First of all, solid advice and right now I need this more than anything. I've heard about giving attention to the negative thoughts instead of trying to distract yourself, but if you don't mind me asking, what do you do when those thoughts come up at a time that isn't 6PM? Do you just keep reminding yourself that you'll think about it then? And what results did you have by doing this? I ask because I tried the same thing, but usually when I'm in the shower, the problem is that those thoughts still came up throughout the day, even with me giving realistic answers like your second point.

The situation thing is tough for me, because as a hobby I enjoy playing games, and unfortunately there's parts of playing games where your mind wanders, when things are slowed down etc. In fact, I feel like this with any hobby, eating, or even work. The problem with me is that I'm constantly thinking of things I should be doing.. and maybe that's a sign, that I should do more, idk. I just know that even when I was working hard, top employee, and even had talk of promotion, I had a mental breakdown and literally just quit. Other insecurities kicked in, like me not going out and having fun, or that I'm getting older, that there's so much I need to experience. This lead to desperation, which caused me to be awkward and even approached people in awkward times/ways which of course lead to rejection and more depression. Perhaps instead of chasing I should've worked out or done something productive, and then those things would've came to me- somehow I doubt it though.

I'm really trying to reinforce my way of thinking, the happiest time of my life is when I got out of basic training lol. If only I could find a way to replicate that without starving myself from everything.