Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, does anyone have a problem with obsessing over certain things? Personally I'm always looking at new mobile phones and swapping and changing, sometimes at a cost that I can't really afford, just because I can't get the thought out of my mind. I know its not important and won't be life changing to get a new device etc but the thought just doesn't leave my mind once it enters.
If anyone experiences anything similar around this or another topic my question is, how do you manage and suppress those thoughts to be able to get on with your daily life without them taking over? It's affecting my relationships because of the money I'm spending and the time I spend obsessing over the idea.
Thanks
I recommend speaking to your family doctor about this. It could be just a special interest, but if it's causing distress, feels uncontrollable and affects your finances and relationships then you'd probably benefit from seeing a professional to find the root cause of this pattern and find some techniques to gain control over it. I'm not a professional, but two conditions that come to mind that could be causing this are OCD and shopping addiction, so if you do see a doctor that could be worth mentioning.
Here's some stuff about OCD if you want to look into it:
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/about-ocd/
And here's something for shopping addiction:
https://www.verywellmind.com/shopping-addiction-4157288
NAS94265 said:does anyone have a problem with obsessing over certain things?
Mindfulness is the most effective technique for this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness
You have to rationalise every decision before taking it and so long as you set criteria for what is allowed before starting any decision making process then it should help you make the right decision.
If you still cannot help yourself after trying this then you may have a shopping addiction and the approach to this is quite different. This article should help here:
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/addiction