Mental repetition of phrases/words ?

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Workplace phobia? Are you comfortable at work? I dread going to work for the work itself as well as the commute through busy, noisy city. I think for me it's anxiety that triggers this.



I never experienced it that way. For me it's always an annoyance. I would never imagine that it could be helpful. It seems to happen when my anxiety is high. Never during pleasant activities, vacations, etc. Is it completely involuntary or you can initiate it by humming, singing or whistling a tune?

Adam

Constantly. It's actually annoying because it's very hard to get the words out. Once I start repeating things I get in a loop. Weird.

I dont think my mind does it to prevent the influx of sensory input but it does happen a lot when im working, lately ive been working in the forest and there is no one else around

It is often involuntary and then I realize it after a while, that I have repeated it for quite a while. But I can also initiate if I want.
I've read that "stimming" happens also to handle negative emotions like fear, anxiety, anger etc., so that might be a reason that it only happens when your anxiety is high. I have a high level of anxiety being outside.
I could imagine that stimming can also be mentally, because one sort of stimming in autists can be repeating words aloud. Maybe if the autism is less severe it can only be mentally. Or if you were stimming as a child and you were always told to stop it, but in fact you can't, so you transfer it to a mental level.

Yep, I get this, it's extremely annoying. Lately it's been interrupting my sleep. Random words and random phrases. I usually try to drown it out with music but often I'll still think over it.

Oh god yes, I soooo do that! All the time! Ironically the word that's been on a loop in my head for the past week or so is the word "perseveration"! !! It also happens frequently with fragments of conversations, things I've said, things they've said, random thoughts that have occurred to me, phrases and expressions that have impressed me, things that have made me angry....

It's no wonder I can't fall asleep until I reach sheer exhaustion point - my mind is too busy!! !

So do NT people generally not do this then?

Yes, all the time. Yes, all the time. Yes, all the time.


>_<

E-C-H-O-L-A-L-I-A

this seems correct, thanx

Definitely something to do with anxiety, I think. I too have to cycle in a city and it's frightening. I am sometimes heckled by drivers, even though I follow road rules as thoroughly as possible, use good lights and hi-vis in dark conditions and try not to slow down other traffic whenever possible. I do fear my journey to and from work.

I hope this doesn't change the subject too much, but does anyone also have a visual equivalent? I mean, focusing intensely on an object or part of an object for example while talking to a person, or listening to someone, often when emotional intensity (inc anxiety) is high? Then, when remembering the object, do you remember the conversation or comment?

For example, in a seminar today, I can remember the computer cable covers that ran around the outside of the whiteboard and when I remember that cable casing, I also remember what was being said by the tutor leading the seminar at that moment. I will probably forget that one soon, since it was not significant. But I can remember rusty wire mesh on a metal gate from a particular difficult conversation I had over two years ago. Maybe not a particularly AS trait, any more than a visual thinker trait, but I just find it interesting discussing these things.

Taking it back to repeating phrases...I understand the having a busy mind thing. I tend to deprive myself of sleep, waiting until I'm exhausted before I go to bed. To sleep though, I play word games in my mind and I soon drift off. Sometimes I think of a word and try to define it. Sounds boring! Actually, it can be fascinating to think of things in detail that I hadn't thought about before, but most importantly, it occupies my mind and allows me to sleep!

For people who repeat words in their minds, how many times do you repeat the words? Tens? Hundreds? For an hour at a time? More?

I am wondering, because I never repeat words in my mind, only with my mouth. They always seem to come out of my mouth without ever having passed through my mind. I might say "Toaster" ten times in a row. Or a five-word phrase only five times in a row.

I don't repeat the words but rather words that I like or find interesting I'll spell in my head. It's usually the last one or two words in the sentence.

Oh yes! My memory is "picture based". Everything I remember is basically a picture. Even numbers. I have generally problems with remembering things like dates, phone numbers and license plates but if I do I usually remember them as pictures: a picture of the plate, a page in a calendar, a scrap of paper or yellow PostIt with a number on it. My memory is a massive slideshow, both actual events and "my world", i.e. imaginary pictures. I don't remember things in motion or as periods of passing time, but only series of static images.

Although, I think most/many people have image based memory like this. I don't this this is necessarily specific to AS.

Therefore, it's not uncommon to have an image stuck in my head: a car or bike or a person I saw, or a small detail like that cable housing. And yes, often, that is connected with sounds and smells of the moment. If I can bring back the image, I can also bring back what else was happening at the time in that location. Although, interestingly, I don't find that problematic in any way because my head is full of images at any given time, so this is just one of many pictures and for some reason I can sort and manage images in my head much better than sounds, it's basically effortless. Although sometimes it spooks me when an image pops up in my head of something I must have acquired subconsciously because I don't remember looking at it. And it's often not imaginary either. Sometimes I'd go to that location to see if it's really there and it is. It often comes up when someone asks me about something and realize I have a picture of that in my head even though I don't recall seeing it or paying attention to it.



I have to take Klonopin at the end of the day or I most likely won't sleep because of either uncontrollable rushing random thoughts, or semi-voluntary repetition and rumination, going over events, repeating what was said. Although, I only do this inside my head, I never vocalize or even move my lips.

Last edited by AdamDZ on 27 Oct 2011, 6:20 pm, edited 3 times in total.

i think phrases maybe around 10 times minimun.... maybe up to 50 times, 100 might be when its really bad, but im just taking a guess because when there are more than 10 i dont pay much atention

I have no idea, firstly because often it loops round too fast to count, and secondly because the very act of count would possibly break the loop, or at the very least affect it enough to make any count meaningless. Timewise however, some phrases/words can repeat for several months....

For me, it can range from several times to hundreds. However, if it is repeated several hundred times, it is not necessarily constant- it wouldn't usually be 'phrasephrasephrasephrasephrasex100,' rather, multiple sets of repetitions that come and go.