That’s very interesting, and makes lots of sense. Reminds me of the technique of kicking the wall to stop the headache.
How to know which substitutions are the most suitable? For instance, what would you use to substitute for bad memories of the past? Fears of the future? Boredom with the task at hand?
I happen not yet to be a great specialist in brain anatomy...
How to know which substitutions are the most suitable? For instance, what would you use to substitute for bad memories of the past? Fears of the future? Boredom with the task at hand?
I don’t think it’s the content of the thought you’re trying to displace that matters, but the type—ie, whether it’s verbal or visual, generated or played back from memory, etc. Details like subject and tense aren’t likely to matter.
Note that boredom is an issue for which this technique will not work, because boredom is not a separate thought, but a tag applied to other thoughts which you don’t want to get rid of. Also, traumatic memories are a likely special case and, thankfully, I don’t have any to experiment with, so I don’t know what will work there.
That’s very interesting, and makes lots of sense. Reminds me of the technique of kicking the wall to stop the headache.
How to know which substitutions are the most suitable? For instance, what would you use to substitute for bad memories of the past? Fears of the future? Boredom with the task at hand?
I happen not yet to be a great specialist in brain anatomy...
I don’t think it’s the content of the thought you’re trying to displace that matters, but the type—ie, whether it’s verbal or visual, generated or played back from memory, etc. Details like subject and tense aren’t likely to matter.
Note that boredom is an issue for which this technique will not work, because boredom is not a separate thought, but a tag applied to other thoughts which you don’t want to get rid of. Also, traumatic memories are a likely special case and, thankfully, I don’t have any to experiment with, so I don’t know what will work there.