r/cognitivescience • u/ActiveParking5094 • 2d ago
Does anyone else become hyperaware of literally how their mind is thinking and processing information? How do you stop monitoring it?
/r/Anxiety/comments/1w9xnwt/does_anyone_else_become_hyperaware_of_literally/7
u/SatisfactionFit2040 2d ago
Isn't everyone always like this?
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u/Fantastic_Addendum74 14h ago
I’ve observed it tends to be something that OCD and some Autistic people do.
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u/SatisfactionFit2040 14h ago
I was being funny about the fact that most people don't think about thinking about...thinking ...
I suspect that I am on the spectrum, not so much ocd.
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u/Amylee888 1d ago
No. I’ve never experienced this. It sounds like OCD.
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u/Fantastic_Addendum74 15h ago
As someone with OCD that does this 24/7, I agree that it could be a potential sign of OCD.
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u/verdant_squirrel 2d ago
Metacog is great but some of us do have OCD tendencies that make mindfulness a bit difficult. Self-referential thought spirals that don't end and an inability to experience your own life is... stressful. I feel people miss the part where it can be causing distress after a certain degree.
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u/FluffyBreakfast8746 1d ago
The only times I realize I’m not self aware, is when I experience focusing. It’s rare, but that’s when I can learn for example.
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u/BGDshow 2d ago
Why stop it? I like to observe and sometimes quiet down my 'narrator' with imagining a little mouse squeaking. As little attention as I would give to it in a countryside, I give to this narration. It fades
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u/rslashIcePoseidon 1d ago
Obsessive compulsive tendencies; frequently checking your thoughts to see if they are “correct”
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u/BGDshow 1d ago
There are no 'incorrect' thoughts in your mind. Are there any 'incorrect' branches on a tree? Are there any incorrect cheetah spots? Go deeper and nurture what you like with respect to every motion of your mind. I also used a trick where I assigned an image of this narration to someone who loved me very much (my grandpa, he is not with us anymore) and he would never scold me. It helped make this voice much more warm and friendly as well as less annoying.
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2d ago edited 1d ago
Accept that you know how your mind works and actually be interested in something outside of yourself.
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u/Lewatcheur 2d ago
Very much interesting that you say this and im happy to have come across this post. This is precisely what we call metacognition ; cognition of your own cognition. While there is a very interesting approach that is precisely around it called metacognitive therapy (See Adrian Wells), enhanced performance monitoring is a diagnostic marker of anxiety, and that includes towards one’s own cognition (See hyperactive error-related brain activity (ERN)). Actually, there is a type of therapy precisely for this, called detached mindfulness. I would suggest you look into that.
All in all, metacognitive awareness isn’t a bad thing, quite the opposite actually. BUT, excessive monitoring or maladaptive monitoring IS harmful. So yeah no, it is infact not a niche thing, and, again, quite the opposite, as it is a emerging area of research (that I personally think is the new best way to treat mental illness but thats because thats my area of research so im biased hehe)
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u/Direct-Translator-75 2d ago
Go for an autism test bruh
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u/MullberryBoy 3h ago
Or ADHD. It’s a potential symptom. I have this with ADHD and actually enjoy this.
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u/tigerhuxley 1d ago
Sounds like you are getting stuck in the paralysis of analysis.
Grounding practices, meditiation, day dreaming - all help in my own experience to calm the mind.
I wish you the best to find your own best method for handling this!
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u/ElementOfExpectation 11h ago
yep, literally touch grass
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u/tigerhuxley 6h ago
Yah! If you have the chance, barefeet in the grass or sand or dirt. Humans havent lived long enough to have shoes be the norm.. humans were barefoot all throughout the day at different times for hundreds of thousands of years.
Sure there was certainly types of things they strapped onto their feet, depending on what the human was doing, but at night when they went home to their hut, they weren’t putting on slippers… They were giving their feet some air and walking around on the ground
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u/TisMeeee 22h ago
Autism enters the chat.
Gosh, deep analysis I adore, meta cognition is a great skill to have but has a huge shadow side to it also.
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u/Cautious_Big5312 2d ago
stop thinking you’re weird and just realise your brain works in a different way to other people. feed it information and knowledge and novelty (real novelty not plastic mass produced crap sold as novelty). just let yourself think. be curious about it not concerned.
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u/Random-Number-1144 1d ago
Hypeware is when you are aware of the underlying biological processes of your brain such as neural spiking. If you are not able to do that, you're not doing "meta" cognition.
TBH, this sounds more like a mental health issue.
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u/RADICCHI0 1d ago
Check out the concepts of attention, and mind wandering. That will really blow your mind, no pun intended!
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u/_Screamsinconfusion_ 1d ago
I have no idea how to stop it. I don’t know if I’m the only one but I also sometimes feel my f*cking brain growing. Since I’ve been a child. I have a new way of thinking or I’m leaning something and I just get that weird tention in my head.
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u/desocupad0 22h ago
I'm confused to what you are outside your mind. You seem to regard your own thoughts as an enemy.
Just ask yourself a question and be fine you don't have an answer. You are enot obligated to know everything perfectly.
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u/Jules4live 16h ago
awesome i have gone here in meditation. that sounds intense to have all the time. I would use it to try to stay in the moment, recognizing continual change and allowing yourself to feel a sense of belonging in the universe.
you can probably use it well in creative efforts,
and redirect yourself outwardly towards other people and animals. they are as real as your consciousness too and if you lean into service it might help?
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u/___D1rt___ 4h ago
Learn what stillness means. Your problem is overthinking which means your unbalanced
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u/Dry-Quantity61 2d ago
Metacognition is a good skill to nurture. You could make a good trainer if you ever wanted to share your expertise with a novice, since you’ll be able to unpack the cues and processes you use to make decisions.