1.3 Put on Your Thinking Cap it's Time to Think Outside the Box

He was sitting on his black leather chair his hand to his jaw thinking away. A little bit of light splashed on his blonde hair, haloing his face. He was young enough to be a doctor, though his brown eyes said, "I have seen a lot for my age."

He was making a little grunting noise just below his throat, trying to think. I sat next to him wondering if it was as bad at it looked. He opened his mouth to say something and then quickly drew away and continued to swivel his chair. I was puzzled by such a reaction to what I had told him - that I was thinking too much. He listened to my heart, checked my pulse and did a variety of little checks but he was somewhat puzzled to the point of bafflement.

I listened to the sound of his tapping feet under the desk it was mixing in with the sound of the clock, with the sound of his little low grunt.

"So what is wrong with me doctor?" I asked after a moment of uneasy silence.

He sat upright, tore a piece of paper from a notebook on his desk and drew a square. It was four sided, nothing out of the ordinary.

"What is it?" He asked.

Puzzled I cocked my head and said, "A square?"

"Yes, and?"

"A box?"

He looked up at me and said, "You have to think outside it."

I glanced up at him while my eyes enlarged not really believing what my doctor was telling me.

The doctor continued, "How do you think outside the box?"

"Ermm." I thought. How does one go about thinking outside a box, how does one develop thinking inside a box in the first place?

"You see Tom, you have a what is termed as 'over-thinking'." He was pointing his hands at me.

"Over-thinking?" I was confused, never heard of such a term.

"Yes it is when you think too much." That's was an overly simplified version of what he thought my condition was. Perhaps it was too simple.

Was it a disease? Would I have to live with it all my life?

"I know, I know it sounds wild but it's something that has been appearing a lot more with males in their mid twenties to late thirties. Some say it is brought on by anxiety, but really no one knows at the moment what triggers it."

Wonderful!

"You can still live a normal life, there is no need to give into such a condition. With the right medication and mental exercises you can not only deal with your problem but possibly overcome it. Recently a doctor in Holland devised the Outside Thinking therapy, which is a programme of different exercises that will get you to think outside what he terms a mental 'square' or 'box'. You are undergoing a mental flux at the moment where your mind is stuck inside this space and with this therapy you can get outside the 'box' and think freely, releasing your thoughts. Inside this space all your thoughts are trapped and at the moment they are firing on all cylinders but these thoughts remain stuck."

It was all too much for me.

"So it will only get worse to get better. You also have to realise that this method is very much on early stages of research and has only been tested on a few patients. I advise you to continue on this therapy for six months, take all the medication that I subscribe to you. I will meet you on a regular basis to discuss your progress."

I put my hand to my head. Great news! It sounded so absurd.

"I'll get the subscription done up right away, and I'll give you all the instructions on how to carry out the therapy. Any questions?"

I shook my head.

There were lots of questions, a lot of them he couldn't answer so I just kept quiet. I got up from my chair, picked up my coat in my arms and left through the door I came in. I took all the information of the therapy and the subscription on the way out. What news! I deserved a coffee for all my troubles.