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/lit/ - Literature

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4418824 No.4418824[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

/lit/, how can I stop being overly introspective?

It's been useful trying to understand WHY I think a certain way, and try critically assess things when I suspect I'm jumping to a conclusion too quickly without thinking of the alternatives, but how can I tone it down? It's mentally fucking draining.

>> No.4418830

Start drinking.

>> No.4418837

>>4418830
I do enough of that as it is

>> No.4418838

>>4418830
This
Also avoid weed

>> No.4418843

>>4418838
why?
weed helps if anything

>> No.4418851

Stop whining and embrace who you are. Its that easy.

>> No.4418859

>>4418851
I'm not unhappy with who I am. I just overanalyse my own thought processes to the point it's getting frustrating

>> No.4418867

>>4418824
stop now before you become neurotic

>> No.4418871

>>4418859
Turn it into a strength, make use of it.

>> No.4418881

>>4418871
That's what I've been doing, with great results. I'm a lot more at peace with other people and pick up on things quicker. It's just tiring at times - how can I get some downtime every now and then without turning to drugs?

>> No.4418889

>>4418859
>>4418824
I do this a lot

I also sometimes have talks with my brain and myself over subjects or something

>That girl is hot
>No she isnt
>Yes

It's odd at times

>> No.4418898

>>4418889
Fucking tell me about it
I try to apply it to ways that will make me more empathetic and think more laterally, which isn't a bad thing within itself, it's just the process can be tiring.

I kind of chalk it up to wanting to be more articulate and a better rounded human being than some potentially worrying underlying mental illness

>> No.4418900

Read some good books.

contrary to popular belief overthinking and over analysing like this ISNT good or a sign of genius. ideally your mind should be a peaceful place for you.

>> No.4418907

>>4418900
Do you think going to therapy would help?

>> No.4418910

>>4418907
maybe.

I would suggest letting your thoughts flow. Don't force them to come. Whatever comes, will come. Don't try to stop anything either.

>> No.4418912

>>4418889

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4fUeuAfGo

>> No.4418917

>>4418898

It's tiring indeed I sometimes loose sleep over it when it's something important or something plain stupid

It's like a bubble in public places

>>4418900

Over thinking isn't a sign of anything, it's just over thinking but controlling it is what makes it useful and applying yourself too situations

>>4418907
Don't bother , I tried and nothing came of it other than Anxiety and some drugs

Use it Wisely

>> No.4418918

>>4418881
Practice meditation.

>> No.4418924

>>4418918

I'm >>4418917

I've tried this before but it didn't work
I've had been like this for years but Ie learnt to just control it and use it

>> No.4418925

>>4418900
>ideally your mind should be a peaceful place for you.

What kind of rubbish is this? Exactly what are you saying?

>> No.4418933
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4418933

>>4418912
This made me laugh so hard I forgot about it for a moment. Thank you

>> No.4418940

>>4418910
They only felt forced initially. Now it's almost a reflex

>>4418917
I'm fine in social situations or in public. In fact, doing this has helped me empathise with people a lot more rather than judge. But the moment I'm alone I agonise over it a little bit at times, even if I have something to keep me distracted

>>4418918
Made it my NYR

>>4418925
Kinda with you on this one. If he's succeeded, he's pretty damn lucky

>> No.4418951

>>4418925
i am saying that your mind should be comfortable. Perhaps you are not as introspective as I (though I am in a good way) that you are able to sense the flow and movement of your mind and bend it at your will

>> No.4418950

>>4418940
>In fact, doing this has helped me empathise with people a lot more rather than judge.

THIS so much

I feel I can put myself in other peoples vision and shoes and how they would persevere something I'd do or what another person would do

It's strange because I smile a lot when I get ti to work

>> No.4418958

>>4418951
>Perhaps you are not as introspective as I (though I am in a good way) that you are able to sense the flow and movement of your mind and bend it at your will

Wat

>> No.4418966

>>4418951
But I'm not quite sure what you mean by comfortable? Aside from mentally disabled people such as schizophrenics and depressed individuals, our course we're all comfortable in our minds.

You make it seem as if you and your mind are two distinct things.

