Racing thoughts definition

Contents

Overview

Thoughts run fast, and unstoppable thoughts are often repeated. They may focus on one topic or represent several different lines of thought. You may have thoughts of a financial problem, an embarrassing moment, or a phobia. These thoughts may also intensify.

Running thoughts can increase anxiety or discomfort and disturb your concentration.

When you have racing thoughts, you may feel like this:

• Your mind is running at a mile a minute.
• You cannot slow down your thoughts.
• Your mind cannot be "turned off" and you cannot completely relax.
• Difficulty concentrating on something else.
• You are constantly thinking about a multiplication problem.
• You begin to catastrophize or think of worst-case scenarios.

Thought racing can lead to insomnia. It happens when you're trying to sleep because you can't slow down your thoughts at night. Keep reading to learn about strategies to help calm your mind, long-term treatment options, and what might be triggering your thoughts.

How to Stop the Mind Race

Here are a few steps you can take to control or prevent racing thoughts if you have them:

count on inhalation and exhalation. It can force your mind to focus on something other than running thoughts. It can also have a calming effect on your central nervous system, which can reduce anxiety.

Continue reading: 5 easy ways to calm your mind »

2. Try the mantra

You can use the mantra, repeating it as needed, to distract your mind from running thoughts. Even a phrase like "Everything will be fine" can be very effective.

3. De-Stress Before Sleeping

If your thoughts about running usually come at night when you're trying to sleep, change your sleep patterns so you can relax and sleep soundly. Try to relieve stress at least two hours before bed. You can meditate or do light yoga, read a relaxing book or bathe in bubbles. Avoid all electronic screens and excessive mental stimulation two hours before bedtime.

Therapy

Long-term therapy can help you determine the cause of your thoughts. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be especially helpful. This can teach you how to address the mechanisms and methods of controlling these thoughts.

These methods may include:

• for deep breathing exercises
• writing down thoughts on paper or in a diary
• using mantras to calm the mind
• focusing only on the present and on things you can currently control

Remedies for racing thoughts

Your doctor may also recommend medication for any underlying condition, especially if racing thoughts seem to accompany triggers such as anxiety attacks or bipolar episodes. These medications may include:

• antidepressants
• anti-anxiety drugs
• neuroleptics
• mood stabilizers

What causes thought races?

Racing thoughts are a possible symptom of many different conditions. Although it is most common with anxiety, there are other conditions that can cause thought races.

Anxiety

Anxiety is a common cause of thought races. Although it is extremely common to have racing thoughts during panic attacks, they can occur at any time. They may also precede or follow a panic attack.

Continue reading: Best Anxiety Apps of the Year »

Attention Deficit Disorder

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by inattention or hyperactivity. Some describe their carelessness as racing thoughts, especially when they are overwhelmed by external stimuli. Wandering thoughts are more common in ADHD, where you struggle to focus on one stream of thoughts.

Learn more: What is the difference between ADHD and ADHD? »

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition in which you experience obsessions or compulsions that are difficult to get rid of. These obsessions can come in the form of thought races where you can't stop what seems like an avalanche of thoughts on a particular topic. You may have compulsions that calm your thoughts, such as washing your hands a certain number of times to stop the race of thoughts caused by microbial problems.

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is an emotional disorder in which your emotions reach extreme emotional peaks (mania) and become severely depressed. Thoughts of running most often occur during the manic part of a bipolar episode, although they can also occur during depression, especially in cases of anxious depression.

Anxiety depression

Convulsive depression is an obsolete term for a severe subtype of depression. It is characterized by feelings of restlessness instead of lethargy, a symptom commonly associated with most types of depression. You may also feel anxious, angry, and react quickly. Thoughts about racing are more common in people with anxiety depression than in other types of depression.

A side effect of a drug

Sometimes drugs can treat some symptoms of a disease but make them worse or even cause others. Medications used to treat depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder can sometimes cause anxiety depression, which can then cause a thought rush.

If you start taking new medications and start having racing thoughts, call your doctor so you can try the new medication or adjust your dose as soon as possible.

