My mind wanders too much. What's worked for you to make it stop?

June 3, 2009 2:10 PM

My mind wanders too much. What's worked for you to make it stop?

Hi everyone:

So, the question I posted above pretty much sums up my situation - my mind wanders too much, and I want to hear from other people who've had this same problem what they did about it and how they overcame it.

So, some background about me: I'm currently a 3rd year medical student at a fairly prestigious American medical school. All my life, I've been told I was smart - for elementary and middle school, I went to a private school where I was the top of my class, went to a "gifted" high school, and then went to a pretty good university for my undergraduate education. And now, I'm in medical school. So, I'm fairly confident that intelligence is not my issue.

However, I started to notice in middle school that I was having a hard time paying attention in class. I didn't have any trouble in my science and math classes, but I had a really hard time in my english/history/social sciences/foreign languages classes. I somehow did well in most of my classes (even the ones I had difficulty with), but this was a problem that carried on into my high school and college years.

So now, I'm in medical school, and believe me, it has been hell. There's so much to memorize, and my brain just seems to refuse to work with me. The problem got so bad that a year ago, I went to a psychiatrist who gave me a diagnosis of attention deficit, and gave me medications to help with my attention.

So, what's my problem? My problem is that the medications make me feel really sick, such as giving me a lot of unpleasant abdominal side effects. Plus, the medications don't help me concentrate that much, and they make me really anxious and depressed.

Plus, I kinda don't think I have an actual, clinically diagnosable case of attention deficit. The rate of attention deficit in the country is supposed to be something like 5%, so I really think it's doubtful that I would have been able to get as far as I have with a clinically diagnosable case of this disease. I think it's much more likely that I skated by on my intelligence for as long as I could while putting out a minimum amount of effort - and believed that it was "fine" for me to do so because everyone around me was telling me how smart I was. (If I'm smart, then I don't have to work hard, right?) I feel like I've never trained myself to concentrate as a person in my position needs to, since I've believed for so long that a person who's "smart" shouldn't have to work hard. (I also kinda believe that our technologically immersed culture has contributed strongly to the preponderance of attention deficit cases that we hear about these days, and I think that I'm no exception to that.)

So, back to the crux of the matter: has anyone else out there found any non-pharmacologic techniques to deal with this same problem? And if so, what were they? I've read a few good things about meditation (read carefully - that's meditation, NOT medication), which I've started to do a little of (even though I don't really know HOW to meditate). I figure that if Buddhist monks can train themselves to concentrate so intensely through this technique, then maybe it can work for me in some little way as well. But, I'm looking for any advice anyone can give to help me with this issue.

Thanks in advance, guys and gals!

posted by jabronimus to health & fitness (23 comments total)

The Association for Mindfulness in Education website has some resource links, though they focus more on K-12 education.
posted by Sidhedevil at 2:13 PM on June 3

you might have a bad case of the monkey mind
posted by auntbunny at 2:16 PM on June 3

Knowing I need to finish a piece of work so I can bill for it and thus pay the rent and buy food has always worked for me.
posted by zadcat at 2:23 PM on June 3 [1 favorite]

You could try keeping a note pad with you when you're trying to concentrate. When you think of something unrelated, jot it down quickly and tell yourself, "great idea, brain! we'll think on this later." and then get back to what you ought to be doing.

I find that it's helped me immensely. I get ideas for random projects, interesting word combinations, or even just things I need to deal with later that pop into my head when I'm trying to work on something else.

Writing them down helps me keep those thoughts "safe" so that I can think on them later and don't have to try to keep them in my brain while I'm trying to concentrate on something else.
posted by burntflowers at 2:25 PM on June 3 [2 favorites]

I would definitely recommend reading through some of the past threads dealing with similar issues. This thread comes to mind, in part for similarities in the question (specifically, anti-med), but in larger part for the quality of the answers, in my opinion. Answers range from specific ways to help your focus, and specific (personal) stories about trying meds, and the difference they've made.
posted by inigo2 at 2:35 PM on June 3

Are you getting enough sleep and exercise? Healthy diet? Your 'normal', even from high-school may not be what your system really needs. The body/mind needs also can change over time and due to other events or just long term build up. I'm sure there are other issues but don't rule out basic health.
posted by sammyo at 2:36 PM on June 3

Hey guys - a few more details for you all:

1) Yes, I have many of the classic signs of ADD (primarily inattentive type) - can't read, can't follow conversations, trouble following instructions, distracted by noises. So, I'm not saying I don't have ADD - I probably do have some form of it.

2) I tried looking through the old MeFis for past threads, but had a hard time looking through all the old posts - there are a lot of them! So if you all could point to any that you found particularly useful (thanks, inigo2), I would really appreciate it.

3) I'm not super anti-medication (I am going to be a doctor, afterall), but I'd like to try other, non-pharmacological methods as well. I just believe that the mind can be trained, so why not try to do so?

4) I see a therapist pretty frequently for various issues, including attention problems - which he has also struggled with. Actually, talking to him reinforced my idea that one can train the mind to form new neural pathways, as he seems to have successfully dealt with his attentional issues.
posted by jabronimus at 2:50 PM on June 3

Spend less time on the internet. It makes a bigger difference than you think.

