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'Sticky thinking' hampers decisions in depression

(www.bps.org.uk)
114 points domofutu | 3 comments | 23 Jun 25 21:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.002s | source
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zzzeek ◴[26 Jun 25 13:21 UTC] No.44387159[source]▶
as a lifelong depressive, the "sticky thinking" issue is the main reason why practices like mindfulness meditation are essential. Though MM I've been able to isolate what it actually "feels" like to resist letting a "sticky" thought go, what's behind that resistance, and what it "feels" like to let it go anyway, which is to say, it feels awkward. A good kind of awkward because you realize you're teaching your neurons a new skill they haven't done before. Call it "thought hygiene" and consider it like any other skill like writing or riding a bike.

I also observe that the primary thing an SSRI does for me is that it makes thoughts much less sticky, to the point of forgetfulness.

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1. mr_00ff00 ◴[26 Jun 25 13:56 UTC] No.44387477[source]▶
So essentially, you learn to ignore thoughts?

It seems hard to do because some thinking about old mistakes seems essential to not make new ones. Am I missing a key element?

Curious as I think I dwell on the past too much and don’t focus on the present

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2. nemomarx ◴[26 Jun 25 14:02 UTC] No.44387533[source]▶
I wouldn't say essential. You might think of dwelling on old mistakes and trying really hard to avoid them as over fitting? You can lose out on seeing possible new mistakes you need to avoid.
3. Abermaxx ◴[26 Jun 25 19:59 UTC] No.44390716[source]▶
The issue is when you think about them too much. After a certain point dwelling on something for longer (sometimes much longer) than necessary becomes counterproductive and is simply taking away your attention from more important things that are actually happening to you in the present.

Will you come to any new conclusions about how to deal with a problem if you think about an old mistake 50 times? 100 times? Do you need to consciously think about how to move your legs every time you go for a walk in case you stumble?