My mind won't stop chattering away with thoughts!

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I know this may sound rather odd, but does anyone else here always have thoughts chattering away in your mind all the time? My mind just won't stop chattering away with hundreds of thoughts at once.
When I'm watching fireworks I'm never taking them in really because my mind starts to almost burst with many thoughts, completely unrelated to what I'm looking at. It's usually about my special interests. But I'm getting sick of it now.
When I went to the zoo back in the summer I wasn't really showing much enthusiasm when I was looking at the animals because my mind wasn't concentrating. It's like there's a little person sitting in my head what just will not stop talking to me, however much I try to ignore it.
The only time it stops thinking is when I'm in bed. It calms down then, and I can fall asleep quicker. But throughout the day the mind just won't shut up. I have to get out of bed late now, so that I can just get ready and go straight to work without having to wait about. When I'm actually busy doing something my mind doesn't really think (it only thinks about what I need to do at this precise moment, but it doesn't chatter away about unrelated crap).

Is this an Aspie thing? Does anyone else get lost in their own thoughts a lot?

We colloquially refer to it as the 'monkey mind'. I'm not sure if NTs have it so badly. I'm fairly sure they do have the monkey to an extent. I suspect that ADHD could make it much more active.

I suggest meditation as a way to tame the monkey, and give you the ability to be with all of life's firework displays without too much distraction from primate antics.

A simple meditation instruction; sit somewhere quiet. Set a timer for five or ten minutes. Relax your body and mind. Notice thoughts as they come and go, without getting 'involved'. Bring your focus to a single aspect of your sensory experience, perhaps the feeling of breath in the the body. Try and gently keep your attention there. When thoughts or other distractions catch your attention, simply 'come back' to the breath. Repeat.

I think these are called racing thoughts. I suggest you talk to a psychiatrist about it.

Thank you! I'm glad I know other people are like me. I thought my mind was going mad for a moment there.

It's not just firework displays - it's everything. I'm just confused about firework displays because I would have thought the noise of them would shatter my thoughts, like every other noise does.
Sometimes when I'm in a crowded environemt with lots of people and kids, my mind goes into more deeper thought. Perhaps it's doing that so it can distract me from worrying about all the people. But then again I think the more I keep thinking, the more I get anxious about everything.
Sometimes when I am listening to music on my MP3 player my mind starts thinking, and by the time all the thoughts calm down a bit I've realised the song has just ended and I haven't listened to a word of it, so I have to play it again. Sometimes, though, I find it I just relax, I find my thoughts calm down a bit.

But I might have a go at the meditation thing. That was helpful advice.

I have that too, I can't stop thinking. There is a constant flow of thoughts about everything and anything, ignoring is tiring, but you can control the flow only by steering your curiosity (like zooming out during the fireworks, just to see what the other are looking at).

It becomes really funny when you try yoga or relaxation techniques, the instructor starts
and now you will empty your minds
and here enters the circus...
how my mind can be empty?
what is empty?
hum that floor is cold
...
you sea an ocean and listen to the waves
ok.. hey there is a boat!

Sometimes it gets so noisy I can't even sleep, I need to yell in my head SHUUUTT UUUUUPP!! and automatically all becomes quiet again!! !

Whatever works for ya!

It's been quite a while since I've been able to watch a film or comedy show for longer than a few minutes. My mind is nearly always crowded with thoughts, and I can't hold my attention on the screen, I just go off into another world. I've also had phases of insomnia because of my chattering brain.

I agree meditation might be helpful, and it's interesting that a lot of meditation books will explain that we all have chattering minds and could do a lot better if we could just slow the thoughts down a little. I recommend "How To Meditate" by Lawrence LeShan as a good guide......it's a remarkably sober text. But results will probably be very slow, and at first you'll think you're making no progress at all, so unless you start with quite a lot of faith and enthusiasm, you'll probably find yourself giving up.

But you might get somewhere by repeatedly and gently reminding yourself, when your mind races, to try and bring it back to the straight and narrow......in rather the same way as you might tell a beloved child who is wandering over the boundaries, "OK honey, back on the path now." Or like taming a wild horse. Keep at it and you'll probably make progress. It's the same basic method whether you're doing meditation or just working on a stubborn bad habit.

I suspect that my mind chatters the most when it's under stress, but its not an absolute.

I'm OK with films. My mind will shut up most of the time, perhaps it's because watching films relaxes me. My mind is more affected when I'm out in a busy crowded public place, where I have to show enthusiasm in things, like clothes shopping.

I'm OK with films. My mind will shut up most of the time, perhaps it's because watching films relaxes me. My mind is more affected when I'm out in a busy crowded public place, where I have to show enthusiasm in things, like clothes shopping.
It seems to me that usually when my mind keeps chattering away with thoughts is because I'm not relaxed. Today I asked a few NTs about this, and they said it might also be depression, because they sometimes experience that when they're stressed about things.

sounds like a type of OCD called pure O...which means pure obessional which is marked by automatic thoughts...which seem to be beyond your control. There is medication and/ or
behavioral therapy for it