Accelerated Thinking Syndrome - Do You Have It?

You've probably heard an older person in your family start a sentence with "in my time, " haven't you? Yeah. This nostalgic pattern has to do with the fact that everything, everything, changes at an absurd speed. Want an example? People born in the 80s or earlier have clear memories of what life was like without the internet, social networks and even without a cellphone.

The impression we often have is that these modernities have made us more distressed, more stressed and less time consuming. If before it was necessary to resort to encyclopedias to study some subjects, today, with a quick search on the internet, we have access to all kinds of information.

Of course, all excess has its consequences, and the excess information that we currently have has contributed to the emergence of new diseases, syndromes, and mental conditions. Anxiety disorder, for example, has just gained new branches, and it is one of them that we are going to talk about today: accelerated thinking syndrome.

What is

This ability to find information in large quantities at all times eventually overloads our brains. Imagine yourself in front of a computer screen reading a text in Mega Curious. It is quite possible that the browser you use has other tabs open: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest, SoundCloud and so on.

On Facebook, just to use one of the information and communication options of the moment, you watch videos, click on various links, see photos, enjoy the status of your friends, add people, join groups and pages, discuss some topics, it's not same? For us, this high amount of information is already commonplace, so we don't even realize that it can ultimately change the way our brains work.

The accelerated thinking syndrome was discovered by Brazilian psychiatrist Augusto Cury, and is more common in adults who work in environments that require constant attention. This is the case with doctors, teachers, writers, journalists: all are professionals who need to be good all the time, sometimes without much rest and in some cases having to deal with daunting goals and deadlines.

Endless story

Living with fast-thinking syndrome means having a series of mental difficulties: it is difficult to concentrate to read a book, it is difficult to start and finish a task without interrupting it over and over, it is difficult to get even sleep.

This is because the cerebral cortex becomes overloaded, which results in a mind of restless and accelerated thoughts. People with this kind of brain interference, so to speak, tend to be more stressed, impatient, and intolerant as well.

They are people with the constant feeling that 24 hours a day are insufficient for all tasks to be performed. This, logically, ends up impairing other brain functions, and leave the person with that feeling of mental tiredness and, consequently, physical tiredness also, without disposition. This is because the overstimulated brain region - the cortex - ends up using the energy that should be sent to the rest of the body.

The bad side of technology

As we commented at the beginning of this text, technology gives us a very wide range of information at all times, in every possible way - it is becoming increasingly common, for example, for people to use their mobile phones to check social networks and the like. even before getting out of bed in the morning.

If before it was normal to get up, go to the bathroom, brush our teeth, take a shower and make coffee, today the phone ends up coming before all this, so that without even realizing it, we put technology above even our physiological needs. - not to mention who takes the phone or tablet to the bathroom ...

The fact is that this huge exposure puts us in front of a huge amount of information, constantly, and our brain can even manage it, but other sectors of our mind end up paying the price.

How to deal?

It is obvious that no one wants to have their life impaired by accelerated thinking. Tips to circumvent the ills of the syndrome include attempts to slow the frantic pace of life. How about recovering some simpler habits that preferably don't involve a cellphone or a computer?

It's worth taking a walk, discovering a new hobby that involves human contact other than a new mobile phone game, learning how to cook or even making a vertical garden to put on the balcony of your apartment if you are not a person blessed with a backyard.

Contact with nature, in general, is always favorable. It's even worth taking your new favorite book to a park where you can sit on the grass under a tree. Bucolic climates like this are more beneficial than you can imagine.

Give your brain something to play with. Do you know that book you're going to read under a tree? So. It will do. Now if you also feel like learning to play the guitar or how to draw, how about doing some classes once and for all? Sports also fall into this category. Anything goes: from gym to burn championship with friends.

Also, it is critical to monitor your own emotions. In this sense, it is always good to learn a little about emotional intelligence and to put into practice this power to control what you feel - or at least how you react to what you feel. Try to control your emotions whenever possible and avoid overcharging yourself - and others too!

A fast-thinking person finds it almost impossible to meditate, but this is an activity that needs insistence to succeed. If you try to meditate every day, it is very likely that after a few days you will be able to rest your mind, even for a short time. This will already let your brain breathe a little more relieved. In this text, we talk a little more about the importance of meditation.

Also learn to be less frowning. Allow yourself to laugh more, have more fun, meet friends, go to the theater, ride a bike, do new and fun things. Life doesn't always have to be taken so seriously, and most importantly, life is much more than a Facebook status or a WhatsApp group. Control how technology affects your life, and don't let the opposite happen.

If even if you change these habits you find it difficult to concentrate, that the quality of your sleep is too bad, and especially that these factors are undermining your work or study performance, seek medical and psychological help. Specialized professionals will always know what to do.

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So, do you identify with the modern problems we described above? Do you think you could solve these questions with what kind of change? Tell us in the comments!