>> No.4418969

OP, what you are talking about is essentially the most perfect state of mind to start going to a talking therapy with a psychologist

Excess of introspection can really drain your energy, it's exhausting. And you know it creates a tension inside you, in order for you to get the outside world right. You end up taking it all in. And with loads of impressions, it is as if you were constantly worried or anxious, with something to think about before this or that.

You need to release that tension through expression. That's why people can speak of drugs like drinking or weed, which might help you to release some action without this much thinking. But that doesn't solve and might actually hurt you, make you lose control. Though if you retain control, you remain tense.

Art is a good point as well. Create something. Put it out.

And as you said it is alright talking to people, I believe you might really need that: talking to people. Though, still, that's not enough. You don't want advice from them. And you won't be searching for it through a therapist. There, you are going to be able to talk all that you have to talk, think out loud without fear of being judged or anything and get a response that is but a reflection of the way you think. You'll get to the root of your problem with introspection. And it is not tiresome, on the contrary, it is very different from thinking by yourself. Certain things are obvious, but you don't see it just because you are yourself. Allow this reflex.

>> No.4418970

>>4418966
*of course

>> No.4418973

>>4418958
this poor soul... can you not feel your consciousness. Can you not materialize yourself. Can you not feel it as an entity that move about and exists in this and varies its states

>> No.4418975

>>4418950
First time I realised I could do it, I was bouncing off the fucking walls I was so happy. I felt like such a moron for acting the way I did my whole life up until that point

>> No.4418976

>>4418973
this space and varies in its states*

>> No.4418977

>>4418973
I am my consciousness. The fact that I exist right now and am typing this is proof that I can "materialize myself". My consciousness and my existence are not distinct. I am not some intangible phantasm that resides in human flesh. i am my flesh.

I really don't know what your point is.

>> No.4418980

>>4418975
n.b. not just actions, but the way I perceived other people and things, and thinking I was right about everything (by virtue of being "smarter than average) when I really fucking wasn't

>> No.4418981

>>4418969 here

And make sure you go to a good one. There are a lot of terrible therapists out there, normative, judgemental, just guessing things, even moralistic. You need someone willing to listen.

I'm saying this from personal experience. Your original post hit close to home, I was experiencing something a lot like that. And it grew to insane proportions and therapy led my way out of it in the best way possible.

I'm still introspective and all, but there is no such thing as this "inflation" you are experiencing right now.

>> No.4418990

How is it you people can perceive OP as somehow being not normal simply because he's apparently too introspective? This is absurd.

>> No.4418991

>>4418977
, can you not feel your mind be comfortable? Or uncomfortable if you are not enlightned

>> No.4418997

>>4418975
Same here OP

It's amazing

>and thinking I was right about everything
That's more of an ego thing I'd say

>>4418990
I get it all the time

>> No.4418998

>>4418975
this is actually not the right way. if you are forcing yourself to feel empathy, whatare you doing but doing something that isnt right

>> No.4419004

>>4418990
There is no normal/abnormal dichotomy. OP brought us with a problem of his own, so it is logical to assume that he wants things to be different from how they are right now. So we offer possibilities and discuss. Anyone trying to normalize OP is only making the problem worse.

>> No.4419005

>>4418991
>enlightned

Aha! So that's the crux of the matter. As I said previously, I am not distinct from my mind. If my "mind is uncomfortable" then I'll reflect my present state by my behavior, i.e. I'll be reluctant to socialize, less inclined to study, be in a generally irritable mood, etc.

I'm not able to be in a state where my "mind" is comfortable and the rest of me isn't. Imagine this: suppose I was bound rather tightly with some rope, cutting off circulation to my appendages. You can agree that this would be physically unbearable.

Are you telling me that it would be normal for me in this state to have "my mind" be at peace while my body suffers? Of course not! My thoughts will reflect my physical discomfort.

Please, stop with these notions of dualism.
Also what do you mean by enlightened?

>> No.4419010

>>4418998
You don't force yourself

We know it as a natural instinct when we do it
It's tough to explain but you just GET what that person feels like and their perspective

>>4419005

He means as seeing a higher knowledge or state of mind like Meditation or something He's confusing

>> No.4419012

>>4419005
i dont mean anything by enlgithened, I was saying what i wanted to say

but this is part of my enlightenment

>> No.4419016

>>4418918

this

you basically need to learn where to place your focus, because at the moment you're just chasing shitty thoughts and letting them control you.

