In human society there is such a thing as mental chewing gum or chewing gum for the brain. What does this mean? In essence, this expression can be called what our thoughts, intellect, and our gray matter are attracted to. We kind of get stuck on this thing. For example, mental chewing gum includes TV series, entertainment shows on TV, YouTube channels of some authors, computer games, crosswords and much more. Also, the essence of the expression chewing gum for the brain can be interpreted as an activity that does not bring any real benefit. By the way, scientifically it is called rumination.
It's good if what you're stuck on brings you benefits. But in most cases, mental chewing gum does not provide any benefit. Time is wasted, vision deteriorates, headaches hurt, the brain becomes foggy, laziness and apathy appear.
The main thing is to stop sticking in time and realize that this will not lead you to your goal. If you have a goal, of course. Just the next time you get stuck on something, ask yourself: “Will this lead me to my goal?” And if not, stop sticking and the mental chewing gum will go away.
Mental chewing gum is when one obsessive thought is spinning in your head that you just can’t get rid of. Only one thing will help here - redirection ! To do this you need to train your mind. Concentrating on one subject for several minutes every day. The time needs to be increased every day. When you concentrate, try to get away from those thoughts that intrude and try to distract you.
How to get rid of mental gum with awareness?
In this section we will talk about getting rid of mental gum. If you cannot escape some disturbing thought, then this section is for you.
Here are the main 4 pillars on which the entire fight against this disease is based:
- Awareness.
- Concentration of attention.
- Adoption.
Step #1
Understand how much do you think? Imagine that you have decided to try one of the diets. By prohibiting yourself from eating a lot of foods at once, you will only do harm and will also blame yourself for the failures you have had. In this regard, you need to initially rewrite what you eat during the week. And remove some products from this list.
To defeat mental chewing gum (mental), first of all, find it in yourself. Write down thoughts related to the situations that generate them. For example, if you were scolded at work, then the thought may arise that you are worthless, that you are not good for anything. In general, during the week, write down the situations and thoughts that they cause. Then look at everything with a healthy eye. In the end, it will come to you whether you like this arrangement of things or not.
Step #2
Now try to train your attention without a pen and a piece of paper. Find a flow of thoughts in your head. Record, realize what prompted you to this particular mental chewing gum. Understand what you are thinking . If you realize that you are thinking and focused on this, and not on the fact that it seems to you that you are a failure, then this is already good. The mental cud will gradually begin to melt away. In this step, simply notice what you are thinking. To help, you can tell yourself: “Stop, breathe and notice.”
Step #3
Through the above steps you can change your mental digestion. Beginners may not be able to turn off the mental flow quickly, but over time you will be able to do it. Everything needs training. In the third step, learn to switch your attention with the help of crosswords, math problems, listing movie titles, knitting. In short, keep your brain busy with computational processes. Scientists' data suggests that only 2 minutes are enough to get away from thoughts of self-flagellation.
Step #4
It will take time to get the effect. Try to do what is given in the above steps regularly. If you have been living with your mental gum for a long time, it will take a long time to eliminate it. Train, this is the only way you will build up your muscles of awareness and attention. Here, just like in sports, each time it becomes easier to overcome the next obstacle.
In this fourth step you must know " acceptance ."
It takes self-compassion and real curiosity about your inner self. This is the best thing for your self-esteem. Understand that you love yourself, which means you can be loved. Accept yourself for who you really are!
Intrusive thoughts or “mental chewing gum”
Kubareva Svetlana Vladimirovna
Psychotherapist
June 25, 2016
“What you can perceive calmly no longer controls you” Confucius
It is difficult to find people who have not encountered obsessive thoughts . These thoughts arise against your will, spin in your head for hours like a “broken record” and are always emotionally charged. It’s not for nothing that they are called “mental chewing gum ,” because they are just as sticky, viscous and lead absolutely nowhere.
For example, you talked to someone in a raised voice and became agitated. The situation ended a long time ago, but you continue to mentally replay it: “you should have said this and that, done such and such...”. You get angry, argue, find more and more evidence that you are right, and just can’t calm down and switch...
As a result, nothing changes, while fatigue sets in and the only desire appears - to get rid of thoughts at any cost. But that was not the case... Because all manifestations of obsessions hide emotions, which quite often are not reacted to in a stressful situation. You are seething with indignation, you are very afraid or worried about the future, or maybe you are just incredibly offended... And until you cope with your emotions, live through them, you will not be able to free yourself from the thoughts that are haunting you.
who are responsible, prone to perfectionism , and have a characteristically anxious and suspicious radical personality often suffer from “mental chewing gum.” As a rule, they initially have the habit of constantly conducting an internal virtual dialogue. Moreover, these are people with clear rules and guidelines, the truth of which is beyond doubt. Such conversations “to oneself” over time arise not only in situations that are emotionally important for a person, but also relate to any everyday things. Gradually and imperceptibly, a person loses his freedom and becomes a hostage to an obsessive state.
Obsessions can also be a manifestation of a more serious, painful condition. Suddenly my heart began to pound, I felt fear, anxiety, and the thought arose: “there’s something wrong with my heart, what if I die like my grandmother, who suffered from heart disease...”. A person becomes fixated on a symptom, is afraid of it, begins to surf the Internet in search of information about his imaginary disease, constantly listens to himself and, of course, finds more and more new confirmations, the fear intensifies...
