How Do I Turn My Brain Off?

O ne of the earliest things you learn in medical school is to use all the information available to predict outcomes and worst-case scenarios.

I remember finding this task impossible as a med student. It wasn’t the information gathering part, but using that information to predict the future. My brain didn’t work in that way. I found it difficult to think that far ahead.

Cut to nearly 20 years later and it’s a completely different story. My problem now is that I can’t stop thinking ahead.

In medical terms, “anxiety disorders” is a general term for disorders that can cause nervousness, fear, apprehension and worrying. Of course, a degree of anxiety is a normal part of the human experience, but when these thoughts and feelings become pervasive and all-encompassing, it can be crippling. I don’t have an anxiety disorder, but I certainly have moments where I am nervous, apprehensive and worried.

It was during one of these anxious periods, as I was lying in bed at 2 a.m. worrying about whether I had waited too long to buy rather than rent a house, that I started wondering why my brain had decided this was a good time to evaluate my life choices. I wasn’t sure why these thoughts had popped into my head, but now that they had, my tired, sleep-deprived brain started scanning through all the possible outcomes that could result from my poor life decision-making. Maybe I would be forever destined to live in a tiny apartment with no parking. Perhaps my future unborn children would have to sleep in the bathtub. Maybe we should get rid of the bathtub altogether and convert the bathroom to a bedroom. But then where would the bathroom go? And so on.

And then it hit me. My brain was just doing what it had been programmed to do over years of medical training: process information, assess possible outcomes and evaluate worst-case scenarios.

I talked to friends and realized I wasn’t alone. In fact, an increasing number of us are up at night, ruminating, thinking and feeling nervous. And perhaps it’s not surprising. Of course, we have the usual culprits feeding our anxiety— social media, technology, having your head in a stranger’s armpit on a subway commute to work. But maybe it’s also because many of us work in jobs where we run through the nearinfinite combination of permutations that could result from any single decision.

We could argue this has always been the way. People have always had jobs where they had to predict the impact of their decisions. But I would argue that we now have an ever-increasing volume of information to inform choice in all aspects of our lives. The mere act of picking what to watch on Netflix or ordering take-out can be overwhelming.

So what can we do? Recognizing and observing that incessant inner dialogue without judgment is the first step. Understanding how to destress and worry less is a lifelong journey for most of us. Meditation, exercise and journaling are all recognized tools to help anxiety, so consider taking steps and mechanisms to help.

Finally, always remember, everything looks better in the morning once you have had some sleep. So try to put those fears to one side and you can address them in the light of day.

Farzana Rahman, MD, and Farhana Rahman, MD, are sisters and founders of happywisewell.com. As medically trained doctors, they have over 20 years of healthcare experience. They are passionate about approaching health holistically.

Instagram: @happywisewell_doctors | happywisewell.com