Sometimes a description of what we are experiencing is elusive. With mental health, it is useful to have a term for what we are dealing with. Often, I meet individuals who don’t know that there is a word for what they are going through or that others have endured it. This can be an isolating experience. Discovering what is going on can be illuminating and relieving.
Among the most common challenges people encounter that can be tricky to articulate is ‘loud thoughts.’
It’s important to explain here that loud thoughts in and of themselves are not always a sign of a mental health condition. Still, what follows are five reasons that your mind might feel chaotic.
1. Obsessive Thoughts
Has your mind ever gotten stuck on something? Maybe you were worried about whether a crush would text you back, leading you to obsess. Or perhaps you are thinking about a mistake you made over and over. These types of repetitive thoughts fall into a larger category of obsessive thoughts. When caught up in an obsessive spiral, repetitive thoughts can blare in our minds. In the case of obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessions can become loud, and trying to ignore these thoughts often makes them louder
What to Do
If you are dealing with obsessive thoughts, noticing the thought is the first step to coping with it. The next step is to detangle from it. You might write it down or make a plan. When it comes up again, you might label it. For example, you might say, “This is that mistake story again. When I make mistakes, they tend to replay in my mind. Thank you, mind.” Though the above dialog might sound a tad silly, it makes up a strategy from Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) called defusion (Hayes, 2019). Defusion is a way of distancing ourselves from our thoughts enough to focus on what matters to us. For individuals living with obsessive thoughts, psychotherapies, including ACT, can help.
2. Hearing Voices
For some, voices can thunder through the mind. These voices might be heard outside or inside one’s head. There may be one voice or several that might talk to a person or about them. Not everyone who hears voices has a mental health condition. For example, many people experience ‘hypnogogic hallucinations’ right as they fall asleep. Sometimes, though, voices can be a very distressing experience.
What to Do
If you are hearing voices, know that you are not alone. Help is available. Reaching out to mental health support can give you a space to talk about what you are experiencing and work through a way to cope. Specialized psychotherapy and medication can also sometimes help with voices.
3. Anxiety/Panic
Sometimes, anxiety can feel like a buzzing in the mind. It might feel like something is seriously wrong, like an alarm that can’t be turned off. Often, people experiencing anxiety report that they can’t get worries out of their heads or that there is a vague sense of unease.
What to Do
Anxiety can be very troubling. Still, it is not dangerous. Sometimes, anxiety has something to communicate. Acceptance Commitment Therapy introduces us to a strategy of acceptance by holding the experience lightly. Acceptance is a way of relating to what we are feeling without pushing it away, but by allowing it to exist. We don’t have to like something to accept it, and accepting something is not to say we don’t wish to change it. In ACT, the metaphor of beachball is utilized.
Trying to drown anxiety is like trying to drown a beachball the harder you push it down often, the stronger it pops back up. Finding a way to relate to it as it floats about is more effective (Stoddard and Afari, 2014). If you are struggling with anxiety, there are a multitude of strategies for working through it, ranging from relaxation techniques, mindfulness, identifying internal conflicts, and more. Psychotherapy can be a space for building a toolkit of strategies to cope with anxiety.
4. Racing Thoughts
When we are particularly enthusiastic, thoughts might go through our minds so fast that it is hard to keep track. For some, such as many with ADHD, this is an everyday experience. Others, like those living with bipolar disorder, might have the experience only during times of highs.
What to Do
If your thoughts are racing due to overwhelm, it may be a sign that it is time to take a break. Writing down one’s thoughts can also help to organize these. If racing thoughts are getting in the way of completing tasks, are found to be upsetting, or show up with other symptoms like euphoria, needing less sleep, spending sprees, or unusual behaviors it may be necessary to reach out to a mental health professional.
Closing
There are many reasons that the mind can get loud and different strategies for coping based on the cause. If it is an ongoing challenge, psychotherapy can often help.
