Indecision

[desiderata]

How much is known about chronic indecision being a mental condition and treatment for this condition. I have become like an open-ended loop with no connection making it very difficult to prioritize and finish things that need to get done.

 

[Daniel E.]

The way I think of it:

Indecision is often a symptom of anxiety or the interplay between anxiety and depression.

Regarding anxiety: Indecision Anxiety

Regarding depression or anxiety, another symptom is behavioral inhibition, which often relates to social inhibition or a lack of social facilitation. For example, it's easier commit to going to the gym with a partner (or have an appointment with a trainer), and, in any case, once you are there, it's hard to leave after just 10 minutes if you are concerned other people will notice.

And rumination is a pastime for anyone with either depression or anxiety, e.g.

I don't doubt that some of your past worries have "come true". But I am also certain that many of them have not, that many more than you remember have not come true. It's that superstitious thinking based on OCD-style worrying and selective memory that drives the anxiety to such levels.

Rumination, depression, and anxiety

 

[Daniel E.]

Also:

They say there are two kinds of decision-makers: Maximizers and Satisficers. Maximizers try to make exactly the right decision, get the most out of every choice, and therefore get as much information as they need before choosing. Satisficers take what comes to them, settle for less, and are happy with what they have. Clearly, I was a maximizer as a child. Entering Baskin-Robbins, a satisficer might order the first kind of ice cream she sees when she walks in, or just choose a flavor she knows she likes every time.

There are pros and cons to each type of decision-making, but in the big picture, maximizers suffer a higher psychological toll, becoming more stressed, more anxious, and more disappointed when their expectations aren’t fulfilled. Maximizers tend to make more money, but satisficers feel more satisfied in the end.

Types of Decision Makers and ADHD Indecision

If you are always telling yourself, “I am not a good decision-maker,” think about the hundreds of decisions you successfully make each week: What should I wear? What route should I take to work? What movie should I see? Where should I go for lunch? Pat yourself on the back for making decisions every day and rephrase your thought to: “I make decisions all the time. I can make decisions.”

Trust your instinct. If you keep coming back to one answer, or if one choice jumps out at you as the best choice, trust that it is the right choice to make, at least for now.

Remember that most choices are reversible. If you decide to take a job and it turns out not to be a good fit, you can look for another one. If you choose to move to an apartment and don’t like the noise from outside, you can find another one and not renew the lease. Most decisions can be adjusted, modified, or reversed.

ADHD and Indecisiveness

Take an hour to exercise to remove your mind from the situation. It's important to activate the "diffuse" mode of your brain to allow yourself to effectively absorb and take a deeper look at the situation at hand. I find that when I exercise, I'm able to analyze decisions or difficult situations from a different angle and determine the best solution.

10 Proven Ways to Overcome Indecision

 

[Daniel E.]

Rehash regarding anxiety and depression:

Indecisiveness is a form of anxiety because it usually involves a lot of fear. I’ve heard indecisiveness talked about in conjunction with a lot of fear-based conditions, including perfectionism, obsessive-compulsive disorder and low self-confidence. However, the short answer is that what drives indecisiveness is the worry that you will make the wrong decision.

Getting Rid of Indecisiveness

Can’t do and can’t decide defines depression. There is also less information gathering going on. The result of all this avoiding making decisions and self-doubt is an increase in negative emotions. Increasing negative emotions creates more severe depression and so the cycle goes.

Can't make up your mind? Indecision, rumination and depression. | counselorssoapbox

Academic articles on the subject: Google Scholar

 

[Daniel E.]

Morning Exercise May Improve Decision-Making During the Day

How Small Decisions Destroy Productivity

 

[GaryQ]

making it very difficult to prioritize and finish things that need to get done.

Sounds a bit like executive (dys)Function common with ADHD (for one) it will definitely cause even more difficulty when Anxiety and/or depression decide to all get together and gang up on someone.

It's like getting psychologically mugged and beaten by a gang.

They say the key is to Stop, step back from, and avoid looking at the bigger picture. Pick the one things that seems urgent, even if it's not the most urgent in hindsight, it's still urgent. And just take care of it trying to ignore the rest. They say the trick is to not try to micro-prioritize and just throw into general categories; Urgent, Important, can wait till later, then attacking the categories one item at a time. Takes less time doing the most important thing after the 2nd or 3rd thing in a category than it takes trying to decide which of the 2 or 3 things is more important.

