Deprogramming your brain

[Discordian 6,015]

So I'm looking for tips and tricks anyone might have for trying to clear your mind of certain types of thoughts. Thoughts that won't go away no matter how much you try not to think them.

 

In my case I'm always thinking about relationships and whether I should have one or not. I don't think I should and I haven't even been in a relationship for years. Even after I stopped really looking I kept thinking about it. At totally random times during the day I'll catch myself thinking about how something I'm doing or how I look might affect my love life if I had one or if it's even preventing me from having one.

 

Make no mistake, I'm not depressed over this nor do I miss a girlfriend or anything. I'm just tired of constantly thinking about something that is literally not even a part of my life yet my brain insists on bringing it up. Stupid progenitor instincts. :okiedokielokie:

[Sapphire Lightning 784]

Meditation maybe? Develop a very focused mind by learning a skill that requires a lot of focused thought? (computer programming helped me with that as a child)

[NuclearBurg (Dawn) 622]

There is one that I found on the Internet that seems to work. You stare at an object about ten feet away and only focus on that object. Eventually after Staring at it for a while you'll go into a state of full concentration. So it clears your thoughts of everything else. Hope this helps.

[Sapphire Lightning 784]

There is one that I found on the Internet that seems to work. You stare at an object about ten feet away and only focus on that object. Eventually after Staring at it for a while you'll go into a state of full concentration. So it clears your thoughts of everything else. Hope this helps.

That is called flow state (similar to meditation)

 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)

 

Decent article on it, although the stuff in psychology journals is more in depth. I use the Skope Roku app to get to that state a lot, and as a child, programming got me there too.

[Cirrus. 1,089]

Good music (With good headphones or through a good Hi-Fi system) works to clear my mind.

 

 

On the other hand, lobotomization is always an option.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Cirrus-Lee

[VitalSpark 1,830]

Leo Tolstoy apparently used to play a game with his brother where you had to stand in the corner and not think about a white bear.

 

It's surprisingly difficult.

 

Also:

I just lost The Game.

 

[Hashi 323]

There is a way to get rid of a specific subject but its not particularly nice

Association

Whenever you think of the thing you don't want to think of, think of something horrible, something that would give you a shock, or terrifies you

I cant post any examples here because this forum is PG or something, but it works.

You can do it when they turn up by themselves, or purposefully sit down and attach those two things

So whenever you now think of the thing you don't want to think of, your brain automatically brings up this horrifying/ shocking thing, distracting you and moving you away from the thing you don't want to think of. Eventually your brain will associate the feeling of the shocking thing with the thing you don't want to think of and you will feel shock/horror every time you accidentally think of the thing you don't want to think of without the shocking image which automatically moves your brain away from thinking of the thing you don't want to think of.

 

If this sounds bad, its perfectly easy to get rid of, just sit down and concentrate xD Plus, it may (insert word from psychology here which means to lose over time which I have forgotten because it has(insert word from psychology here which means to lose over time)) over time, so you would want to refresh it every (unspecified interval here). 

 

Y'get me?

Edited February 28, 2015 by bonamb

[Henny Penny Benny 936]

My advice: give yourself something else to think about. I have a similar issue to what you're describing, where sexual thoughts will pop into my head seemingly at random, and while that may not seem like much of an issue, I prefer to avoid such thoughts due to religious convictions. So what I do is memorize Scripture and recite it back to myself whenever undesired thoughts come to mind, and it tends to help.

 

Now, I'm not saying you have to memorize Scripture, but find something in life that's more important to you than relationships, and make a habit of meditating on it all the time, especially when unwanted thoughts arise. And when I say meditate, I don't mean this:

 

I just mean that, whether you're walking, driving, eating, studying, working, or anything else, devote some time and energy to thinking about that thing that's important to you. It doesn't have to be a whole lot of time and energy—it shouldn't even interrupt whatever else it is you're doing—it just needs to be marginally more time and energy than you would otherwise be spending thinking about relationships.

 

But hey, that's just me.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Henny Penny Benny

[Invincible 2,091]

There are the methods mentioned above.

 

I personally go by a trusty "Do or Die" method-

 

You could always, of course, deal with the problem directly - for instance, if you're bothered by questions of a relationship or whether or not you should engage in one, you can always try for the sake sating your curiosity.

 

You can otherwise cut the root of the thought. Whenever the thought pops into your mind, you will it out by either physically setting your attention elsewhere or drowning it with other thoughts. Obviously, this method is more exhausting as you put more effort into the subject whenever you think about what you're trying to avoid.

[Auto Tweak 1]

When you think usally you "hear" your voice representing your thought, probably you can also reproduce music on your head, try to generate on your mind the sound of tv interference, relax every muscle, don't stare at anything even left your mouth hangging. Then see something with details or patterns, like the curtains. When done a lot of times, the process will last less and eventually you will be able to automatically forget what where you thinking.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Auto Tweak

[DATA EXPUNGED 324]

Simple, you get a Prefrontal Trans-orbital Lobotomy.

[Mesme Rize 15,683]

Just do what i would do. Put your headphones on, turn on some music and do something that you really like to do. I play alot of Video games while i listen to music and that is relaxing me from all the problems of life.

 

For example. Today i listened to this:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlbhFAeHf10

 

While playing some Civ 5.

[Ryzu 984]

I once befriended a guy who most people thought was crazy, but logically I guessed he was not and just thought differently so I could learn from him. He taught me this.

 

Look in a direction and don't focus on anything directly. By switching peripheral vision and taking a deep breath you seem to forget things. It was originally meant to refocus on something but it has this side effect. I've done it to forget things, but honestly I can't remember what I forgot for examples because I forgot them. I think maybe a few bad memories I can no longer recall.

 

This trick is difficult so don't expect it to instantly work on the first try.