>> No.4419017

>>4419004
>There is no normal/abnormal dichotomy

By why else would there be suggestions to seek therapy?

OP stated that his problem was him being too introspective. I take this to mean that he has a really active mind and expends a lot of energy thinking.

What I don't understand is how this is a cause to seek therapy - we can agree, right, that normal people don't seek therapy?

Obviously if he feels his introspection is a problem he should do something about it, and some of the suggestions here I agree with, i.e. channeling that energy into something constructive like reading a book, painting, meditating, etc.

However, I disagree with the diagnosis that the OP must apparently be in need of a therapist simply because he feels he's being too introspective.

>> No.4419018

>>4418998
And that's worse than living my life as a judgmental, cynical prick? I see where you're coming from but I can't see an alternative, and I'd rather take the lesser of the two evils

And it's not flawless, either. I was reading some debate on a forum today regarding human evolution, and one Muslim guy was fucking adamant it didn't happen despite all the evidence that was being thrown at him. It made me a little angry, so evidently I still have room to improve

>> No.4419026

>>4418997
>tfw you find people who most likely think very similarly to you

>> No.4419029

>>4419016
They aren't shitty thoughts. I feel they're helping me "improve" as a person. They can just be a little tiring

>> No.4419034

>>4419018
I sometimes look at it being not everyone is going to think and be like other people and follow their way of looking at something
They can change, everyone can change

But I guess they're more dedicated than others

>>4419016

Stay Mad and upset

>>4419029
OP do you read a lot ?

>> No.4419041

>>4419018
anger is totally fine man. It progresses things and makes the world go around. You believe in what you get angry about. Do you really believe that muslim man should believe in evolution, or do you really believe that he entitled to his opinion. If you believed he is entitled to his opinion, maybe you would not feel angry. But what would we do if everyone was entitled to their opinion? Not everyone has to believe in the same thing. Certainly no harm in changing his mind if its truly what you are passionate about and what you believe.

>> No.4419043

Accept that not doing it will make you uncomfortable, and then don't do it anyways. Refrain from doing it enough and you'll start to feel more comfortable with not doing it.

But being presented with input and deciding not to analyze it is a decision, not the absence of one. One way to justify it is: The cost of not assessing can be lower than picking a position that took longer to come up with.

Social situations usually punish this: thinking too much makes you look fake and unlikeable. If people try to punish you when you're clearly being genuine, those people don't respect you, and you shouldn't seek their friendship.

>> No.4419044

>>4419029

you're clearly being negatively infulenced by them. 'shitty thoughts' was perhaps poor word choice on my part, but i only said that to indicate the obvious negative effects they are havig on you. besides, i'm not saying you can;t think those things, i;m saying you need to learn to distance yourself from your thoughts to better know them, and to stop being led around by them. who is in control of your mind? you or the strings of words and images that run through them?

>> No.4419049
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4419049

>>4419044
> i;m saying you need to learn to distance yourself from your thoughts to better know them, and to stop being led around by them. who is in control of your mind? you or the strings of words and images that run through them?

You're a funny man

>> No.4419053

>>4419029
they are not helping you improve... its all an illusion. If its a losed system and your just circling thoughts around in your head, there is nothing to "improve"

read some books on some subjects you are interested in. or go an have experiences, and see if you can really improve then

>> No.4419054

>>4419049

you're a person that posts costanza images, greentexts what other people say and then adds a short line of your own that adds nothing to it.

>> No.4419057

>>4418824
Try having sex

>> No.4419063

Sex. exercise. Socialize with happy people.

You think too much. This cannot be fixed by thinking more.

>> No.4419071

>>4419054
I can write whatever I want to an inane anon

>you're a person that posts costanza images, greentexts
Was that supposed to show I'm not properly understanding the conversation or that I'm form another board

>>4419063
That sounds nice and terrible both at once the same time

>> No.4419068

>>4419063
>You think too much. This cannot be fixed by thinking more.

Pithy. I like it.

