Psycho-Babble Psychology Thread 511517

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Is too much psychological thinking good for you?

Posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 13:57:30

Any ideas on when to stop dwelving more and more into psychology and therapy and trying to work on your issues and start moving on?

Sometimes I feel it has all gotten too much for me - too much of therapy, too much of insight, too much of psychology so that I am in talking in terms of psycho terms with everyone.. and sometimes I am also beginning to get bored. And sometimes I just don't like talking about Ts nowadays and seeing one. I am feeling "oh what is the big deal" kind of thing. It is almost like I have lost the charm in all of this.

But othertimes, I feel very interested and want to do more..

Is too much of psychology bad for your mental health? Any ideas?

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » pinkeye

Posted by JenStar on June 12, 2005, at 14:33:52

In reply to Is too much psychological thinking good for you?, posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 13:57:30

pinkeye,
sometimes I wonder about that too! Is too much analysis bad, maybe? Do we get into "analysis paralysis" and stop LIVING b/c we're THINKING about living too much?

But then, on the other hand, maybe overanalzying something diminishes its ability to hurt us and helps us move on?

I guess that if you feel that you're putting too much time into it, maybe you should back off until it feels "right."

how is everything these days? I hope you're happy!
JenStar

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you?

Posted by Susan47 on June 12, 2005, at 14:47:16

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » pinkeye, posted by JenStar on June 12, 2005, at 14:33:52

Probably some thinking about ourselves is necessary for our whole health. Thinking about practical things gets me out doing them, and taking care of myself, but I have to be in the right mood; creating that mood is the part where thinking in psychological terms is hugely helpful. But I can only train myself to think in psych terms but actually thinking in those terms for a long time, to begin with. But I think it's like learning a language. Really. You start off having to work really hard, and it seems so unfathomable in the beginning, but the more you talk the language the more second-nature it becomes, until suddenly you find yourself listening and understanding.. then talking and not having to think about it, pronouncing the words correctly, suddenly, it's not so much work anymore, and the more you talk, the less you have to think about how to put the words together.

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » JenStar

Posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 14:52:32

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » pinkeye, posted by JenStar on June 12, 2005, at 14:33:52

yeah - exactly my feeling too.. think too much about living that you forget to live. Sometimes I wonder if I do that a lot these days. But maybe I needed that for all this long to uncover all my basic issues like some form of csa etc. But now I think maybe should focus more on the living.

I am doing better. Thanks for asking. I think I got over my extreme dependance on my ex T. That was a huge step for me.

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you?

Posted by happyflower on June 12, 2005, at 15:39:56

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » JenStar, posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 14:52:32

I do believe I over think since being in therapy.
These last 2 weeks has been a thinking marathon for me. I am sure you can tell from my posts. But I have discovered so much about myself this week and am looking forward to therapy this Wed. to talk about my discoveries. I think for me I HAVE to do a lot of thinking since I feel I am in the true depths of therapy right now. But I do think if you aren't living your life and only thinking about it, that isn't the best. But I do admit that some things are on the back burner while I do my thinking. Good question!

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » happyflower

Posted by JenStar on June 12, 2005, at 15:48:07

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you?, posted by happyflower on June 12, 2005, at 15:39:56

hi happy flower,
I think it's good that you're learning more about yourself! Sometimes thinking marathons can be really great.

I guess I was speaking from personal experience that applies to me specifically. Sometimes I get caught up in a circle of thought: I think about doing something instead of actually DOING it; then I think about thinking about it instead of doing it; then I think about that some more. And after a while I'm caught up in a circle of thought and I've kind of 'paralyzed' myself out of action.

And then there are other times that I try to suspend this "overthinking" and just dive into something and get on with it.

But I think that the 'overthinking' I'm talking about is a bit different from what you and others experience in therapy. It's different from therapeutic thought. It's a sort of NON-therapeutic thought-cycle I can get into, and I can "trigger" my way into it thru therapy sometimes. But I believe it's part of my anxiety disorder - I tend to obsess about things and worry about them too much. Sometimes I get thoughts 'stuck' in my head. For me, that's what overthinking means!

I don't know if any of that makes sense! To ME it does, but it's very hard to explain it.

But for me, sometimes when I start thinking about therapy and talking about it a LOT, I tend to find myself in these rumination pathways more often.

But still, I enjoy thinking and learning about psychology. I'm afraid of learning about myself, a bit. I guess I'm afraid that I'll try to plumb the depths and find that they're not that deep after all.

JenStar

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » pinkeye

Posted by JenStar on June 12, 2005, at 15:49:53

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » JenStar, posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 14:52:32

I'm glad you're getting over the dependence on your ex-T! :) That's great.

Maybe a happy balance would be good for you? Enough therapy to help you keep going forward, but not too much to make you WONDER if it's too much?

Have a good rest-of-the-weekend, at least what's left of it!

JenStar

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » JenStar

Posted by happyflower on June 12, 2005, at 15:54:53

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » happyflower, posted by JenStar on June 12, 2005, at 15:48:07

Hey, Jen,
Have you read this book called Women Who Think Too Much? I haven't read it , but it was suggested on the Oprah show and it sounds like the kind of thinking that you might be doing. But to me I would rather know someone who thinks too much than someone who doesn't think at all! :)

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » happyflower

Posted by JenStar on June 12, 2005, at 15:59:06

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » JenStar, posted by happyflower on June 12, 2005, at 15:54:53

no, I haven't, but it sounds interesting! I will check it out.

Thanks for the thought. I do like the idea of thinking rather than not thinking at all!

J

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » pinkeye

Posted by Jazzed on June 12, 2005, at 17:29:19

In reply to Is too much psychological thinking good for you?, posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 13:57:30


I would guess that as long as therapy is kept in the proper perspective, and doesn't take on a life of it's own that prevents you from living your life, then it's probably okay/good. Everything is relative.

