The Need To Disconnect The Mind

On a daily basis,  people use the expression “disconnect the mind” to refer to the need to eliminate stress.  In other words, it is a way of expressing that longing to be able to forget the anxieties and worries derived from daily tasks and responsibilities.

As a result of this desire, we usually carry out different activities to alleviate stress. Activities that can range from taking a little vacation, to less planned things or little pleasures like listening to music, going for a run or taking a hot bath.

How does the automatic disconnection work?

Beyond the conscious and deliberate choice about what action to take or which path to follow in order to reduce our stress, our brain has an “automatic disconnection” mechanism. This disconnection begins when certain levels of exhaustion are exceeded.

This means that, although we are not always able to consciously switch off the mind, our brain can. You can even take a vacation if you “think” it is necessary for our health.

This mechanism works in a peculiar way. For example, have you ever felt dull, which prevented you from concentrating on your work, despite your best efforts? That is a clear example of the automatic disconnection of our brain. By preventing proper concentration, we are forced to resort to some task whose consumption of cognitive resources is less.

Scientific investigations

At the University of Wisconsin, researchers discovered that there are certain nerve cells that tend to switch off for short periods of time. Above all, during the course of activities that do not require your action. This phenomenon is known as “focused sleep”, since these neurons enter a state very similar to that of habitual sleep. In other words, the brain can “fall asleep in parts.”

Professor Andrew F. Leuchter, from the University of California, has found that depressed people have serious drawbacks when they want to “turn off the mind.” Leuchter’s study began with the recruitment of 121 volunteers with different diagnoses of depression to assess the synchronization of their brain waves with various areas of the brain.

Among the brain areas that are at rest, these people show greater interconnection and activity. But, far from being something favorable, this fact reveals that their brains do not automatically “disconnect”, since they do not recognize saturation states.

In conclusion, people with depression are in a vicious circle of thoughts from which it is very difficult for them to get out. This is because depressed people are not able to control the cognitive exchange between some of their brain areas, so it is not possible for them to disconnect those that are not active.

In other words, this enormous neural interaction demonstrated by depressed people does not represent an advantage.  Quite the contrary, this fact is what prevents them from achieving an adequate disconnection.

The change to get the mind disconnected

All is not lost,  getting out of this circle of recurring thoughts is possible. Today, there are numerous techniques devised to minimize depressive symptoms and, although their results may not show up on the spot, they are undoubtedly useful for training and re-educating the brain.

Like all life changes, it should be gradual, involving time, dedication and, most importantly, a sincere interest in improving the quality of life. With enthusiasm and patience it is possible to achieve that ideal state that allows our brain to disconnect when it needs it most.

Full attention

Mindfulness or mindfulness is a tool that can bring us great benefits. Through this technique, we learn to “disconnect” our brain from those thoughts that harm us the most.

Although in reality, rather than disconnecting, it is about focusing on the present, subtracting the presence of other types of more recurring thoughts. Through mindfulness, harmful thoughts are observed, yet we do not judge them. As many Buddhist teachers put it: “watch those thoughts as if they were passing clouds . “

In this way, by not identifying with our thoughts, it does not provoke an emotional reaction in us. Therefore, we are able to remain in a calm state despite the circumstances.

However, this technique will have more effect if we train a little each day. Let’s imagine that we want strong and muscular arms, right that we could not achieve it in a single day at the gym? The same goes for mindfulness. The brain is a muscle that, little by little, we will mold to, in this way, maintain better control of those thoughts that overwhelm us so much.

Mindfulness or mindfulness has been used successfully in contexts that are eminently
clinical, but today studies are also directed to other areas. Among them, this type of conscious attention has been extended to the educational level and numerous investigations are being carried out.