Too many thoughts, unable to focus, my body cant keep up.

I feel exactly the same :S always have things running through my head about absolutely nothing its hard to control, wish I could help both of us.

Have you figured any of this out? I have the same thing going on..

I have this a lot. The first guest is right - drink or drugs can help in the short term but then it can become an addiction if it your only way of dealing with it (and over time it will become less effective). You might be bipolar, or hyperactive, or some such thing which is to an extent natural and you just have to learn to control. I try to do something where i am active (because inaction is the most regressive and frustrating thing) but where i am not really thinking, or cant think. Reading a book or playing a computer game or somehting might help - because your mind is focused on something else, maybe for long enough to break the cycle. Writing helps some poeple, but i find myself just writing and writing and then i cant stop that and dont actually get anything done. Maybe just lying down, taking deep breaths for five minutes, and thinking about what is on your mind and trying to organise it can help. Listen to yourself, what do you really want right now? Think of the most common thought, or a priority, and try to focus on that one thing. Decide for X amount of time you will do that, and dont think about what comes afterwards, just do it! Even if it isnt the right thing, or the most poductive, if it helps you to feel better after it might be worth it. Exercise can also help, as it will tire your body and mind, use some energy and make you feel more calm.
I am no expert, and i don't think there is one answer. I struggle with these things all the time and it can make life almost impossible. If something works for you, do it. I hope this helps and good luck.

Do not listen to the guest above me; he/she has little understanding of your affliction, and may have not even read your entire post...
You're mind is racing, and it is making you feel ill-productive or lazy, often tired? This is may be signs of ADD (not ADHD), in which many individuals feel as their minds running back and forth across multiple topics, causing them to loose concentration or feel "clouded." These "racing thoughts" can tire one out completely, especially in introverts (someone who gains mental rest from being alone, and is tired by social interactions; as apposed to an extrovert who needs social interaction to feel rejuvenated), but this is not entirely true as different individuals face affliction differently.

"You might be bipolar, or hyperactive, or some such thing which is to an extent natural and you just have to learn to control."

No, if you are tired throughout the day due to your racing thoughts, and feel lazy (as apposed to being lazy), then you are most definitely not hyperactive (ADHD--H standing for Hyperactivity).
You are only bipolar if you are feeling sudden mood swings--changed from depressed to happy and visa-versa.

"Reading a book or playing a computer game or something might help - because your mind is focused on something else, maybe for long enough to break the cycle."

By the sound of it, a young kid posted this last post, because you most definitely don't want to waste your time "playing video games" (not that they can't be entertaining or recreational, but it won't help if you actually become lazy, due to "feeling lazy" and lose of productivity); however, if there is one thing I agree on with this kid, it is that exercise can help--clearing your mind, and allowing you to focus.

While I'm not against the use of Marijuana for recreational or medical uses, it won't help you in you situation--Marijuana is a depressant that relaxes you and takes away your ability to focus, making you feel completely lazy and hungry. I suggest you talk to your doctor-- he might put you on an Amphetamine (no not the drug commonly sold on the street as Meth--short for Methamphetamine), a stimulant that does the complete opposite of Marijuana--awake, alert, and focused on the task at hand (and will even suppress hunger). A common stimulant if Vyvanse, or Adderal (forgive my spelling).

Remember, while recreational use of many depressants, such as Marijuana and Alcohol, are perfectly safe to your health, most stimulants are not--they can become addictive, and are severely dangerous to your health in high doses (and remember: a high dose for an amphetamine is exponentially smaller than that of THC in Marijuana, and can cause sudden death)!

So talk to your doctor, and if you are still unsure, have him refer you to a psychologist.

I've been struggling with the same issues and a few others for years. I'm a 20yo male college student. Right now, I've been sitting at my computer trying to write a paper that i have no interest in, while i think about 30 different things that interest me. Clouding any potential thought on the subject at hand. Hence why I found this. In my research, I have found that these are symptoms of Adult ADD and that I have been displaying them since I was a child. After speaking with my parents, I have decided to seek a psychological evaluation for potential ADD or mild depression. I highly suggest that you do the same. No matter what you find on the internet, it is only opinion and only a professional can make recommendations that will ACTUALLY help you. You can't rely on self diagnosis. Especially if it comes from a blog, webmd, or people you don't even know in a forum. These can be great places to gather information or get an idea of what may be affecting you, but you must remember that they could have been posted by a teenage kid and not a professional who spent 12 years earning a PhD.

