS INSIGNIFICANT PROBLEM, & I M NOT ABLE TO KEEP MY HEAD FROM IT. SHOULD I CONSULT A DOCTOR OR SOMETHING ??? PLZ TELL ME

By: GAURAV

GAURAV — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:57:45 +0000

Matt,i belive yoga will be helpful in this regard… it will make one calm. it gives one positive & energetic outlook towards life and a great stress buster. it has helped me a lot to calm my nerves. various studies have revealed this fact. specially one can do ” kapal bhati, anulom wilom, bhramari pranayam, surya namaskar among others”. Name sounds difficult but IT Will be helpful. one can search for it on youtube & torrentz…let me know if any one wants help in this regard…

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:09:37 +0000

Hey Nick,

The best diet for ANYONE is the Paleo diet… there are many variations of it but stick with just eating as much natural whole foods as possible and don’t worry so much about the ratios of fats, carbs, and proteins… you’ll be getting plenty of proper nutrition just by eliminating processed junk

A paleo diet is virtually lean meats, fruits, veggies, and a little bit of nuts and seeds… I know it sounds bland and boring but it really works well because it regulates your blood sugar levels and reduces stress hormones such as cortisol (which is known to make ppl gain weight). I stuck with it for a few months as best as I could and it made a world of difference… I slept better, my mind stopped racing, and I could focus more positively/clearly and handle stressful situations with much more confidence. This type of diet combined with exercise will regulate your hormones and you will end up feeling more balanced and confident.

If you check out Paleo… just be sure to stay clear of the maniacs (lol)… the ones who say carbs are bad… carbs are definitely good! But we need to eat proper carbohydrate foods from natural whole sources such as fruit and veggies. I would also stay clear from juice for a bit… since it has no fiber in it, it will hit your bloodstream right away and cause an insulin spike (which is what candy and white flour do) and it produces a “stress” response in your body (clearly not good for those of us with higher levels of anxiety to begin with ) That insulin spike from junk food is the reason we crash after eating because your body will now try to compensate for that immediate spike of energy and a flood of stress hormones will kick in to try and rebalance itself.

Hope this helps and makes sense… I would suggest reading a book called “Body By Science” by Dr. Doug McGuff M.D. (Emergency Physician). He writes about the importance of proper exercise and a more natural hunter/gatherer diet and how it effects our mental state and general well-being/ hormonal balance. It’s an excellent book and I have lost 60 lbs of fat and gained muscle just by doing what he said.

Goodluck

P.S. I was just recently officially demoted on my medical chart to being cleared of Panic Disorder (without the use of drugs) The only thing left for me to do now is re-train myself to think more positively… but all anxiety is gone and has been for several months I know all of you reading can do it too!

By: nick

nick — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:48:17 +0000

and also matt where would i find a diet thats good for anxiety i had no idea that the food i eat helps or harms my disorder i would love to know what to eat cuz with the meds im on im geting fat as well lol but i wish that was my biggest problem

By: nick

nick — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:46:09 +0000

im back again 1 thing i would like to ask is how are you doin Will and what was the reason for your stroke??? and matt and mark im writing down all these books that you say to get but i have a book called “from panic to power” and i heard it was really good but i have trouble reading because my mind drifts as im reading i dont know if you guys have any help for that but i just cant stay on 1 thing in my mind at a time il be reading and half way down the page il be like what did i just read because of all the racing thoughts … anyways you guys are a big help just knowing its mental and not physical even thouugh it feels so physical at times and knowing that its not common but not that uncommon either its good to know im n ot the only 1 goin through it even though i dont wish it on my worst enemy it still helps knowing im not the only 1

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:16:15 +0000

By the way, the book has helped me tremendously but is obviously not a cure-all as I once thought it was. I now eat better and have more energy, just still have sleep problems. I also am not thinking of death constantly and hating my life as well, although occasionally these thoughts appear, they are no where near the level they were before. There is not much else I can really say though.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:11:21 +0000

Hey! One book I highly recommend is The Ultramind solution by Dr. Mark Hyman. Look for it at the library. It goes into different biochemical aspects of psychology not recognized by any major institutions. His website looks gimmicky, even the phrase itself does. However, if you look as some of the many points he makes in the book and look for published peer review articles confirming it you will see there is data which supports it. Anyways, the reason I am here is not because of negative thoughts but thoughts in general. Also, his book, although very complex, still probably oversimplifies the situation. Because there is no way to write a single book explaining details that are not well understood yet. Good luck.

By: Will

Will — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:16:32 +0000

Thanks guys that does give hope it can get better. I’ll be spending the day or 2 in the hospital so this is going to be a real tough one. Had a mild stroke 3 days ago but was too afraid to tell anyone> And Man it sucks typing with 1 finger!!