I've learned I get nothing done because I can't back away from the big picture of everything that needs to be done and get overwhelmed. I'm unable to structure and plan or prioritize except when what I have neglected to take care of puts me against the wall. Then it gets taken care of in a panic.

Once in a rare while I actually succeed at doing it the "just pick one thing at a time and ignore the rest" For some strange reason I get a lot done just one thing at a time

 

[Daniel E.]

And just take care of it trying to ignore the rest.

And executive functioning, including such cognitive inhibition ("the mind's ability to tune out stimuli that are irrelevant to the task/process at hand"), can also be increased with mindfulness, e.g.

Mindfulness Based Therapy Effective in Treating ADHD

How Meditation Changes Pain, Relieves Depression

 

[desiderata]

I suppose its like any other affliction in that there is a root cause and in turn there can be a variety of branches stemming out in a myriad of ways. I love trees and realized some of the metaphors we use from them. A thing will not repair or grow until the underlying issue is addressed.

 

[GaryQ]

Nicely put and in only 2 phrases... contrary to some people here (not me of course )

 

[Daniel E.]

I suppose its like any other affliction in that there is a root cause and in turn there can be a variety of branches stemming out in a myriad of ways. I love trees and realized some of the metaphors we use from them. A thing will not repair or grow until the underlying issue is addressed.

I would agree, of course, but also point out that sometimes generic approaches, e.g. exercise, socialization, bibliotherapy, biofeedback, animal-assisted therapy, or mindfulness, can help in meaningful ways, even with issues like trauma or death anxiety, or symptoms like hopelessness, especially of course with professional support.

In other words: Every time I see a therapist, they are pushing exercise or mindfulness as a supplement to talk therapy.

 

[Daniel E.]

Nicely put and in only 2 phrases... contrary to some people here (not me of course )

Desiderata' first words: "How much is known"

That is copy-and-paste dream come true

 

[Daniel E.]

Indecision (not chronic indecision) as a good thing: Indecision is essential

And in cultures like Japan, indecisiveness is more often seen as being thorough: Indecisiveness and Culture

 

[desiderata]

All is not lost or at least undecided.

 

[GaryQ]

Desiderata' first words: "How much is known"

That is copy-and-paste dream come true

It actually for some reason took me a while to understand what you meant. probably cause I just woke up from a siesta. Although I was refferring to my long winded responses/posts.

You definitely master the art of copy and paste :rofl: but in all fairness you do have the ability to find the relevant articles to guide people in a direction and usually quite fast I think i once referred to you as being our resident forum search engine.

And i'm also sure that like when Steve would answer a simple question with a slew of unending questions :facepalm:

We can all drive people bats at times with more than they can chew at one time. Hopefully the majority understand we are trying to be helpful.

 

[GaryQ]

There is a major distinction though between important decision making and the type of indecision that was referenced in the original post.

 

[GaryQ]

I"m adding this comment seperately. I didn't want to wreck my previous post by addindg it the previous post to mention that it's probably my shortest non joke post

 

[Daniel E.]

BTW, psychology can pathologize where sociology can normalize, e.g.:

One key argument is that a collectivist society typically demands roles for numerous people in every major decision, even decisions that would be considered “personal” or “private” in individualistic societies. Decisiveness would be antithetical to such roles and therefore discouraged.

https://www.globalcognition.org/wp-content/uploads/articles/yates-jccp10-indecisiveness-culture.pdf

 

[Daniel E.]

And:

The DSM focuses almost exclusively on individual pathology to the dangerous minimization of social, historical and environmental factors such as poverty, racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, gender biases, ageism, violence, etc. This limiting focus has serious ramifications.

Therapists, who uncritically follow the DSM medical model, are likely to place undue emphasis on individual emotional problems as causal factors rather than opening to the larger possibility that the individual is symptomatic due to familial, political or societal system dysfunctions.

Social psychologists call such exclusion of social factors and excessive focus on individual pathology the “fundamental attribution error.”


DSM: Diagnosing for Status and Money, Summary of the Critique of the DSM

 

[David Baxter PhD]

See also How to, Maybe, Be Less Indecisive (or Not)

 

[Hickwillas34]

Also:

Very helpful. Worth reading!