Learn more about medications for depression and their side effects »

When to call your doctor

You should call your doctor or make an appointment with your doctor if you regularly experience thoughts that distract or interfere with your sleep. You should make an appointment with a therapist as soon as possible to evaluate his or her mood or mental health disorder if you experience racing thoughts with any of the following:

• symptoms of depression
• severe irritability
• severe compulsion
• anxiety or panic attacks
• severe mood swings

Read more: 11 ways to stop panic attacks »

Only after diagnosis can treatment begin. Like other types of illness, mental disorders are easier to treat if caught early.

Inside view. F1 Car Suspension and Technical Breakthrough

Formula 1 chassis suspension is a complex collection of many elements and plays a huge role in car setup. How is the suspension of racing vehicles different from ordinary production cars, and how can a breakthrough be achieved in this area? Let's honor together...

The main task of the suspension of any machine is to connect its body and wheels. This is a rather banal definition, but the suspension design itself cannot be called such, since controlling the movement of a heavy object in space, such as a car, and even at high speeds, is not a trivial task.

On a conventional production car, the suspension performs exactly two functions: handling surface irregularities and ensuring driving comfort in dynamics.

The first function, as the name suggests, is for the chassis to handle potholes and bumps, camber changes and so on. The suspension is designed to dissipate the energy generated when driving over bumps, and is responsible for evenly distributing traction between all four wheels of the car.

The second function of the suspension is related to the dynamics of the car's movements in response to the actions of the driver - for example, how he behaves when braking or when changing direction.

The suspension of a Formula 1 car essentially performs the same two functions, but under completely different loads. Yes, the priorities are different. In production cars, for example, driver comfort is given almost paramount attention, while in racing technology this aspect is far from being so important.

Suspension W10Photo: pitpass.com

In addition to the two main suspension functions, which are more or less the same for production and racing cars, in the second case, the so-called horizon control is added. This function directly follows from the fact that racing cars, and in particular Formula 1 chassis, are under the influence of huge downforce most of the time. At high speeds, the pressure of the F1 machine is several times greater than its weight. Thus, the suspension is forced to cope with unprecedented loads, amounting to tons. And not only cope, but at the same time create the necessary aerodynamic balance.

The position of the machine in relation to the road surface is of paramount importance in terms of the effectiveness of the overall concept of chassis aerodynamics. It is enough to raise or lower the bottom a couple of millimeters, and the airflow profile will change dramatically, which will significantly reduce the effectiveness of such important elements in terms of aerodynamics as the bottom and diffuser.

Thus, the F1 car's suspension is responsible for providing the necessary chassis roll and ride height at each point of the bottom. This is the only way to ensure maximum efficiency of aerodynamics in conditions of changing speeds and downforce. Together, engineers call horizon control one of the most important functions of a race car suspension.

In principle, the suspension on Grand Prix cars and serial cars is the same - all four wheels are sprung independently. At the same time, on the F1 chassis, the suspension elements are conditionally divided into three groups: internal suspension elements that are mounted on the chassis, external ones on the wheel, and central ones that are subject to oncoming air flow.

Internal components are often hidden from view and include springs, dampers, rockers and anti-roll bar. For example, on the chassis of the Mercedes W10, compression is mostly provided pneumatically - due to gas shock absorbers. In turn, these internal elements are connected to elements of the central suspension section, such as levers, rods, pushrods and tie rods. These components are attached to the external suspension elements: wheel strut, axle and bearings.

MercedesPhoto: pitpass.com

Mercedes manufactures all suspension parts in-house. This allows the team to guarantee the highest quality of execution of the elements and the necessary flexibility to respond to the required changes.

The suspension components, hidden inside the chassis, are mostly made of metal, while almost the entire central section of the structure, with the exception of the joints, is made of carbon fiber. External suspension parts are also mostly metal.

At first glance it may seem that the suspension is not the most difficult part of the car, but in fact it takes a very long time to manufacture. In addition, it is one of the most expensive components of the chassis.

Suspension elements must be able to withstand significant loads. Due to the frequent overcoming of bumps in the road and high curbs, the suspension elements simply have to be stiff and strong enough not to break themselves and not break the parts around.

