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Ask HN: How to stop overthinking everything in my life?

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Re: Ask HN: How to stop overthinking everything in my life?

#51

Post by ivm »

jaggs wrote: post #23

Trite answer here - try meditation. Force yourself to take a regular (daily) space in your life where you sit down specifically to empty your mind of all thoughts. By doing this you may find that your mind starts to respond to the stimulus (lack of stimulus?) and forge new pathways to stop your pattern of destructive thinking. It's worked for me, and may well do the trick for you.

We need to stop the "empty your mind" meme – it's harmful for new meditators.

The practice is about concentration and mindfulness[0]. It can calm your mind up to a degree when there are little thoughts present but you can't force yourself into this state daily, especially in the first years of practicing.

[0]: http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_eng...

Re: Ask HN: How to stop overthinking everything in my life?

#53

Post by [deleted] »

vldx wrote: post #30

I've been through something like this – up until I've hit ~25 years. I was fairly "disorganized". Issues w/ all forms of "authorities", trouble w/ my personal finances, not taking care of my mental (taking rest and time off) and physical (sleep, nutrition, exercise) health, never sucking it up striving towards overcoming adversities (however minor they might be). Most of all, starting many things, but never finishing…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How to stop overthinking everything in my life?

#55

Post by atmosx »

gh1 wrote: post #21

I used to be a victim of this myself. My solution to this problem (which works very well) is to lead a life of strict routine, where every hour is allotted for doing something specific. As I stuck to the routine, this whole overthinking thing magically disappeared as I simply didn't have the time to overthink. Everything is also progressing 10 times faster as well. I can't guarantee that it will work for you too but…

That's how the training in the Greek army works. Every healthy Greek male has to join the army at some point, for a year, usually after school or university.

Training is divided in two parts: training camp (called "the centre") and service time. The training camp is the hard part, in theory. The first two weeks you don’t have time to think or breathe for the matter.

A high ranking official told me late in my service time, that it’s a tactic to avoid psychological breakdown from people who are not adequate.

There are of course suicides every now and then[1]. But all in all, I must say that it works wonders.

[1] The level of psychological pressure in the army depends on many factors and varies greatly.

Re: Ask HN: How to stop overthinking everything in my life?

#56

Post by rpod »

thrownaway12345 wrote: post #47
markkhazanov wrote: post #45

I've been working with youth including teenagers and individuals in their early to mid 20s for the past decade. What you're experiencing is incredibly common, especially for wealthier white Americans. What I have found to be the difference between individuals who are able to get out of this state and those who continue to struggle is an incredibly strong sense of self identity. Having a personal anecdote that is uniq…

I 100% agree with this. I'm in my overpriviledged early 20s and have recently decided to do just this. I think doing these things does not help us youngsters get the answers to "What is life?" or "What am I supposed to do?" but you can't do these things listed whithout "knowing" and "feeling" that they are the right thing to do in that moment. I especially like the 5th one because for me the hardest/most "boring" thi…

As was already suggested in this thread, dr. Jordan Peterson is a great example of an academic who is genuinely passionate about his work and truly believes in the importance of it (and is rising in popularity for that reason). I also believe that his work (more specifically, his lecture series on YouTube) could aid you in your search for a sense of direction.

Re: Ask HN: How to stop overthinking everything in my life?

#57

Post by rpod »

thrownaway12345 wrote: post #47
markkhazanov wrote: post #45

I've been working with youth including teenagers and individuals in their early to mid 20s for the past decade. What you're experiencing is incredibly common, especially for wealthier white Americans. What I have found to be the difference between individuals who are able to get out of this state and those who continue to struggle is an incredibly strong sense of self identity. Having a personal anecdote that is uniq…

I 100% agree with this. I'm in my overpriviledged early 20s and have recently decided to do just this. I think doing these things does not help us youngsters get the answers to "What is life?" or "What am I supposed to do?" but you can't do these things listed whithout "knowing" and "feeling" that they are the right thing to do in that moment. I especially like the 5th one because for me the hardest/most "boring" thi…

Also, there's a difference between being grateful for being "privileged" and feeling guilty about it. It's good to reflect about the gifts that have been given to you in life. But you don't owe anyone anything.

Re: Ask HN: How to stop overthinking everything in my life?

#58

Post by xor1 »

DanBC wrote: post #49
mpfundstein wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eli5 please? ;-)

Someone who knows nothing about psychiatry, psychology, pharmacology, abuse, trauma, personality disorder etc feels able to speak about a psychiatric diagnosis, and makes a post that contains literally nothing that's correct. You can safely ignore the post. If you want information about personality disorder you'd be better off reading "Meeting the Challenge, Making the Difference". http://www.emergenceplus.org.uk/new…

Why do you and that link keep referring to "personality disorder" in the singular, as if there were only one personality disorder and not multiple?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM-5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_B_personality_disorder...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cluster_C_personality...

Please educate yourself before you accuse me about knowing "nothing". Also, please don't tell me that you consider the DSM-5 unreliable.

Re: Ask HN: How to stop overthinking everything in my life?

#59

Post by dang »

mordant wrote: post #14

>I am a mid 20s white male who has been afforded immense privilege in life. Stop right there. You've been brainwashed by SJWs in the so-called 'educational' establishment into believing that you somehow have some magic 'white, male privilege'. It's utter nonsense. They've been psychologically abusing you your whole life, harping on about 'racism' and 'sexism' and 'diversity' and 'tolerance', while condemning you for…

Ideological rants and rallying cries don't belong on this site, so please don't post any more of this here.

Re: Ask HN: How to stop overthinking everything in my life?

#60

Post by dang »

magic_beans wrote: post #39
mordant wrote: post #14

>I am a mid 20s white male who has been afforded immense privilege in life. Stop right there. You've been brainwashed by SJWs in the so-called 'educational' establishment into believing that you somehow have some magic 'white, male privilege'. It's utter nonsense. They've been psychologically abusing you your whole life, harping on about 'racism' and 'sexism' and 'diversity' and 'tolerance', while condemning you for…

I can't believe this is on HN.

It's good that you expect HN comments to be higher-quality. It would be even better if you'd join your fellow community members in flagging egregious comments.

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