Re: meditation, sit somewhere comfortably and take long, deep breaths in and out. Once you have a rhythm going, mentally mark each inhale/exhale as a unit, and slowly count to ten: inhale/exhale 1 inhale/exhale 2...

If you lose count, just start over. When you reach 10, keep your rhythm and just start over at 1 again. Doing this for 10 - 20 minutes at least once a day should make a noticeable difference, and once you've done it for a couple of weeks you'll be ready to experiment with other more specialized meditation techniques.
posted by hermitosis at 2:53 PM on June 3 [6 favorites]

Plus, I kinda don't think I have an actual, clinically diagnosable case of...

If you're a Med student, you should probably expect to hear that phrase an awful lot in the future.

IANAD, but your description seems pretty typical of ADHD-I. Read up on it.

Medications vary. Ritalin gave me abdominal problems, but Adderall didn't; there are extended release formulas and there's the all-at-once kind. If stimulants aren't your speed, so to speak, you might want to look into SNRIs before writing off meds altogether.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:59 PM on June 3

Sex, if it is an option that doesn't involve an increase in anxiety, "trouble following instructions," and devoid of noisy distractions; sex, yes. It's kind of like meditation, but without the counting (I hope). Good luck, and just curious, what specialty, if any, to you plan to pursue?

Once again, sex. Not a cure-all, but some might call it the next best thing. Best wishes.
posted by emhutchinson at 3:13 PM on June 3

Meditation worked for me. Learning how to silence thoughts at will helps a lot.
posted by jhighmore at 3:39 PM on June 3 [1 favorite]

Do you take notes in class? I can't concentrate at all on something if I'm just listening, unless I'm really interested in it. But if I'm making an effort to make good notes, it forces me to actually take it in. Try thinking of it as if you're taking notes for someone else that you're friends with, so you want to make a bit of an effort.

I'd second getting away from the internet a bit as well, if you do spend a lot of time on here. It definitely messes with your attention span having all this random information on tap.
posted by lucidium at 3:41 PM on June 3 [1 favorite]

Just wanted to thank everyone for the responses so far. Lucidium particularly, the idea about thinking as if you're taking notes for someone else is a fantastic idea. Any more ideas that are out there, please share!
posted by jabronimus at 4:05 PM on June 3

Are you stressed? Find a way to destress. Take little breaks every so often when you study. I'm in a similar situation past-wise, and I really find that

1) you have to know how to study; you have apparently accomplished this since you have your undergraduate degree, and

2) no human being can concentrate totally for more than, say, an hour at most on any task.

Bring water, and find a place where you can concentrate and totally block everything out but what you're doing. And take copious notes.

Figure out how you learn, as well. Are you a visual learner? Get one of those anatomical coloring books. Color it in. Color-code everything. And review CONTINUOUSLY; don't wait until a week before your test to study. Start studying for your first test on the first day of class, start studying for your second test the day after your last one, and study for your third test the day after your second one. This has probably been the one big thing that has helped me; reading the text before class. Copiously.

And every half an hour while you're studying, take a break for about fifteen minutes. Surf the internets. Read Metafilter. But get back to your studying. Metafilter will still be there when you're done studying.
posted by kldickson at 4:08 PM on June 3

I was in a very similar situation--I wasn't diagnosed with ADHD until college, largely because my "smarts" compensated for my inattention in class. While meds help, understanding my brain and working with it (not "training" it) has taken me further.

I second taking notes. In college that was the only thing that kept me from zoning out during a lecture. It also helps me focus during meetings. Even if I don't need the notes, I still write them down. If I didn't feel like I'd be hurting their feelings, I'd start taking notes during conversations with friends, too--it's just that helpful for me.

In situations where you're in more control of how you learn (studying, memorizing, etc.) you need to play around to figure out what will keep you on task. For example, before an exam, instead of just reviewing my written notes I typed them out. This gave me a goal and was active, which kept my attention. Making a game of flashcards (for every 1 I got correct I got a 1 minute break from studying) also helped, as did having the right environment (a well-lit, quiet room with a movie score playing in the background). And lots of mini-breaks, too--30 minutes of studying followed by a 5 minute break.
posted by Tall Telephone Pea at 4:24 PM on June 3

I also have problems with attention sometimes, in conversation or reading. I find it hard because I have 20 thoughts in my head all the time.

(I don't really have a solution, I think meditation is a great idea and also less internet time, less tv time, etc, generally reducing stimulus in your life is a good idea I think.

I'm curious to know if you are studying medicine because you love it... I find it easy to concentrate when I'm reading /talking about something I love or am really interested in. Right now I'm studying psychology and I love it so much I can always concentrate. If I'm studying something I don't love it's so much harder. Did you pick medicine because it's what smart people do? Or are you genuinely interested in it? Maybe there's something else that would hold your attention more! Just a thought :)
posted by beccyjoe at 5:25 PM on June 3

Meditation is a great tool to learn concentration and control over your mind. However it is a gradual process and very often there is no immediate gratification. For many people change does in fact manifest quickly but they themselves don't immediatly notice it. You may think nothing is changing until, after months or even years of continued practice, you suddenly realize that things were changing subtly all along. Not noticing it at first does not invalidate the effects of the practice of meditation.