Best Wishes...

I too suffer from what I believe is accurately being portrayed as ADD by Wellborn. I can read, but reading for comprehension is extremely difficult, I pick up a thought from a sentence and my mind races with the application (or implication) and while I am still reading, my mind is anything but focused on what those words are suppose to mean! As both a consultant and an analytic methodologist, I am challenged to get ANYTHING done. I feel completely overwhelmed and often am unable to complete tasks until crunch time. I believe it is time for me to seek medical attention as recreational drugs are an occupational hazard in my line of work. Thank you your thoughts. - Dave

I suffered a lot from the problem of lack of focus and concentration. Every time i sat down to think on critical problem in mathematics...or try to take on a new subject. i had sounds. music...movies...doing round and round in my head..Leading me nowhere.
I tried meditation..but that also didnt help much..
Finally i have the solution. Iron cuts iron..
I started listening to jazz (soothing , avoid vocals )..but with the difference that i never listen the same song twice..NO REPEATS.. Try some online stream ..
and notice the difference...u will see all random thoughts that distract your focus will just disappear.u will be one focused person who can take on anything..no anxiety... no fear of failure.. just pure focus..and results...just try..

reply that sounds like you need to go to the mental health hospital, my son suffers from the same thing it may be adhd, add, or mental mood disorder like bipolar.

If you have reached a point in your life where you want to be rid of the continuous torture of the “thought generating” mind then it’s your good fortune. Obsessive or negative thoughts can make living miserable when you are plagued by them, but this very situation can become the invitation to transcend mind and be free of suffering forever.

Can you stop obsessive thoughts? – If you could it would be great, but the truth is that it’s slightly more complicated than just suppressing your thoughts which at-most you can do for a few seconds. Plus suppressing thoughts is even worse than enduring thoughts. It builds up a lot of negative energy inside.

So how to stop thinking horrible thoughts? The secret to stopping obsessive or negative thoughts is to detach from the mind. You cannot fight mind with the mind. That’s what this article is about. Let’s look at this in more detail.

What Causes Obsessive Thoughts?
If you generated thoughts, you could’ve controlled them too. The truth is that you don’t generate thoughts, the mind does. It’s on auto mode most of the time. You can see this for yourself, can you predict what you will think 30 seconds from now? If you can’t how can you assume that you are generating the thoughts?

If you believe that you are your mind, that’s a false notion again. If you are your mind then how can you observe the thoughts? So you must be separate from the mind to see what the mind is doing.

So the mind generates thoughts, which are mostly just energy forms. These thoughts pass through like clouds. We identify with some of these thoughts and obsess about them. So in truth all thoughts are just neutral energy forms, it’s “your” interest or association with the thoughts that makes them obsessive. If you can understand this truth, you have taken the first step towards getting rid of obsessive thoughts.

How to Stop Obsessive Negative Thoughts?
If you are asking this question, ask yourself another question – “is this question not another thought? It’s a thought about killing thoughts”. All your attempts at suppressing and stopping thoughts will fail because you will be using the mind to stop the mind. The police man and thief are both the mind, so how can the police man catch the thief?

So you cannot kill the mind by force. The mind dies its own death by the poison of disassociation.

What gives power to a thought? – Your interest. If you have no interest in a particular thought then it loses its hold over you. You can try this out now. Let the thoughts flow through your mind but don’t take interest in them. Just stay as a bystander or a watcher and let the thoughts float.

Initially you might have a hard time watching thoughts because of your inherent habit of associating with each thought that arises. It helps to know that you are not your thoughts, that thoughts are just energy forms created in the mind. Why does the mind create thoughts? No one knows – it’s just something it does, why bother. Do you ever ask why does the heart beat?

With a little practice you will get really good at watching thoughts and not involving yourself with them. You will stop giving power to thoughts by not giving them your interest. Thoughts die immediately when they are deprived of this fuel of interest. If you don’t associate with the thought or give power to the thought, it will wither away quickly.

