Andi, I have an actual e-mail full of good stuff people have said to me about, you know, articles, fic, my tennis shoes, or whatever, and when I get bummed out I reread the things.

This idea makes me wish for glow-in-the-dark toner for the printer. Then I'd print out all the well-wishes from this thread to take with me. (I did mark the start of them so I could go back and bask later if I needed a boost.) Of course, reading it while driving might not be the best idea.

Ooo, Windsparrow, or maybe a cd of go-to feel good songs. Really, the more tools you have, the more likely you'll find one that works for you in a given situation.

Music does help me a lot. I've gotten away from it, in the past few years, but I need to bring it back into my life. The challenge for that particular situation is the sound system in my car is limited, so playing music for distraction would necessitate cranking up the volume to a level that is uncomfortable, to compensate for the road noise at highway speeds. I think that the same goes for spoken word stuff.

She told me to distract myself form what we named the "death spiral." Sounds like you might be the same, Andi!

It's totally a death spiral - the whole train of thought is an imaginary conversation with an unsympathetic doctor, so it carries with it all kinds of rationale and reasoning - attempts as processing it just get sucked back into it.

Singing is good. As Scrappy said, songs that either take some thought or things that are very happy. Songs that require thought that I sing include "The 12 Days of Christmas," "The Carol of the Numbers" [link], and even "The Ants Go Marching" and "99 Bottles of Beer."

I want to give this a try. I need to write a list of song ideas on an index card in big enough print that I would be able to see it at night, maybe keep it on the dash board, so that it is right there when needed.

My duck song [link]

Oh, hey, I like that one. It's way less sexist than the version I learned.

Steph, I believe bonny recommends feeding the dog canned pumpkin or sweet potato to help cushion the foreign object, as soon as possible after consumption. Much passing-safely~ma to Chloe.

Thanks smonster! I was racing to the end to say the same.

Most times, a dog will be fine, but the canned fiber really does help AND provides a handy reassurance for the person.

Andi, back when ruminating thoughts were running my life, I devised a plan to get some help. Instead of counting on myself to stop the flow, I began imagining the thoughts being played on a big screen in my mind. Mega sized. Then, I visualized the screen cracking like an egg and shattering into a million pieces on the ground. Then, a little old guy in coveralls enters stage left and sweeps up the pieces ala Emmett Kelly. I may even say 'sweep, sweep' in my mind.

Not sure where the images came from, but the screen made them 'flat' (therefore less real and threatening) and the idea of putting the clean up in 'someone else's hands' stopped me from feeling like a failure for not being able to 'just stop THINKING about it!'

I can't even tell you how many years I have used that one.

The point is, I think, finding a mental process that works for you by being action oriented and not associated with the thought content itself. The more you think about the thought, the less able you are to disconnect from it. Does that make sense?

bonny, I've marked that post. I have the feeling I will want to come back to it.

Sweet crispy jaysus, this combination of migraine and sinus pressure is trying to kill me. And I have to go be sparkling in front of seventh grade language arts classes in an hour.

{{Andi}} I've got no good advice, as I fall into that sort of death spiral myself much more frequently than I like. Most of the time I just gut it out. I'm glad you asked for advice, because I've gotten a lot of useful ideas out of them, too.

IOcarN, I'm once again at the dealership, this time to have the passenger window fixed. It fell off the tracks this morning and it looks like the motor/regulator will have to be replaced...for the wonderful sum of $550. Shoot me now.

Ack! Sail, that's crappy.

I am one of those who needs music when driving or running, to help keep away the bad thoughts. (Though I have to be careful with my playlists some days, because sometimes the wrong music can push the demons outwards and then I'm aggro for the next couple hours.) The nice thing, though, is that I can still process while the music's playing, the music just helps keep the crap away. Usually. (Na na na na na na na na na....)

The challenge for that particular situation is the sound system in my car is limited, so playing music for distraction would necessitate cranking up the volume to a level that is uncomfortable, to compensate for the road noise at highway speeds.

WS, how much would Best Buy charge to upgrade your sound system? It's something that might be worth looking in to, if you're willing to spend money on the car. Alternately, a boombox might be a good car accessory. I'm just glad to see your pixels.

Observe and describe work well for me on long drives, too, smonster.

I used to play New Age lyric-less music in the office to help keep me focused on task. If I'm hearing lyrics, I'm typing lyrics into the memo or letter. Doesn't work for counting cash by hand, either.

Long drives, though, audiobooks (or podfic) are a savior. Even when my car was so lacking in insulation that road noise drowned out music, I could still hear the spoken voice. If I'm writing, I'll work out dialog. And if I'm having disagreements or arguments with person or persons, I'll rehearse different confrontation scenarios.

What?