Repetitive music or repetitive thoughts in your head

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When at my best I used to think that my strange quirkiness was unique along with some undesirable foibles.


Well, it has a definition now, and I was thinking about "repetitive music" playing in one's head. I can play back clips of music, just as you were to hear it played from a real source, with true eidetic representation of a maybe a few seconds long. And they can come "on" while I'm doing something, such as typing this post,( and now I'm hearing the Simple Minds track, "The things she said"). Or if I'm working on something, say my vehicle maintenance, music forces its way in. It's intrusive and I can't tune them out for long. When I focus away from tuning them out, they come back "on."

If not music, then it is a thought with an image of it, ( one that made a unique impression of that day), and this circles around in a loop. It's like noise that I'm unable to filter out, and it at times interferes with my work. It's an internal distraction. It is as if you have two thoughts or simultaneous programs running constantly , volleying back and forth, with each trumping the other.

I get a visceral sense or vibe that this not "normal," that this isn't an everyday everyone 'experience.'

A guess is it is probably executive function related, and I am wondering if any here experience this, or similar, as it may be ADHD related, or overlap with autism? Or if something else, what is it?

Any thoughts?

I've had issues with looping thoughts that cause me to have issues focusing on anything else, though I don't have associated images because I'm not a visual thinker. It felt very associated with autism, because these have been worst at the points where I feel "most autistic"

For me they tend to also coincide with my thoughts racing, and not being able to slow down my thoughts.

Music playing in my mind helps me fall asleep at night. Of course, I get it a lot during the day too. Sometimes I even have a second, fainter track playing behind it, which I'm not aware of unless I focus on it.

I do also have repetitive thoughts. Usually unpleasant.

Unfortunately, I have songs like Surfin' Bird stuck in my head all the time.

Well I do get music stuck in my head sometimes....and if I am bored I sometimes I do it intentionally(sometimes it does not work). It is cool for if I don't have a way to listen to music, not as good as I obviously cannot literally hear it.

I also sometimes remember negative things people have said to me in the past.....and that can get stuck in my mind, rather obnoxious especially if I am trying to concentrate on something....considering I get to re-experiance whatever emotion I experianced in the first place when it was actually said to me maybe not as severely but yeah annoying none the less. And then I hope this was just a random occurance that does not happen again but yesterday I started feeling anxious and then I kept having ridiculous paranoid thoughts running through my mind....I mean I have had plenty of paranoid thoughts in my life before but not quite as inescapable and repetative as it was yesterday, so it was weird.

why I cannot remember positive things people have said that way, or have repetative good thoughts I do not know.

I think I have exactly the same. In fact, when I see the words "repetitive music" I instantly think of Hergest Ridge/Mike Oldfield, a pure and mellow example of repetitive music, IMHO. So, this starts to play in my mind, and plays just as I type this. My memory for music is quite eidetic, too. While I usually unable to hear the music in one piece, I can hear a few seconds of them, realistically.

It's true, sometimes I can consciously choose what I want to hear, other times they just intrude my consciousness unsolicited. One problem associated to this is that when I made to hear "music" that I don't like (to say the least), they also tend to stick in my mind. I'm hardly capable to sweep them out. It's aggravating, and may eventually result to meltdown.

As for bad/good situations, it's clear to me that I remember both pictures and words. Well, some of them. I think I remember pictures better. I have the ability to suppress bad memories of the past, it only requires time. Sometimes a long, long time, but eventually I will remember every bad/good situation in my life without vivid emotions. Until it happens, I can have very bad experiences with negative thoughts coming up to the surface of my consciousness and swirling there from time to time, making me feel quite miserable.

Yea right now while im typing there's this cricket going on and a 6 second loop of this song constantly in the back of my mind. I've never really found it to be much of a problem tho... I've just always explained it as being able to entertain two or three thoughts at once. Which... I've always assumed everyone can do...

Words tho. If I put to much thought to a word it just kinda... keeps repeating til It loses it's meaning and then I forget the meaning for real for a second.... Can be annoyiing if I'm trying to write and think of a word but nothing inescapable or anything like that.

I do this. I actually listen to specific songs before i leave the house to make sure they're anchored in my head for the day.

i actually hate it if there isn't music to be heared, be it 'real' or internal.
over the years, i have learned how to tune out annoying/distracting songs by replacing them with more productive ones, and i build an extencive database to choose from

So far thanx all for the input, as I can relate to all posters.

This is exactly what makes it hard for me to focus. Well, this and auditory processing. I fix both at once by playing music with no lyrics very loudly when I need to concentrate. It doesn't matter if it's Satriani, Massive Attack, or Bach, as long as it's instrumental. High volume overwhelms background noises that I have trouble with, so I only hear patterns of sound. The patterns keep me from hearing other songs/thoughts looping in my head.

If I don't listen to music when I work, then eventually I find myself staring off into space and remembering just the chorus to catchy songs I don't particularly like, or (worse) having a "mad at dad" day.

phew so glad i am not alone in this!! ! I get this all day and all night. Usually it's a phrase that I keep thinking and sometimes say out loud---which can be very embarassing.

My phrase lately?? "Rachel may die soon" keeps running in my head!! !! Its horrifying! The only rachel I know is my ex and i certainly dont want her to die and there's no reason she would die, but somehow i cant stop myself from saying it on repeat---which is hard too bc my gf is around me and will catch it sometimes.

I also have other phrases too that i say on a loop and cant stop saying, esp when i am stressed. Yesterday i went around saying "TELL ME ABOUT IT" like 40 times on a loop.

Songs, audios from the days conversation, etc all will get caught on a loop.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WNrx2jq184[/youtube]