I think anybody can benefit from therapy in it's proper place.

Jazzed

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » JenStar

Posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 18:16:23

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » pinkeye, posted by JenStar on June 12, 2005, at 15:49:53

Thanks. Yeah, I think a happy balance is what I need now. Hope you had a good weekend too. I dropped in to work for little bit today to cover some stuff which I couldn't cover during the weekdays.

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » happyflower

Posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 18:17:15

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you?, posted by happyflower on June 12, 2005, at 15:39:56

I think for you since it is relatively all new and in the figuring out phase, it is quite ok to think as much as you want. For me I have bene doing this for nearly 3 years now, so you can see where I am coming from when I say it is becoming too much.:-)

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » Jazzed

Posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 18:17:49

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » pinkeye, posted by Jazzed on June 12, 2005, at 17:29:19

Thanks Jazzed. Yes I think the key is putting things in the proper place.

 

Too much of anything is bad » Susan47

Posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 18:53:54

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you?, posted by Susan47 on June 12, 2005, at 14:47:16

I think too much of anything is bad for us. If we fail to strike a right balance then we get skewed in our perception sometimes.

For me it has always been like this.. I get obsessed so much about something and for a while I cannot think or do anything else other than that particular thing. And then boom - one day it all becomes too much and I drop it all - the obsessions.

I think I am very close to that stage in psychology. I think I am about to drop it all and leave and go one of these days.

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for yo » pinkeye

Posted by Dinah on June 12, 2005, at 20:23:16

In reply to Is too much psychological thinking good for you?, posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 13:57:30

I dunno. I know that I wouldn't want to live the unexamined life. My parents were both big on living without self examination, and the results were not pretty. But my brother and my father in law also prefer the unexamined life, and they're lovely. My husband also prefers the unexamined life. I haven't come to a conclusion yet on that one.

I remember when I first came to Babble, I noticed that some of the people I admired most happened to be the ones who have been in long term therapy. But others of the people I admired most hadn't been to therapy at all (but were pretty darn good at living the examined life anyway).

I think some of us are naturally geared to be that way, and it helps us.

 

Re: Too much of anything is bad » pinkeye

Posted by Jazzed on June 12, 2005, at 23:03:31

In reply to Too much of anything is bad » Susan47, posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 18:53:54


> For me it has always been like this.. I get obsessed so much about something and for a while I cannot think or do anything else other than that particular thing. And then boom - one day it all becomes too much and I drop it all - the obsessions.
>

Even with what I said, and I still believe it to be true, what you said above is exactly the way I am! I promise myself every time that I won't get wrapped up in it, that I won't develop feelings, that I won't talk about it all the time, but never happens. It does take on a life of it's own, and like you, if I want to get out of it and get my life back, I have to drop it. I don't know why I put myself through it. I agree with Dinah, I want to have an examined life, I want to be a better person, but I want to do it w/o personal cost. Oh well.........

Jazzy

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » pinkeye

Posted by mair on June 13, 2005, at 7:16:45

In reply to Is too much psychological thinking good for you?, posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 13:57:30

Sometimes it does seem that I overanalyze things to the point where I tie myself up in knots. (I like the term "analysis paralysis") I also worry about being too self-absorbed and that I pathologize myself too much, and yes, sometimes I feel that I don't actually live my life as much as I do observe it, like some disconnected stranger.

The flip side is that I have the ability to compartmentalize, I guess or maybe just to suppress. Most of the time, I give only passing thought to therapy or my therapist in between sessions. I very frequently forget what my T and I talked about in the last session and she has to remind me at the beginning of the next session. Maybe this helps me not dwell on therapy, but I also think it makes therapy a very slow process for me and may explain in part why I've not really allowed myself to become very attached to my therapist, at least on a conscious level. It also means that I tend not to put therapy to work outside of my therapist's office. I'm not sure how good all of the insight is if I never use it.

I've had the thought on lots of occasions that I would be just fine if I quit therapy and stopped thinking about myself. I don't think I have the guts to try it. What I tend to forget is that thinking alot about myself isn't so much over-analyzing things as it is just plain ruminating, which my therapist insists is a depression-based trait. I'd be in real trouble if I dropped therapy but didn't stop ruminating.

Mair

 

Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » pinkeye

Posted by Tamar on June 13, 2005, at 12:16:14

In reply to Is too much psychological thinking good for you?, posted by pinkeye on June 12, 2005, at 13:57:30

Sometimes I wonder about this too, particularly since terminating therapy.

I find all this thinking takes up so much time that I could be spending doing other things.

On the other hand, I do seem to be getting better (slowly!) so it must be doing some good.

For me it’s a question of preventing psychological thinking from becoming rumination. And being able to put it aside when I need to. Some days I really do seem to need to think about things all day long. But I don’t like to have too many days like that. It’s exhausing!

 

thanks. reply in detail later. very busy at work:( (nm) » Tamar

Posted by pinkeye on June 13, 2005, at 13:50:22

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » pinkeye, posted by Tamar on June 13, 2005, at 12:16:14

 

above for everyone (nm)

Posted by pinkeye on June 13, 2005, at 13:50:43

In reply to thanks. reply in detail later. very busy at work:( (nm) » Tamar, posted by pinkeye on June 13, 2005, at 13:50:22

 

Finding the balance I guess??

Posted by pinkeye on June 13, 2005, at 14:52:59

In reply to Re: Is too much psychological thinking good for you? » pinkeye, posted by Tamar on June 13, 2005, at 12:16:14

Thanks everyone.

I think I get what you are all saying.. that thinking is needed, but don't let it become rumination??

I think so too. But the key is finding the balance. And I am not good at it.


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