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How To Stop Thinking About Someone In 11 Steps
Whether it's an unrequited crush you can't stop daydreaming about or an ex that won't seem to stop haunting you, it can be frustrating when you're not able to get someone off your mind.
Here are 11 ways to redirect that energy, take your mind off that certain someone, and gain back some peace:
Understand that you're worthy of love
According to psychotherapist and relationship expert Ken Page, LCSW, we often tell ourselves stories that something about us is stopping us from receiving love. "This myth that we hold dear to our hearts," he says, "causes us to enact cycles of pain for ourselves and others. And that gets terribly triggered by people who cannot accept us and love us for who we are."
Focus on accepting and loving yourself
To that end, focusing on loving and accepting yourself—even and especially the parts of ourselves we feel shame toward—is crucial. "The degree to which we embrace and cherish those parts of ourselves (not just accept them but actually treasure, dignify, and cherish!) is the degree that we become romantically and sexually attracted to people who are available, kind, and decent," Page says.
Lean on your support system
Spend some time with the people in your life who lift you up. Not only will it take your mind off things, but it will remind you how good it feels to be with people who value you. "We need to look to the people who know and love us, to help us not keep enacting patterns of reaching out over and over again to someone who's not available and not good for us." If you have a pattern of codependent behavior, Page also adds Codependents Anonymous is a great program.
Ask yourself, what does this person really mean to me?
According to sex and relationship therapist Stephen Snyder, M.D., sometimes it can help to ask yourself, What exactly does this person mean to me? "Commonly," he says, "it's security, or status, or feeling accepted or loved or understood."
Then you want to ask yourself, Did my actual experience with this person really deliver the meanings it was supposed to? "For most of us, in most relationships, the answer will be, 'Well, yes and no,'" Snyder adds. It's not uncommon to romanticize the past.
Unfollow them on social media
This one might go without saying, but if you're thinking about someone nonstop, there's a chance you might be cyberstalking them a bit. Make it easier on yourself and just pull the plug. Unfollow them, unfriend them, delete your text conversations, etc. When it comes to moving on, the no-contact rule is always the way to go.
Watch out for "people, places, and things"
Along with the social media, you probably want to get rid of anything that reminds you of them in general, like souvenirs or mementos from your relationship. According to Page, people in Alcoholics Anonymous are told to watch out for people, places, and things that make them want to drink. "If you're trying to let go of someone, you need to watch out for the people, places, and things that trigger your craving for that person."
Resist the urge to reach out
When you're feeling the urge to reach out, rather than acting on impulse, get curious about the emotions that are coming up for you. Are you feeling lonely? Abandoned? Try redirecting that energy into something more productive, like going for a brisk walk or run or doing some yoga. "The most problematic relationships are often the most difficult to get over," Page adds. "We keep wanting to go back and make things right, but this is usually a bad idea."
Journal out your frustrations
Journaling is incredibly helpful, not only for channeling creative or anxious energy but also for reflecting and learning from what you're going through. Consider using the questions in No. 4 as prompts to get you started, or reflect on No. 1, No. 2, or anything else from this list that resonates with you. Identify and observe your feelings: "[Feelings] are useful for informing you about the world around you," Snyder notes, "but they're not totally reliable—and often not objectively helpful. When that happens, you may need to gently show them who's boss."
Reclaim your own gifts and talents
Oftentimes when people become obsessive over someone, there's a tendency to abandon oneself. This can look like being overly nice or explanatory to avoid rejection, feelings of inadequacy, and giving someone far too much influence over your emotional state. But Page notes reclaiming our own individuality, or the "gifts deep inside us that we have looked to the world to validate," is a "powerful process of healing and transformation that actually changes our attractions."
Remind yourself why it didn't work out
In the really hard moments, particularly those where we may find ourselves romanticizing the past, as Snyder notes, it's in your best interest to remind yourself of why things didn't or haven't worked out. "Most often, we idealize the people we miss," he says. "And we overlook the fact that the meanings we attached to the relationship weren't always gratified as much as we would have liked."
Discern between intuition and obsession
Now, perhaps you've gotten this far and something in your gut is still pushing you to think about this person. That's something to pay attention to: "Maybe we can't get someone out of our minds because there's something really incredibly special there," Page notes. "Maybe those obstacles don't matter that much—maybe this person really is worth committing to, or there are problems in the relationship that neither of you have fully worked on."
Give yourself time to think and process, and in time, you can decide if it's worth reaching out. "If this is a relationship that could be good," Page says, "try putting both feet in and giving it all you have. Maybe the fact that you can't stop thinking about this person is for a good reason."
What does it mean when you can't get someone off your mind?
In a sense, you can be "addicted," or at the very least dependent, on a person. In one small 2010 study, subjects who had just gone through a breakup but were still in love showed just how true that is: When they saw photos of their ex, the brain's reward system released dopamine, the neurotransmitter that plays a big role in the early stages of love and addiction. This cycle can result in resistance to let go.
According to Snyder, "Often, it means you don't want to get that person off your mind—most often because the thought of them is extremely meaningful to you."
Page adds that the points above about romanticizing the past (and even the person) are still relevant. "Best to realize you're probably idealizing the person you miss and not remembering the reality. When people get back together after a breakup, they often suddenly remember all the things that made the relationship problematic."
And FYI: There are no grounds for the idea that if you can't stop thinking about someone, they're thinking about you too.
How to stop having feelings for someone
Maybe the better question is, can you stop loving someone willingly? Snyder thinks so, but it takes time.
"It can be hard to imagine, in the moment, that your feelings will ever fade," he says. "You might even not want them to fade. But feelings do change over time. That's just the nature of things. You'll change over the months and years, and so will the person you have feelings for. None of us stay the same."
The takeaway
Take care of yourself—mind, body, and spirit; connect with friends and family; remember your worth; trust that love is out there for you; and of course, come back to this list if/when that person pops up in your mind.
When we do these things, we open ourselves up to attract the right person.
"Until we close the door on those relationships with people who chip away at our sense of self-worth," Page says, "we can never open the door to the new ones, into a new life where we finally do find healthy love."
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