Then he moves on to action: he begins to undergo examinations, visit specialists, and although all the test results are normal, there is no relief. As a rule, all this is accompanied by anxiety and depressive symptoms, performance is impaired, it is difficult to concentrate, and insomnia occurs. And then we can talk about OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Can obsessive thoughts be useful?
If a bank loan has been issued to you, the time for the next payment is approaching, but there is no money... Then thoughts about where to get the necessary amount will stimulate you to look for a way out of the current situation.
Or, let’s say, you have a goal - to buy an apartment and you are looking for possible options, you sit for days and monitor prices, compare and analyze, collect information about developers so as not to make a mistake in choosing a company.
Or, you really want to improve your relationship with your partner. To do this, you read a lot of specialized literature, attend trainings, take care of yourself, constantly think and analyze “what and how” it should be….
As a result, if this situation continues for a long time, there may come a time when you decide to take a break, try to switch and occupy yourself with something else, but notice that you still continue to unconsciously think about your goal.
The very occurrence of an obsessive state is dangerous and harmful to us - it is a sign that mental problems have begun. And we urgently need to take action.
There is only one conclusion here - it doesn’t matter how valuable and useful what you do is! You must always take breaks, stop and allow yourself to rest emotionally, physically, and especially mentally, otherwise everything can end badly. Intrusive thoughts that are repeated endlessly are not productive. They only torment and take away energy. And, ultimately, they lead to illness. Therefore, you need to get rid of them.
How to help yourself:
Don't believe in your thoughts! - you need to realize the fact that you cannot completely believe everything that comes to your mind. Our thoughts are not us. Most thoughts are automatic, arise without our desire and 80% are repeated day after day in different variations. Let these thoughts be in your head, allow them to be and observe them. You don't have to believe in them. Your indifference and calm attitude towards these thoughts will significantly reduce their emotional intensity.
Don't resist them! — you cannot fight obsessive thoughts or try to get rid of them. Just indifferently start ignoring them, since there is nothing new or useful in them. Imagine that you have watched this movie hundreds of times and know all the details by heart. Are you interested?!
Find peace of mind! – obsessive thoughts feed on experiences, so rational arguments will not help you. It is important to deal with emotions and imagine yourself as an outside observer who indifferently watches what is happening. To do this, learn to switch. Any method will do: chatting with friends, an interesting book, an exciting movie, sports training or spa and relaxation; meditation techniques also work well.
I recommend! Take care and maintain your mental health. Take time to rest, eat right, try to move more and be outdoors. Give yourself as much joy as possible. Let only good positive thoughts live in your head.
A couple more tips on how to remove mental gum
- Do something interesting. Direct your thoughts to work, to your activities.
- Find the good aspect of a bad thought. Perhaps you can benefit from a situation that had a negative impact on you. As soon as you find this plus, immediately cling to it. And gradually you will come out of these thoughts.
- Show indifference. Just ignore unnecessary thoughts.
- Use meditation and relaxation when dealing with mental gum.
- Take a break from your hobby. If you notice that you are thinking about the wrong things, start doing what you love.
- Share your experiences with a loved one. When a person talks about his difficulties to another person, it becomes easier for him. Just talk it out, you’ll see you’ll feel better!
In this way, mental gum can be easily removed from your brain. The main thing is not to forget about regular training.
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Best regards, project administration
What is the danger of “mental chewing gum”
Rumination is characteristic of all people, however, some people have a more stable psyche and can easily cope with the onslaught of negativity, while others, on the contrary, are labile, which allows a pathological type of thinking to take hold. The danger of the phenomenon is as follows:
- Rumination has three stages. And the most dangerous is the latter, which leads to depression. Only a psychologist or psychotherapist will help you get out of this state;
- Living in negativity contributes to the deterioration of health and functional indicators of the body. At the initial stage, failures are characterized only by external manifestations: sweating, palpitations, increased blood pressure, but with prolonged rumination, real organ damage may occur;
- It has been proven that constant living in stress leads to allergic reactions. If a person is not prone to them, then the development of pseudo-allergies is possible;
Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash
- stress leads to a deterioration in appearance: the skin deteriorates, wrinkles appear, gray hair;
- “mental chewing gum” prevents you from building your life effectively: working, studying successfully, communicating with friends and simply experiencing joy every day.
It is imperative to work with rumination, since with prolonged chewing of thoughts, this style of thinking becomes commonplace. The principle of a psychological highway (by analogy with a highway) applies here. By constantly chewing thoughts in your head, you increase your highway, which over time becomes so huge that it absorbs all your other things.
Thus, if you are familiar with the topic of “chewing thoughts,” then begin to overcome this problem immediately. It will take about 1 month to consolidate a new type of thinking, but in the end you will begin to enjoy life again and increase your success.
Gymnastics of the mind
Even in the mouth, it not only protects against caries, but also destroys what was created there by dentists - fillings, crowns, bridges (see infographic).
But recently, chewing gum has been found to have several beneficial effects. It turns out that it helps to recover faster after colon surgery. This is explained by the activation of hormones of the digestive system. But the most interesting thing is that chewing gum is a good remedy for stress. It helps you calm down and improves concentration and even memory. “This was recently proven by English scientists from Northumbria University,” says psychoanalyst Alexander Genschel . “But this is not news for Freud’s followers. Chewing gum plays the role of a “simulator”, allowing many to relive the most blissful moments of their lives, when they were still fed on their mother’s milk. People tune out worries and therefore learn better. But chewing gum is unlikely to make everyone an excellent student. This effect works better with an infantile type of psyche.
