Taking your mind off things

[CaitlinH]

Hey folks!

I'm sure that a lot of people have experienced this, particularly when they're pre-transition, and I could use some advice in terms of trying to take my mind off all things trans. Due to circumstances that are beyond my control, I can't proceed with full transition until midway through next year, but thoughts about the process are basically controlling my life right now. I'd like to be able to think about other things, get back into hobbies I once enjoyed and generally start living again I guess.

Does anyone have any advice for stopping this from being all-consuming? I feel obsessed right now and while I'd still like to think about the process, I'd prefer that it wasn't all I'd think about day in, day out.

[DriftingCrow]

You can try some mind control exercises, meditation. It can help clear your mind and teach yourself how to focus/not-focus on certain things.

I also find it can help obsessive thoughts if I write it down. For things that involve some kind of a process, I find it's helpful to draw charts, diagrams, etc. of all the steps that I need to take.

Good luck.

[immortal gypsy]

When things get overwhelming for me I throw myself into work (cash business I work out the change in my head. If I'm out its out of my pocket. It helps to keep me focused). Also hobbies mine are bowling and reading it switches the mind off and I get lost

[LivingTheDream]

If you like video games, that's a pretty good way to take your mind off things. Tho sometimes I think it kinda became an addiction for me

[CaitlinH]

Cheers for the advice folks! I'll definitely give meditation a go, it's something I've done in the past and it brought up unpleasant memories, but helped me relax for sure.

Also I love video games, but lately I've just lost interest in them. Sometimes I start up a game then I've lost the desire to play it by the time its loaded. I suppose it's because I'm distracted by everything else that's going on at the moment.

[Jill F]

I spent countless hours playing guitar because I was too ADD to do much of anything else.

[CaitlinH]

That's a good idea, thanks! I tried learning to play guitar when I was younger but just gradually lost interest. Still have a guitar lying about somewhere that I could pick up and learn to play.

[E-Brennan]

Does anyone have any advice for stopping this from being all-consuming? I feel obsessed right now and while I'd still like to think about the process, I'd prefer that it wasn't all I'd think about day in, day out.

Good luck with that!   

For me, it's been two years of all-consuming thought, and shows no signs of slowing down.  I still haven't found a way to get this out of my head for the 99% of the time when it really doesn't need to be in there.   

So much wasted brain time, although it's probably still stuck in my head because I haven't figured out what to do about it yet.  I'm hopeful that as my options start to dwindle (as I take concrete steps towards transitioning), it'll free up space for other things.  For example, the 5% of time spent worrying about hair color will be freed up when I settle on a hair color, and the 10% of time worrying about what my name should be will be freed up when I settle on a name.

That's the plan anyway.

[Frank]

I used to like video games but nah. Attention span too short now. Now I just watch a lot of online episodes. Seriously, the amount of tv I could watch in a day would be concerning to a doctor. It's like living in an entirely different world though, where things are busy and I don't have to think beyond "That's the guy who killed her. I know it's him." or how that ex-special forces guy is going to get out of this mess.

[CaitlinH]

Good luck with that!   

For me, it's been two years of all-consuming thought, and shows no signs of slowing down.  I still haven't found a way to get this out of my head for the 99% of the time when it really doesn't need to be in there.   

So much wasted brain time, although it's probably still stuck in my head because I haven't figured out what to do about it yet.  I'm hopeful that as my options start to dwindle (as I take concrete steps towards transitioning), it'll free up space for other things.  For example, the 5% of time spent worrying about hair color will be freed up when I settle on a hair color, and the 10% of time worrying about what my name should be will be freed up when I settle on a name.

That's the plan anyway.

Haha fair enough, I suspected this would be the case. I guess it'll get better as I start to transition, until then I'll just need to find things to distract myself with!

I used to like video games but nah. Attention span too short now. Now I just watch a lot of online episodes. Seriously, the amount of tv I could watch in a day would be concerning to a doctor. It's like living in an entirely different world though, where things are busy and I don't have to think beyond "That's the guy who killed her. I know it's him." or how that ex-special forces guy is going to get out of this mess.

That's a good idea too, I'll have a look for some TV series that I've meant to watch for a while now. Thanks!

[GnomeKid]

If you like video games, that's a pretty good way to take your mind off things. Tho sometimes I think it kinda became an addiction for me

video games and sit-coms do it for me. 

I'm about to go dive in right now actually (maybe to both!).  Been a long day.