Monotropic thoughts?

Hi everyone, 
I've struggled for years with constellations of persistent thoughts centred around particular topics. They're often unhealthy - for example when they're focused for weeeks around particular people I really care about who can and will never feel the same way about me. At times these thoughts stop me from focusing on other things that need my attention, because I can't shift my mind from its topic. Is this monotropism? I'm wondering if anyone here has found strategies that have helped with shifting the 'stuckness' of the thoughts? Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Parents
  • Thanks for starting a great discussion.


    Yes having unhealthy persistent thoughts is very relevant to being monotropic as when we are focused on something it often absorbs our single attention tunnel and we may find it difficult to switch our attention from one thought process to another. This is one of the reasons why being monotropic as an autistic person can make us more likely to develop OCD because our thoughts get ‘stuck’.

     I certainly know that I can become obsessive quite quickly because I get stuck on certain thoughts.

     I don’t have any specific advice for your situation but these links may help:

    https://monotropism.org/

    https://medium.com/@sonyahallett/loops-of-concern-ff792eebad03 This article is called ‘Loops of Concern’ it is very good and gives some suggestions to help you get out of thought loops.

Reply
  • Thanks for starting a great discussion.


    Yes having unhealthy persistent thoughts is very relevant to being monotropic as when we are focused on something it often absorbs our single attention tunnel and we may find it difficult to switch our attention from one thought process to another. This is one of the reasons why being monotropic as an autistic person can make us more likely to develop OCD because our thoughts get ‘stuck’.

     I certainly know that I can become obsessive quite quickly because I get stuck on certain thoughts.

     I don’t have any specific advice for your situation but these links may help:

    https://monotropism.org/

    https://medium.com/@sonyahallett/loops-of-concern-ff792eebad03 This article is called ‘Loops of Concern’ it is very good and gives some suggestions to help you get out of thought loops.

Children