5 Reasons Why Your Mind Will Not Give You A Break

Franklin D. Roosevelt, a former US president, once said that “men are not prisoners of fate, but prisoners of their own minds.” It has a very true tone to it, especially if you have ever felt that your mind will not give you a break.

We will look at the theories of the Spanish psychologist Maite Finch to explain why this happens. The simple truth is that when you are stressed or anxious, your brain’s neurochemistry changes.

At the right time , your amygdala will send the right messages to the emotional system of your mind.  But what happens if stress or anxiety arises when there is no real need for it?

Sometimes your interpretation of reality and how you experience it can activate similar neurochemical patterns. These thought patterns are what often lead you to be in a constant state of distress and anxiety.

The reasons why your mind will not give you a break

Maite Finch says that there are some special reasons why your mind will not give you a break. Now let’s look at what they are so you can start getting through them.

Avoid polarized (black and white) thought patterns

There are times when something seems incredible, amazing and spectacular. Other times, everything seems awful, dark and extremely negative. This is the basic concept behind thinking in black and white. It means thinking in extremes, with no middle ground, no grayscale in between.

According to Finch , you have only two thought patterns if you think in black and white. Everything is either very good or very bad. In other words, when something goes the way you wanted, then everything is fine! But when things go wrong, everything is terrible, and there is a negative voice in the back of your head that will not give you a break.

Emotional reasoning

Here is another potential reason why your mind will not give you a break. Emotional reasoning means  that you do not make decisions based on logic or intuition, you do it based on how you feel.

In other words, uncontrolled emotions play the biggest role in your perception of the world. If you feel bad, you will judge people and things around you negatively. Because of your attitude and behavior, the same people and things will usually confirm what you judged. This dynamic is like a self-fulfilling prophecy, an endless circle flowing into itself.

Tunnelsyn

Finch says that you start having tunnel vision  when your thought patterns are determined by the most difficult experiences you have had in life. You compare your relationship and everything that happens to you with a specific moment. Most of the time, that moment was an extreme adversity.

What this means is that your mind will be on guard at all times. It will always be looking for negative people and situations. Most of the energy of your mind will go to protecting you from potential threats. All your attention will focus on detecting danger, discomfort or stressful situations.

Your mind is simply constantly on the lookout for bad situations or circumstances. Your alert state disturbs your perception of the world, your thoughts and any attitude that is not on the same wavelength.

Too optimistic thoughts

Optimism can counteract you if you start using it as a cloth to cover your problems. It can also be a bad thing when it stops you from acting rationally, or when all your optimism is really just hoping for luck.

False or exaggerated optimism can make you believe that everything will be fine, even if it does not. It makes you think you do not need a plan B. It can even prevent you from adapting to the circumstances if things do not go as you had hoped.

Personalization

The last reason Finch provides is that you may be constantly personalizing things. What that means is that when something bad happens around you, you make it your fault. If you do, you will be in a constant state of anxiety. The sad truth is that bad things always happen around the world.

But according to Finch, keep in mind that not everything rests on your shoulders. You have to share the responsibility for things. Also, if you constantly make yourself a martyr for everyone’s mistakes, you will have massive anxiety in the future.