Scattered, racing thoughts

[cookie26]

Hi,
I've had pretty intense anxiety w/ panic attacks for a few months now, but after starting zoloft I've felt many of my symptoms fade thankfully, but I still often have racing, scattered thoughts that are intrusive...they are especially bad at nighttime. I can try to talk myself down from them, but it often only makes myself think of them even more. I'll jump from one thought to the next, forgetting what I was just thinking about 10 seconds ago. It's kind of terrifying, forgetting a thought just that easily and jumping around so quickly. Does any one else go through intense periods of being scattered in their thinking? How do you regain your normal-paced thoughts?

[laurandisorder]

This is a really common symptom of anxiety and it (in my experience) is fleeting. Sometimes my mind is so scattered that I can't actually make any thoughts. It's just like a siren is going off in my head, blaring *panic! panic! panic!*

To get rid of it, I have to distract myself. I read a good book, watch a DVD or do a mindless chore type activity - vacuuming is very satisfying, so is anything that involves sorting - like laundry, cleaning out my closets, cleaning up my study or organizing the books in the library.

Don't let yourself get sucked into a cycle of thinking like this. It is manageable and most importantly - they're just thoughts that can't hurt you.

[SunnieDebris]

There is nothing I can say to improve that answer.