There is many techniques but in almost all cases people struggle with the same problems. They fight and try too hard to control their thoughts. It's important to be gentle and very patient towards yourself and to not get angry. As you attempt to meditate your mind will inevitable loose focus and begin to wander. Try to understand this as a natural process. It's perfectly ok. If you'd start running you wouldn't be able to run a marathon on the first day either.
Over time you will become like an external observer to these internal processes and you will learn when and how your mind becomes distracted and how to recognize this as it's happening. Through this increasing self-awareness you will find yourself taking a step back from a subset of your mind's processes and thus become able to influence and steer them.

If you try this practice and find your mind wandering... allow it to do so (as in don't get upset). When you notice it happening gently bring your attention back to the subject of your meditation without straining or anger or impatience. It will wander again and again a thousand times but gradually the frequency of this will decrease and you'll experience longer stretches of undivided focus.

There is many techniques. Some work better than others depending on the nature of the practitioner. Ultimately it doesn't matter whether you meditate on a mantra, your breathing, a deity, a visual symbol etc. See what comes naturally to you. Personally I love the Zen style meditation I learned in my martial arts training. I'll sit outside under a tree, find something to look at (eyes remain fixed on that) and open up all other senses. I try to hear all the little noises, feel the wind and the temperature on my skin and smell the air. Paying attention to everything makes it the easiest for me to still my thoughts.

Also: meditation techniques work a whole lot better if you exercise your body. If your body isn't filled with pent up energy it'll be much easier to relax and not be restless or twitchy.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 5:42 PM on June 3 [2 favorites]

This is a good thread. Thank you.

Attention deficit, to varying degrees, is pretty common in my family. At least two of my siblings have reported that caffeine helps them focus and is much milder than the prescription amphetamines. I'm not certain whether it works for me; I can't say it doesn't, but I don't feel that big of a difference with it.

What I know does work for me is sleeping to my natural duration: In a dark, quiet room with no obligations, I naturally wake at intervals of four hours and twenty minutes, and since discovering that I have found that sleeping for eight hours forty minutes makes an incredible difference in my speed of thought, powers of recall, typing accuracy, and general motivation level, versus sleeping for eight hours flat. Modern living, of course, militates against sleeping for even eight hours, to say nothing of med school; but I am gradually getting it through my skull that the 'sacrifice' is worth it for being on top of myself and on my stride.
posted by eritain at 7:31 PM on June 3

Nthing looking into mindfulness. Meditation can help you a great deal here. Also: Are you drinking a lot of caffeine? While caffeine can help folks with ADD, too much caffeine can have a deleterious effect. I recently cut way back on my caffeine. That, combined with my mindfulness meditation training, has helped my concentration considerably.
posted by tcv at 7:54 PM on June 3

Turn off your TV, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, MetaFilter, Internet, cellphone, doorbell, pager, yappy friends, distracting music. Figure out what music and beverages make studying easier. If you still can't concentrate, bribe yourself with chocolate/other things. Don't be afraid to investigate drug options if you still are unproductive at this point.
posted by mezamashii at 2:07 AM on June 4

You're heading off to be a physician? What if a patient said about his schizophrenia, depression or other psychological symptom: "I'm not super anti-medication, but I'd like to try other, non-pharmacological methods as well. I just believe that the mind can be trained, so why not try to do so?" What would you say? You'd probably say, that the meds are necessary.

You might want to think about therapy along with the pharmacology to help you get your ADD under control.
posted by filmgeek at 4:49 AM on June 4

Hey filmgeek:

A valid point. But one of the things we learn about in medical school is that people need to make lifestyle changes in order for treatments to be fully productive. For example, a person comes into your office who's overweight, smokes, and has hypertension (there things that are a clear predictor for coronary artery disease). Well, I could give them a drug to prevent that, but it's also my responsibility to let them know that what they're doing in their life is going to have serious repercussions for their health. That's the difference in outlooks that I'm trying to have.
posted by jabronimus at 12:51 PM on June 4

I think everyone finds long term goals and targets hard to focus on, and I usually need some reason right now to do the work. Obviously if it's something really interesting, then it's easier. But if it's not then I have to give myself some other reason to make the effort.

For me that can be something as simple and silly as "I'll keeping working until it's 6pm exactly, instead of stopping now at 5:34". Or, I quite like the feeling of doing something really neatly and carefully, so sometimes I would decide to do that with my notes and end up paying attention without really meaning to. If you do have anyone you can sort of "show off" to, that might help as well. It's really motivating if you know you'll be able to tell someone or show them something impressive you've completed.

Lastly, about taking notes specifically: I often felt like I was "putting off" work by not paying attention in lectures, but now I realise that that's exactly what notes are for. No one can take all the information that's being thrown at you in that fast, so you have to take notes to give yourself time later to actually absorb it.

Reposted from MeFi Mail with jabronimus' blessing.
posted by lucidium at 10:23 AM on June 5