How to break this negative cycle?

Former Member

Hey.

As the title says, I'm having trouble trying to pull myself out of a rut.

A lot of bad stuff has happened recently and its really affected my mental state. To the point of not wanting to interact with friends or doing what I enjoy. A couple of reasons being that I'm finding it really hard to find work and with nothing worthwhile to fill my time with, I take it out on myself. Another reason is that I don't feel I've done enough with my life and am starting to feel like a failure.

Any suggestions on how to change this way of thinking?

Thanks.

Former Member

Hi akuma

I'm sorry to hear that things are not going too good for you at the moment, but beating yourself up over it isn't going to help.

So cut yourself some slack, and think about getting some charge back into your emotional batteries.

Most of us are programmed to solve problems when they crop up, but sometimes solving problems takes more than just being able to imagine a solution. It may be that we don't have resources we need, or maybe we can't find a pathway to where we want to get to.

The human brain runs 24/7, and it doesn't come with an OFF switch, so it keeps on trying to find solutions when maybe it should pause and take a break and cool off. But then again, if the brain stops completely the whole system will shut down .

So the next best option is to put it into neutral for a while.

You can do this by learning to relax at a deep level.

What you will find is that at your first attempts your brain will carry on feeding your mind regardless of what you want it do. So you need to learn some techniques that bring it back under control, gently but firmly.

In some way it compares to training a puppy - if the dog starts going off track in it's own sweet way and you start shouting and ranting at it, the dog gets excited and behaves even more erratically.

The most effective way to train a puppy is to just give it a gentle tug on the lead and get the dog back on course with the least amount of fuss. In essence, this is how you train your mind to slow up and give your brain a rest.

This book will show you how, it comes with an 8 week course, and a CD to help with the exercises.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindfulness-practical-guide-finding-frantic/dp/074995308X

It's not just another run-of-the-mill self-help book, one of the authors is one of Britain's top neural scientists, and the methods have been found to be successful using some of the very latest brain scanning equipment.

Once you have mastered the techniques and found a way to give your brain and your mind a rest, you will be able to stop biting at your own ankles, and you will find that you have a lot more positive energy available to you.

All the best to you :wave:

Jed