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 problem, here we will see some psychological tips to prevent this tendency to think in a loop .

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 recreating in our imagination an imaginary experience or a memory, or reflecting on an idea that “pulls us” emotionally, and feeling bad about it This is what is known as psychological rumination.

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 therefore force us to be alert, manipulating those mental contents in our nonstop head . In addition, this tendency to loop thinking traps us in a kind of vicious cycle, as we get focused on how bad the experience makes us feel and how much we wish we could think about something else, instead of trying to deal with it in a new way. constructive manner and directed towards the search for concrete solutions.

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 we anticipate, but that 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 work accumulated to finish it in the time we have, that leads us to try not to think about it and postpone our tasks even more, but at the same time that leads us to worrying even more about what happens to us... And we end up doing nothing more than suffering and thinking in a loop , while feeling more pressured to continue down that path of mismanagement of the situation.

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 an expert professional in this field who will offer us a "training" program in the management of emotions and thoughts, adapting to our needs and characteristics. 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 discomfort from the vicious cycle they are in, desperately tries to control their thoughts, something that only serves to feed the feeling of anguish and frustration . Nobody has the ability to choose exactly what to think about and what not to think about at any given moment , and neglecting that leads to discomfort at best, and mental health problems at worst.

For this reason, you must be aware that you will only get out of the loop of thoughts by influencing your mental states in a more indirect way, and of course not blocking ideas, thoughts or imagined images when you are interested. 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.

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 contents capable of "engaging" with your attentional focus until you become totally involved in them, letting what worries you remain 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 it. what worries you. Once you have started, the simple challenge of executing sequential actions to solve the problem will draw your attention and motivate you, because it is very satisfying to overcome the fear of thinking about it and seeing that it does not help you to progress. In these cases, the main barrier is not working on those tasks or responsibilities, but taking the step of accepting that we will not be dedicating ourselves to 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 in which we do not know what to do and we 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. For this reason, it is recommended that you have prepared a fairly detailed schedule beforehand , so that you expose yourself to these situations little and do not have to make decisions of that kind constantly.

4. Practice relaxation techniques

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

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

5. Do physical exercise

Although it may seem strange, physical exercise has a similar effect to relaxation techniques: it fixes us in the here and now , since our attention is directed towards the stimuli that capture our senses 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.