For example, carbon rods and push rods actually have very high compression and load strengths and can withstand force applications in excess of 10 kilonewtons. At the same time, the suspension design of the F1 car must be light - like everything else.

In addition, the elements of the central section of the suspension, which meet the oncoming air flow, must be made sufficiently thin with a predominance of the airfoil in order to reduce their level of drag. But there is no way to make the entire structure miniature, since the same suspension arms must be very voluminous in order to accommodate the cables to hold the wheel in case of an accident.

Finding the optimal balance between all these suspension requirements (stiffness, strength, compactness and low weight) is not an easy task, and it is because of this that the design and production of suspension in Formula 1 is considered one of the most labor intensive.

In addition, each track of the calendar has its own set of suspension requirements, which has a significant impact on the settings of the machine as a whole. By changing the camber and toe of the suspension, engineers are able to quickly affect the contact patch of all four wheels with the road, as well as improve chassis handling and grip. Such adjustments are usually made by adjusting the geometry of the suspension - using metal spacers or suspension elements with a modified link length.

Suspension W10Photo: pitpass.com

When it comes to horizon control, mechanics often get by with changing the spring rate, but it may be necessary to adjust the gas pressure in the shock absorbers or replace metal components with elements of a different stiffness.

Formula 1 teams periodically change suspension components on their cars throughout the season. There can be many reasons for this, but the main one is the wear of parts. Each component of the structure has its own life cycle and structural stability, and at each stage, engineers closely monitor the condition of all suspension parts without exception by telemetry. When the time comes, the "tired" components are changed.

Another reason to change suspension components is to update the aerodynamic concept of the chassis. The entire center section of the structure is exposed to ram air, so during chassis upgrades, suspension elements are most often replaced.

The team can also prepare a specific suspension specification for a specific track with unique requirements. One such track is Monaco, with its famous Fairmont hairpin (also known as Loews). Here, pilots are forced to turn the steering wheel all the way, and the wheels turn 40% more than in a hairpin in Canada.

This turn is so tight and tight that conventional front suspension design would not have allowed the wheels to turn to the required angle - pilots would have had to turn the steering wheel several times. So in Monaco, Mercedes solved the problem of this unusual stud by changing the geometry of the suspension arms so that they do not prevent the wheels from turning to the desired angle.

Suspension breakthrough

The Mercedes team acknowledged that the technical breakthrough this season is largely due to a change in the design of the suspension, both front and rear.

This year, the reigning world champions have improved significantly in terms of handling slow corners, which they could not boast of before.

In the area of ​​the front suspension, the team switched to a double-bracket solution. Due to the reduced length of the pushers, the engineers managed to make the nose fairing "dive" when reaching close to the limiting angle of rotation of the wheels. This increased the aerodynamic efficiency of the chassis as a whole and helped put more weight on the front wheels.

Rear suspension MercedesPhoto: F1.com

But the team did not stop at updating the front suspension. At the rear, Mercedes has introduced a very interesting solution, which can be seen in the drawing by Giorgio Piola above. This is a bottom view, with a red arrow indicating the direction of chassis travel.

As we can see, the team has resorted to the concept of a multi-link layout, which Red Bull previously introduced on the front suspension of its chassis.

1 is the lower arm front leg, 2 is the upper arm front leg, and 3 is the link.

But we see a more interesting geometry in the back of the structure. The number 4 here indicates the transition point of the suspension arm skin to the drive shaft. The main part of the lever goes through point 5, while the carbon fiber shroud has a characteristic slot at some distance from the center for tighter airflow control.

This change in concept not only improved the temperature of the rear wheels, which Mercedes had previously had problems with, but also improved the aerodynamics of the chassis as a whole.

The current W10 rear suspension aligns airflow in a favorable way to optimize diffuser performance, while the element geometry increases downforce in this area without increasing drag levels.

According to the regulation, the number of suspension elements must not exceed six per wheel, while the traditional arm counts as two elements. Mercedes did the smart thing by actually including the linkage that keeps the rear wheel level and controls the toe as part of the suspension arm.

It's always exciting to see what the F1 teams bring to the suspension front, but the real engineering headache will be when designing this unit for the 2021 cars when low-profile tires come into the Big Prizes.

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