4 Tips to end looping

Looping, in some instances can be downright damaging to one’s mental health. Looping, for those of you who don’t know what it is – it’s when you have the same or similar thought looping through your mind. Thoughts around what you could have done differently or acted differently. When you’re in the cycle of looping it’s very hard to break on your own, therefore, its not until you or someone else can interrupt your looping pattern that you can be free from its harmful grips. I found I looped a lot in the early days. I looped about what my son’s life would look like when he got older. I looped about how I felt I had done something wrong to cause his autism. When I got cross with the kids, I would loop that I was a terrible parent.

Looping serves no one. It doesn’t serve your family or your partner, ultimately because you become cranky and upset (mostly at yourself). But looping, most of all, doesn’t serve you. It takes you away from the present moment. It takes you away from your kids. It takes you away from being the mum or dad that you wish to be. Looping will also cause physiological changes. Heart rate goes up, cortisol spikes along with adrenaline and now your brain thinks that there is a real threat and that you’re about to be eaten by a tiger.

Some practices that I found to be effective are listed below:

Awareness

The first step is to actually recognise that you are looping. Looping is usually a subconscious pattern that we’re not even aware that we are doing it.

Stop!

There have been times where I have been known (more so in the shower, which is where the looping often occurs) to scream STOP!!!! I verbally say, shout or scream the word. Forcing my mind to wake up from its subconscious slumber and explain that I no longer want the thought.

Compassion

Have compassion for yourself when you have these thoughts. “There I go again thinking that I’m a terrible parent. Do I actually think I’m a bad parent? Do I neglect my children? Do I not praise them? Do I not play with them? I do all of those things. So, go easy on yourself.”

Write it down

I found that once I was able to write it down, I could get it out of my head and onto paper which meant the story was no longer doing laps in my mind.

I trust that you can find value in these practices and that they too will help you fight the battle with looping.