Distraction in CBT -
You Only Live Once!
What is Distraction?
Distraction is a name given in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to the technique of focusing on something else when your mind is preoccupied with anxious thoughts that are not proving productive.
The basic idea behind distraction is that if you continually go over and over anxious thoughts in your mind it can be debilitating and unproductive. Often it's much better to try to take your mind off the anxious thoughts - particuarly if there is no obvious immediate solution to them.
How Do You Practise Distraction?
If you find yourself caught up in a circle of anxious thoughts which are not helping you then try to practise distraction in any of the following ways:
- Start doing an activity which requires concentration and thought, such as doing a sudoku or playing chess or scrabble with someone or
- Start doing a physical activity such as a sport or an exercise session in the gym or
- Start doing an activity that you are interested in, such as a hobby or listening to music or
- Look around you and focus on something in your immediate environment such as the wallpaper or the people walking down the street. Describe to yourself in as much detail as you can the features of whatever or whoever you are focusing your attention on - the appearance, colours, smell, sounds, shapes. You can even consider hypothetical questions such as how long might the landscape have been like it is, what was it probably like before now. The idea is simply to focus on something other than the anxious thougts running through your head.
- Do something purposeful - get going on an activity that you know it will be useful to complete or even one which is not so nice but needs to be done - such as cleaning or work tasks that you have to complete!
Why call this technique: You Only Live Once?
If you are stuck in a rut of anxious thoughts saying to yourself You Only Live Once! can help to kick start you into getting up and doing something else or into distracting yourself in any of the ways described above.
You Only Live Once is not intended to be a literal statement (you may or may not believe in the after life or reincarnation or in a second or third life - I am not questioning that it's just a turn of phrase!). It's purely a colloquial humourous reminder to yourself that it's time to get off your backside or to start focusing on something else other that anxious thoughts that are not helpful.
Try It! Next time your head is going over and over some anxiety that cannot be immediately resolved and you are not making progress with it, say to yourself You Only Live Once! then start focusing on something else. If the anxieties come back, which may happen, don't beat yourself up just smile at yourself and then go back to focusing on something else.
Good luck!
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