What Are Thoughts?
Past events get stored as memories. Your mind conditioning and beliefs are also stored as memories. All this is unconscious storage; the mind does all this in auto mode. Perceptions and interpretations are created in the mind based on its past “external” conditioning and also its natural conditioning (genetics). These interpretations, perceptions and judgments come up as thoughts in the mind, and they can positive or negative depending on the mind’s conditioning. Thoughts are generated based on the past incidents/memories, future projections and interpretations on the present life situation. It’s like a computer trying to predict or conjure up projection based on the data it has collected so far.

When thoughts are negative in nature (thoughts of worry, anxiety, stress, lack, resentment, guilt etc) they produce resistance to the movement of your life, and this resistance is felt as suffering. Negative thoughts will always stand in resistance to the movement of your life, like blocks of stone in the midst of a swift current of water. Life is a stream of pure positive energy and hence any negative thought will stand in opposition to it, causing friction which is felt as suffering in the body.

The thoughts in your mind gain power from your attention and interest. Your attention is the fuel for your mind. So when you give attention to negative thoughts in the mind, you are unconsciously fueling it and thus attracting more momentum for these negative thoughts. The momentum of negative thoughts in your mind will slow down, and ebb away, automatically when you stop feeding your attention to it. Stay as an open space of awareness without contracting your attention on the negative thoughts of the mind, and soon they will lose their momentum.

You can focus on the positive thoughts generated in the mind, and thus develop a positive momentum in your mind. Every time your mind produces some positive thoughts, e.g thoughts of love, joy, excitement, abundance, beauty, appreciation, passion, peace etc, focus on it, milk it, and give attention to it. This will cause your mind to attract more positive thoughts and thus build a positive momentum. Whenever it thinks negatively, don’t give it attention or interest, this will cause the ebbing away of the momentum of negative thinking. It’s really that simple. Once you understand the mechanics of how thoughts gain momentum in the mind, you will be in total control of your state of being.

The Practice of Watching the Mind
All you need to do to get rid of obsessive thoughts is to watch the mind without getting involved. You will get really good at this with just a little practice. This practice, or “sadhana” as called in Hindu scriptures, is the root of awakening from the illusion of mind.

Without trying to understand this practice just implement it. The more you try to understand the more mind gets involved. Just watch the mind and you will soon see that you are not the mind at all. That the mind is like a machine in your head that generates thoughts based on your attention/interest. Be free of your mind by depriving it of your interest. This is the only direct path of becoming free of the mind.

Always thought will win at first time, be confident to let it go. At one stage your thoughts will stop and free you. No one is here as a mental, you are character... When you are in childhood you do play and think silly questions and so on. Like this, you are having samething now... no one is here to answer you. No one else can understand except you. you are the king and you have to drive. The task has assign to you to complete it by you. No one else can complete.

Silly thoughts wont do anything, it will go up and down thats it. You are considering the thoughts as a huge one and thinking it making you disturb. Leave the concept be free always.

One suggestion, don't feel lonely, always be with your friends, family and love each other.

Hope this might help you to solve your problems.

Life is to live, Not to drive.

Hi Fatjoe,

Listen to the advice of "wellborn" reply. You have ADD/ADHD. once you understand what is ADD/ADHD , you can better manage your life.

There is lot of info available on net about ADD/ADHD.

All the best.

Im hypomanic and if you arent a doctor you should or shouldnt tell someone they are or arent something. It was easy for teh 5-6 therapists to diagnose me as ADHD...they tried different meds and each one were like tossing gas on a fire. So, unless you are a doctor, refrain from blocking someones help, this is a blog right, share the limelight and let the person think for themeselves. You might be normal and need to call the people in your life more often, but you also may just need to see a PSYCHIATRIST that is in the same office of the psychologist BEFORE YOU TAKE DRUGS...and NOT one of their PA.s.

Where did you get your research? Id like to learn more about it. Thanks! Tim L

target on something and go for it...this is the only way to get ur self healed up..think that this is last your last aim of life and after it..u will die....just do it....without thinking of the results...