5 Strategies to Avoid Loop Thinking

It is clear that thinking is something necessary to solve most of the problems we face on a daily basis, but that does not mean that thinking more is always the best option. In fact, sometimes it is part of the problem. This is what happens when we notice that we are unable to avoid looping pain, over and over again, and that this prevents us from focusing on what would really benefit us.

To solve this kind of problems, here we will see some psychological advice to prevent this tendency to think in a loop.

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Why do we sometimes think in a loop?

The phenomenon of feeling that we have been thinking about the same things for a long time and involuntarily, either by recreating in our imagination an experience imagination or a memory, or reflecting on an idea that "pulls us" emotionally, and feeling bad about it, is what is known as rumination psychological.

Another way to understand rumination is the fact of directing our attention again and again towards those ideas or mental images that worry us or make us feel anguish or anxiety, and that it

they force us to be alert, manipulating those mental contents in our head without stopping. In addition, this tendency to loop thinking traps us in a kind of vicious circle, as we stay focused on how bad the experience makes us feel and how much we wish we could think of something else instead of trying to approach it in a constructive, solution-oriented way concrete.

When we have been thinking in a loop for a long time, what is known as a self-fulfilling prophecy arises: we attract to us those experiences that anticipate, but at the same time worry us and would like to avoid, since we are predisposed to feel vulnerable to certain types of thoughts and experiences. For example, if we can't stop thinking that we have too much backlog to finish in the time we have, that It leads us to try not to think about it and postpone our tasks even more, but at the same time that leads us to worry even more about what we do. occurs… And we end up doing nothing but suffer and think in a loop, at the same time that we feel more pressured to continue down this path of mismanagement of the situation.

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Helpful Strategies to Avoid Loop Thinking Over and Over

The most effective way to face and overcome this tendency to think in a loop is, by far, to see a psychologist, since in this way we will have a professional expert in this field who will offer us a "training" program in the management of emotions and thoughts, adapting to our needs and features. Now, beyond this fact, you can also apply some general advice to your day-to-day life that is often helpful in situations of this type. They are summarized below.

1. Don't fall into the trap of trying to control your thoughts.

Part of what keeps this tendency to loop thinking going is that the person, feeling uneasy about the vicious cycle in the he is, desperately tries to control his thoughts, something that only serves to feed the feeling of anguish and frustration. No one has the ability to choose exactly what to think about and what not to think about at any given moment.And ignoring that leads to discomfort at best, and mental health problems at worst.

Therefore, you must make yourself aware that you will only get out of the loop of thoughts by influencing your mental states. in a more indirect way, and certainly not by blocking out ideas, thoughts, or imagined images when you interest. This implies that for a time, what worries you will remain in your consciousness without being able to avoid it, but how you react to it does depend on you.

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2. Opt for proactivity and not avoidance

Along the same lines as the previous advice, you must be clear that the solution does not lie in trying to avoid the thought or image that leads you to think in a loop; on the contrary, the strategy that you must adopt will not be based on eliminating, but on adding. You must incorporate into your mind other stimuli and mental content capable of "engaging" with your attentional focus until you get fully involved in these, letting what worries you be displaced.

In the event that what you thought about over and over again is a problem that you can intervene to solve, keep in mind that these other thoughts that will serve to replace the other may perfectly consist of getting down to work and remedying what worries. Once you have started, the simple challenge of executing sequential actions to solve the problem will draw your attention and it will motivate you, because it is very satisfying to overcome the fear of thinking about it and seeing that it is not helpful for progress. In these cases, the main barrier is not working on those tasks or responsibilities, but taking the step to accept that we won't be doing that for a few minutes instead of trying to avoid thinking about it.

3. Manage your time following a schedule

The looping thoughts generated by rumination are greatly reinforced by those moments when we do not know what to do and feel forced to face the uncertainty of how to manage our time, where to direct our attention and our actions in the very short term term. That's why, it is recommended that you have prepared a fairly detailed schedule beforehand, so that you expose yourself little to those situations and you don't have to make decisions of that kind constantly.

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4. Practice relaxation techniques

Combined with the loop thinking tips above, you can incorporate relaxation such as controlled diaphragmatic breathing or progressive muscle relaxation of Jacobson.

In this way you will do a mental “reset” that will help you break the loop of rumination.

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5. do physical exercise

Although it seems strange, physical exercise has a similar effect to relaxation techniques: fix us in the here and now, since our attention is directed towards the stimuli that our senses capture and towards the coordination of movements with the parts of the body. This means that we do not have the ability to think about other more abstract things that have nothing to do with carrying out those actions.

Do you want professional psychological support?

If you need the help of a psychologist to deal with problems such as rumination and intrusive thoughts, contact me.

Am Thomas Saint Cecilia, psychologist, and I offer my services to individuals, couples, families and companies both in my practice located in Madrid and online through video call sessions.