>> No.4419072

>>4419034
OP here
I'm also >>4419018

I do read a lot, but mostly random, somewhat esoteric shit online, forums and news websites. I'm probably "well read" by my peers' standards (had read about a third of the /lit/ starter kit prior to coming here) but I'd say I'm out of my depth with regards to actual literature on this board. I read Catcher In The Rye not too long ago and that kind of inspired me to come here (browse other boards sometimes so I knew of this one), I enjoyed it and bought a kindle this Christmas with the intention of reading a lot more literature. And now here I am.

Regarding what you said in >>4419018
I get what you mean... while I wouldn't call all this introspection a "burden", I realise that while everyone has the capacity to change, it doesn't mean they'll be faced with the opportunity to do so. So I don't blame them for not thinking the way I do (that probably sounds condescending, but I don't consider myself "above" others)

>> No.4419075

>>4419057
This opens a whole new list of things to start analyzing.

>> No.4419079

>>4419075
Don't worry, I'm sure it won't take much to analyze that lump of yours.

>> No.4419082

>>4419044
Well.. I get what you mean, but it's hard for your actions to NOT reflect the way you think, to at least to a small extent anyway. I'd hate to not be able to express my thoughts through my actions AT ALL

>> No.4419091

>>4419072
Like you ,
I get tags where everyone says you're a genius or are super smart because you're reading

I was thinking of Catcher Rye but decided to save it for a while due to the way it's written down

>> No.4419096

>>4419041
This made me stop and think for a moment... I guess I'd PREFER if he did believe in it, but looking back I don't blame him for thinking the way he did, because I have absolutely no idea what thoughts, experiences, etc. have made him who he is today (he could be 100% convinced that evolution isn't real and not just deluded because of witnessing some phenomena he couldn't explain at the time, but was in fact perfectly explainable). Does that make sense, or am I just rambling?

>> No.4419100

I'm>>4419091

>>4419096
It makes perfect sense OP

>> No.4419106

>>4418951
I only get this with drugs. I took a lot of modafinil on the 26th and had a hypomanic episode in a shopping mall. My internal monologue was going at a million miles an hour, but I could channel it wherever I wanted it to go.

How do you attain that level of... idk, i'll call it "flow", without resorting to drugs or overwhelming emotional experiences?

>> No.4419110

>>4419017
I was the one who recommended therapy.

Therapy is the exact opposite of what you claim it is. Different from something like psychiatry and etc, trying to normalize patients, cure them in relation to society and so on, analysis seeks something completely different. Its great triumph is the very realization that normal/abnormal dichotomy is just not going to solve anything. On the contrary, a lot of problems stem from that normalization.
> we can agree, right, that normal people don't seek therapy?
That's why I would say the opposite: it is only normal people that seek therapy. Because they are the ones who think they are not normal and see a problem in this or that way of doing, due to pressures of society and so on, images of what is like being normal. The good therapist is not there to prescribe, to give advice, to tell you what to do or why you are the way you are. That is: to claim what it means to be normal. He is not interested in that. He or she would merely listen and use your own logic to help you find a solution of your own. So maybe the guy wants something, but he thinks he is not supposed to want something. And why not? Several reasons, but no real reason. Therapy may help you find the exits to a problem, exits you discarded long ago but were always there.

I understand what you are saying and it's actualy a fairly common vision of therapeutic analysis, but it's not how it is. It's not about treating people into normality, but open the inner discussion.

>> No.4419138

>>4418969
This pretty much

I feel like I'm being as... I wouldn't say "good", but being as useful (to myself and to other people) if I'm not constantly thinking in this way.

I agree that I need some form of creative outlet. I was analysing some Eminem lyrics today (rhyme schemes) and am thinking of maybe writing some of my own in a similar fashion. I have some other things I'd like to pursue too.

I can't exactly put into words why, but I do enjoy talking to people a lot more than I used to since this all started.

I will probably look into therapy. I also viewed it as a place where people go to offload regarding their everyday problems, I never considered it to be somewhere where I can "think out loud" without fear of judgment. That sounds amazing, but I can't help but doubt whether or not I'd be able to do just that (say everything that I think as soon as it comes up). Maybe with practice, I don't know...

