Repetitive thinking is the biggest waste of cognitive bandwidth this side of heroin addiction, and we all do it. The most obvious cases are labeled with a diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, for which there are a variety of effective treatments. An official diagnosis of OCD may include the specification With Poor Insight, which means the person does not recognize that their obsessive thoughts are excessive or unreasonable. Moving down the spectrum of severity we sometimes say that we are preoccupied or hung up on something.

     If we are enjoying our repetitive thoughts we might say that we are engrossed, spellbound, rapt, or absorbed in them. I very much enjoy thinking some of my favorite thoughts and fantasies over and over again. Whether or not repetitive thinking is a problem depends on whether or not it’s a problem. When you can’t get out of your house because you keep going back to check all the light switches over and over, it’s a problem. If you are tortured by resentment about past offences or by worry about things you can’t effect, it’s a problem. On the other hand, repetitive thinking is often the only route to a breakthrough or insight into a complicated or subtle problem or opportunity. Effective detectives, scientists, philosophers and artists reflect on their respective themes until the pattern they are searching for emerges as a blinding revelation. The trick is to recognize when repetitive thinking is productive and when it’s getting in the way of something. When it’s a problem and you don’t see it then you are eligible for the With Poor Insight diagnosis.

     Regardless of whether your repetitive thoughts are problematic, pleasant, or productive they are consuming your cognitive bandwidth, which you could be using for other things. When it’s not a problem this is a matter of taste and style, but a systematic examination of your own repetitive thinking might yield some surprising results and give you some choices that you didn’t know you had. Call me.