Storm in my head

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So the thing is: I can't seem to calm down. Everything goes through my head. I always have a headache.
stuff like meditation doesn't work. I can't function right. Can't seem to settle.

Nothing works. I'm losing my f**king mind.
Please make it go away.

Small post enormous problem.

Thanks.

I don't know what to say because I feel that way too and I can't seem to shake out of it.

This may sound stupid and it's only a short term solution, but have you tried distracting yourself long enough to fall asleep(if you cant settle, then sleep might also be a problem)? I repeat the alphabet and sing a song(no, not the alphabet song) in my head, and multiply a number with 2 until infinity (2, 4, 16, 32, etc.). Multitasking like that makes it possible to avoid thinking about the things that give you a headache.

Also, writing down your thoughts are a good way to put them on hold. If it is a todo list you keep reminding yourself about, write it down. Pen and paper on the nightstand or in your pocket is a good solution to get rid of thoughts.

(The answer above is a typical aspie answer, or so I've been told, NTs might just hug you, or/and tell you it will be alright. My wife tries to teach me this still. It's not always she wants a solution, sometimes she just wants a hug or comforting words. If you want comfort, I'm sorry, I'm not capable of giving that convincingly yet)

Blownmind, practical advice is better than hugs, "you'll be ok" and all that rubbish. I appreciate your response because I have a similar experience to the original poster.

I have ADHD as well as AS. Not sure about a 'storm', but my head used to be like a kind of perpetual volleyball court, thoughts cannoning in every direction: very creative, although it was sometimes exhausting keeping up with it.

In experimenting with meds my dr accidentally put me on something that knocked the whole thing out - like the thoughts had all gone off for lunch, leaving me in an unfamiliarly silent environment. It was weird and a bit frightening. These pills didn't have the desrired effect, so I was soon taken off them. As the dosage reduced past the 'knock out' point the mental 'volleyball' resumed. Unfortunately it was as if I had been dropped back into the game in mid volley, with me feeling like I was the target rather than a player! Three years on from that moment I still haven't recovered my previous level of mental sharpness, and now doubt that I ever will. I'm sad about this.

Don't know if that chimes with anybody else's experience, but thank you for reading this!

I know precisely how you feel, I feel like it a lot, and at night when I want to sleep it cases me to have meltdowns

something I find that helps is noise, like having the radio up really loud

I often will turn the radio up, and then bang my hands over my ears and yell loudly(well more of a loud drawn out noise) until everything clears. it doesn't always work

sometimes I'll do a task that requires a lot of concentration, like a jigsaw puzzle or drawing a triangle on graph paper and then filling it with as many triangles that I can fit. sometimes that helps


I think of it more like having a crowd in my head, they're all talking and making a lot of noise and moving about and doing stuff.

Good image, trinket, though the 'treatment' sounds pretty drastic to me! Still, I can see how it might work, at least for a while.
Isn't it all a pain though? Yet one more thing I thought was just my head being weird, but turns out to be a more widespread experience.

yeah, with all my sensory issues it is all pain, but my "treatment" is pain I'm controlling, which is different. I used to cut too, but I've stopped doing that.

I do whatever works, whatever will make the 'crowd disperse'. I can get pretty desperate. and my sensory problems have gotten worse over the last year so it's all often 'too much'.

The best thing I've found to slow racing thoughts so I can sleep is lots of melatonin, lots of Valerian Root and music designed to induce delta waves. There are also tracks designed for meditation you could try.

One of my favorite meditations is to simply observe the thoughts go by. sometimes fighting them just gives them more momentum

I actually find that very disturbing. Your wife is teaching you a counter-productive skill. You are unlearning a valuable skill, if anything you should be teaching your wife! You should not learn to spout worthless platitudes. People want to hear solutions to their problems maybe also with a dose of positive encouragement.

Examples (for the OP):
Good Response:
So, have you been diagnosed with ADHD? How do feel after some vigourous exercise, does it help? I don't have much experience with ADHD, but difficulty focusing and racing thoughts seem to be typical symptoms.
[insert all of the great suggestions you had here]...

Bad Response:
Oh, sorry that must be hard *hugs*

I just had to comment on this.

That's your opinion, as someone with Aspergers, and you are entitled to your opinion. I were talking about what NTs want(bare in mind, not always, but sometimes).

It seems to me that only some kind of medicine can calm me down. Or you like someone said: ''shake it off'' that sometimes work.
and talking about it too but that you just move the problem. it doesn't get solved that way.

WAY OFF TOPIC but this made me smile thinking of someone literally shaking and all of the bad stuff just falling off. I wish it were that easy.

I have a brain that just will not frickin' shut up. It's always thinking, playing around with ideas and concepts when I'm in a positive mood and muttering dark thoughts when I'm not. Since my last episode of the latter I've been taking antidepressants that have mostly turned it off - maybe that might work for you?

While I've enjoyed the break, I have to say that I miss my babbling brain. When I'm feeling up it can be a wonderful font of creativity. Now that I'm in a really good place, mentally and physically, I'm thinking of getting off the antidepressants in my next lot of holidays.

it's called hypomania, and i'd say everyone on the autstic spectrum suffers from it, switching between manic and depressive episodes. hypomania symptoms in asperger's syndrome are more often triggered by something, like a special interest, or music, instead of randomly fluctuating like bipolar disorder.

i've learned to use it to my advantage, but be careful with the "highs" you get from it, because they can become full blown manic episodes.

I would actually be quite upset, if I posted a question or problem online and all I recieved was responses like
"sorry, that sucks"
"*hugs*"
"you will be alright"
" "
without helpful advice attached. I mean why bother posting then. My point is that maybe your wife can learn from you and not the other way around.