Appreciate you guys being here for me, /lit/. This has been quite cathartic, and it's made me happy seeing there are people who think similarly to me or don't want to see me agonise over it. I think I might be coming to terms with this better, I guess time will tell.

>> No.4419141

if you go a psychologist you're a pussy

>> No.4419173

>>4419110
Holy shit, THIS

>> No.4419182

>>4418843
Not really
>dat dizzying paranoia
I guess it depends on the strain

>> No.4419204

>>4419138
That's good, anon.

> That sounds amazing, but I can't help but doubt whether or not I'd be able to do just that (say everything that I think as soon as it comes up). Maybe with practice, I don't know...
I can't count how many times I said similar things. But I said them in therapy. This part of your post looks like a thing you'd say to a psychologist and from there you can get to several paths.

As an example, one image that I brought in therapy was that my problems felt like a knot I couldn't set lose. The more I pulled, the harder it was. The more I thought, the more I had to think. But then, in another moment I said something about me trying to "tie" this to that... And she interrupted me: "to tie even more things?" And this question made me realize how obsessed I was with coherence and that I kept increasing the knot the more I tried to control it. From then on I realized therapy was about making the overall knot more and more loose and easier to handle. It is a relief that helps resolves all kinds of challenge, introspective or not.

>> No.4419249

I have similar problems, but I know the real roots... I just don't know how to solve it without moving away from my family and "friends". I dislike all of them, I think they are too conservative and stupid, and they fail to see things the way I see them. Also, they always remember me all the times I've been treated like shit.

>> No.4419326

As a recovering alcoholic, I have been experiencing a lot of the same thought patterns as OP as well as high anxiety derived from these patterns (abnormally since I can't drink to escape my mind).

Reading some of these posts has helped... in some ways just by the consolation of knowing I'm not alone and others by the reassurance that my decisions to pick up drawing/writing to "get out of myself" are probably logical steps to stabilizing my over-analyzing and anxiety. As simple as it sounds, those solutions or "exits" cannot be easily found when in full analyzing mode.

So, thanks OP and others for the unexpected pseudo-therapy tonight, haha.

>> No.4419359

>>4419326
As the poster above said, therapy is coming to terms with the fact that you're a lot more "normal" than you think. Therapy doesn't HAVE to be contained to a therapist's office - for you, this thread produced a similar effect

>> No.4421749

I just want to add a bit to the sentiment in expressing my thanks to the sense of companionship the overall posts in this thread has brought me. Being this way, over analyzing then analyzing that and reproaching myself because of the whole of it, is just exhausting. At my weaker moments and quite recently I began to consider that I was going mad or already was. But I was being self-centered and didn't consider that outside more people perceived the world in a similar way as I do, its just that with the people that surround me being that way feels so alien. Well not anymore or not so much, so thank you, specially the guy giving perspective about how therapy really works, awesome.
Presently I'm haunted by two concerns. First, sudden bursts of pain bleed through the most casual associations, as an example: I look outside and a convertible passes by my house, immediately I find myself vividly reminiscing myself holding a bat after trashing my parents house because of a heavy and painful argument on both sides and my friend is waiting with my shit packed in the back of his car, a convertible. Now all of those issues have been resolved rather amicably and find myself in a good and healthy relationship with my family and friends. But still, regularly, my environment seems to be loaded with reminders of the shit that I went through and the shit I did in return. It doesn't happen, the bursts, as often as it did before, but still a day doesn't goes by where I momentarily meet the torment unexpectedly.
Secondly, there have been days of happy thought and full of sincere creative endeavors, far in between but those days still keep my hopes up. I work in post-production and had a good year which means I will have some extra money and time to work on my projects and here is were the issue arises: a lack of focus, but not commitment, keeps holding me back in actually getting done one of the many. I seem to keep alternating between each quest alongside an unhealthy dose of self-doubt stemming from an over arching insecurity of not knowing enough. I don't know if anybody else here struggles with this but I feel always lacking in my knowledge of film, philosophy, literature etc etc etc so this in turn makes me wildly active in a subject that I find myself lacking and then stopping and switching the subject so on and so forth, through it all little work is done. How can I balance myself?

I didn't expect to pour out so much, I apologize gentle anons.