HOW TO STOP OBSESSIVE THOUGHTS?!

[trustwaves]

My brain likes to fixate on things. Recently I've been obsessing over food ( this has happened ever since the start of my eating disorder)
Anyway that's got better but my mind will obsess over food all the time and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of how to stop it?
I've tried distraction but the more I try not to overthink food the more I think about it.
The funny thing is that I don't really like eating so the obsession is quite like self harm I guess. It makes me so anxious all the time

 

[Tom]

I think that is very common among us. TBH I was't able to come up with anything that worked in helping me stop obsessing on something once it happened. The best I could do was not focus on it but instead purposely try and distract my thoughts onto something else something new. That could be starting an activity or getting on the internet and finding an interest area to read up on, etc. In other words its hard to just cease a thought train, but you can redirect it sometimes.

I don't know whats at the bottom of obsessive thinking. It didn't happen often to me but when it did tended to be resentment/anger at how others treated me. Something unresolved. So all I could surmise is that its something deep seated within our psych.

 

[Bella Pines]

I had a similar problem recently.

I began obsessing over my breathing. Seriously! It sounds so weird. Apparently it is a thing, it's called conscious breathing or sensorimotor obsession. I was breathing on purpose, in, out, in, out. Logically I knew that I would keep breathing if I could just forget about it. But I couldn't forget about it. Non logically I really felt like if I stopped breathing in and out, I would stop breathing! The trouble with conscious breathing is that you breathe ALL THE TIME! And the more I tried to distract myself, the more I would obsess about it.

The way I got through it in the end was to embrace it. To accept that it was happening and not try to fight it. I heard from a few members here that they do it too and read that it wasn't that unusual. So I eventually embraced it and accepted that it just was, then after a few days it went away of it's own accord and I didn't even notice it going away, it just wasn't there one day.

So try this, rather than obsess about food, calories, fat, sugars, weight, counting, recording, every single calorie (yes I've been there), accept what it is NOW. Not when you've reached the ideal weight, not when you've got it "under control" but now. If you can make peace with yourself in the now, then making slight improvements comes much easier and the anxiety that obsession brings eventually dissipates.

 

[tducey]

Obsession has affected me as well. The thing is you have to manage your obsession and never let them get to out of hand.

 

[Major Tom]

I keep busy by working on my garden or even better splitting wood. Sometimes I play my guitar. Music also helps a little. Those are the 4 things that help me to stop my overactive and often one-track mind.

 

[Pondering]

Obsession is very similar to addiction. It can get to the point of being unhealthy. It takes a lot of self-control to stop oneself from obsessing over a particular object or subject. It seems the best thing you can do is sort of wean yourself off of it, little by little, replace it with something healthier, and take interest in moderation. For food, you could buy just enough for a day or week's worth and forbid yourself from going out to get more so that you literally have no option but to eat what you need.

It's harder to fixate on something if you don't have time to think about it. You can't be tempted if object of temptation is out of sight, mind, and reach.

Also, it's important that you have recognized that the obsession is there and that it is unhealthy. So there's a plus. A lot of people will go into denial if they're told they have an obsession or addiction problem.

 

[kay]

My obsessive thoughts tend to be because of my anxiety disorder. I can worry about so many things, too bad I can't get paid for it because I am ever so talented at it. This week has been particularly hard for me so I have been reading stuff on this forum off and on all day hoping someone will say something to get me to quit. So far I am still relying on chocolate. Anyhoo, I am going to try to obsess over something else if I can. Kinda like @Tom mentioned, though I hope not to be merely distracted, but equally obsessed over something healthier. If I obsessed over useful things that I have control over perhaps that will help the anxiety that has turned into depression this week.

Can't say yet if it will work, so far all I have found as a seed of obsession is a video of Jack Whitten (RIP) working with "slab" in his studio. I keep watching that little snippet over and over thinking of obsessing over his techniques by trying them out for myself. If it works I'll let you know.

Wish I knew what might work for you and I hope you find a way out of it. Obsessing over food is a difficult spot to get stuck in. Perhaps a healthier version of your obsession such as growing your own food. I really don't know because food issues isn't anything I have dealt with.

Anyone can have obsessive thoughts but I think the ASD brain tends to be more vulnerable. We have very sensitive brains that need a lot of care. Kinda like plants. Some you can just leave out and about and ignore, others need just the right environment to thrive. But some of those plants are so cool. It sucks having to constantly deal with all the negatives my brain presents me with but otherwise perhaps I would just be run of the mill weed. Though I think that is how a large part of the population regards me; an annoying weed. (by weed I mean non-native invasive plants that tend to crowd out the native plants. Similar to the genocide Europeans inflicted on the Americas. Though obviously with no intentional malice because I doubt plants plan things like that. All other plants that get called weeds I refer to as forbs. Just want to make that clear Wow, I am really rambling off topic a bit.)

Sorry, doubt any of that helped anyone. But just my random thoughts because you never know, someone might get some use out of all that.

 

[Kazoo]

I get obsessive thoughts as well, and they can be really hard to control. I was succesfull in removing one thought - I'll tell you how, and maybe you can try the same method if you feel like it might help.

I used to keep on checking if the door was closed. I'd get home, close the door, sit down, then check the door, go to the living room, go back and check the door, back to the living room and so on for hours and hours, because for some reason I never felt like I could believe that the door was locked (I realize this is very illogical). This was a problem that would cause me huge amounts of anxiety. Anyway, I simply started telling myself "the door is open and that is okay" even though I knew I had closed it.. and that made it go away, with time. Now that I explain it, I think it might be a very individual case, and I know it's not always that easy. But I know a lot of therapists use a method where you go along with the thought and then you just learn not to act on it. It's kind of like that. So I guess, if it had something to do with food, it could be like "there's so many calories in this, and it will make me fat, gross and a bad person but I'll eat it anyway " - not that it will make you a bad person, but the method is that you go along with the thought instead of arguing in your own head, even if the thought isn't right... I hope that was understandable and that it made some sense.