Do you ever feel your thoughts are going too fast?

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Yes, I am in the same boat as you guys. It is a constant, never ceasing onslaught of ideas, thoughts, problems and their solutions, theories, etc. Plus, there is always music playing in the "background" of my mind. The music never stops! It's like a radio that won't turn off.

Also, I think visually, as in Temple Grandin style. So the thoughts and internal dialogue are represented by movies, models or pictures going super fast.

Would everyone like to know what goes on in the NT brain during all that "free time"? Well here's a short story about that...

My NT fiancee realized very early on in our relationship that I don't think like the regular Joe. There was one instance where I worked out the best solution to a problem he was having (the logistics of him moving across town) in about 20 seconds and he asked, incredulous, "How do you think so fast?!"

I explained to him that I can play out all the most probable scenarios very quickly in my mind, and make a fast decision as to which is the best. He didn't get it. So I asked, "Well then how does your brain work?"

He explained that if he had an idea, the idea would just be a sort of thought in his head, and he would have to work out the details one step at a time. I asked, "Are there any thoughts like pictures, or movies, or scenarios where you see people doing things?" He said no, that it was more of just a thought (whatever that means!). So I asked, "Well then what's in your head when you don't have a 'thought'?"

He said, "Nothing much, really." Nothing?! Yes, apparently, in the average NT mind, there's just existence. Quiet. He did elaborate a little, that whatever he's looking at or doing at the moment might elicit a memory or some 'thought', but only for a short moment. Otherwise his mind just...exists.

I can't imagine being like that. I've always thought my brain was a curse that I couldn't shut off. But I think I'd rather have all the knowledge, ideas, and creativity that comes with being Aspie!

I'm incapable of not thinking at any given moment. It's more distressing when I'm depressed as it all tends to be negative. But then even when I'm not depressed I can't function like a normal person when I'm constantly coming up with theories and such to the point where I don't want to focus on the immediate task at hand. If the immediate task at hand is boring and I don't have anything good to think about it's almost intolerable.

When I don't have the energy to engage in "interesting" thoughts I start getting depressed. I think I just have to accept that stimulating thought is my life-blood. It's the only thing that keeps me mentally balanced and centered. When I lose interest in thinking I'll fall into the deepest blackest depression. Life is utterly void and meaningless to me without interesting things to think about. This is why I can't imagine being "normal".

Last edited by marshall on 14 Mar 2012, 10:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yes. When I was young, I used to try & keep track with my thoughts. It led to a lot of confusion! LOL

Sincerely,
Matthew

lol

I only say "nothing much" when someone asks because I couldn't begin to explain without getting an odd look. Or if I know they really don't want to know what I'm really thinking about and I think it's none of their business anyways.

What they are describing there is what I refer to as daydreams, including almost being able to feel things that are happening in said day dream and responding with facial expressions etc (one reason I like to daydream when alone). I am pretty sure that is normal thinking....thought everyone daydreams?

As for my brain....it never shuts up lol.

Omg, that sound so awful. I can't even imagine it. I thought there had to be SOMETHING filling up that brain-space, even if it was something as vacuous and unimportant as the latest celebrity gossip. The reality sounds so much worse.



*Applauds!* Amen!! It can drive me crazy, but I do love my brain. <3

I find myself doing this a lot, although I get less intense visuals (I think). I'll be sitting there lost in thought until I realize I'm making a face.
I don't understand the specificity of "scenarios" though. To me, the daydreams and scenarios and "social practice" all come from the same place and it just depends what's actually going on in my thoughts as to what I might call it. (Like whether it's related to real life or something that would never happen)

no they are majorly different from daydreams. daydreaming is something you do if you have quiet time and drift away into dreaminess if you know what i mean. this is different. You could be juggling chainsaws and still be having these scenarios. if someone speaks to you, you see scenarios of all different variations of what the person is saying. its extremely hard to convey to someone what they are and thats why i had to use a shameless plug to my own site as it has the best explanation of it.

for example, lets say somebody says to me the following sentence to me:

"today i went shopping and bought a new hat"

in my mind i could have mentally viusalised and contemplated many different scenrios of what that sentence was saying. even in only a couple of seconds.

Constantly.

empty....brain.....space? is that possible? This is an entirely new concept.

Check out the PPR forum. Plenty of people there to confirm it.

Exactly. While I'm working I'm on auto-pilot while my brain goes nuts!

Yes apparently it is, I have asked a handful of NTs this question. I think this is why TV and conversation is so popular, it fills the gaps.

Does any aspie not have this problem then? I sometimes feel as though this is the cause of my disconnect with other people, it's too hard to pull away from my thoughts.

Jason

I was doing a project (building a drafting table) a while back, and spent about 6 hours working and quit around 11pm. The bothersome part was I went in because I was tired but kept trying to think of a mechanism to have the table lift to 22.5/45 degree's. Hours after laying down I couldn't stop thinking no matter what and felt sick/exhausted. Excitement coupled with a need to finish the table.... Erratic/fast thoughts.

This is quite common for me.

Yes, it use to be worst when I was younger and lived off of sugar It made school work impossible, but really helped with deep thinking were tha answer was not easy to find.

About ten years ago, I started changing my food and now eat mostly natural unprocessed foods and get lot more psychical exercise. My thoughts are much slower, but still sometimes pretty fast.

I love the fast thoughts when I walking far away from noise... Sometimes I think about changing my diet back... I guess because it is more familiar to me.